Non-Subscriber Extract
Russian-upgraded Indian sub hit by Klub problems
By Rahul Bedi
21 January 2008
Delivery of the refitted Sindhughosh-class (Kilo) submarine INS Sindhuvijay to the Indian Navy (IN) is to be delayed by a reported six months due to problems with its land-attack cruise missile system.
The IN has refused to take possession of the boat after its Novator Alfa Klub SS-N-27 (3M54E1) missiles failed to strike the designated target during six trial firings in the Barents Sea between September and November 2007. A navy source said the missile had veered "several kilometers" from its objective.
A spokesman for the Zvyozdochka shipyard near St Petersburg, where Sindhuvijay has been undergoing a refit since 2005, was quoted by Russia's RIA Novosti news service as saying that the boat had successfully completed sea trials in November, but that shortcomings with the Klub-S missile system persisted.
Consequently, the 50-man IN crew waiting to bring the submarine home is to return to India soon, adding yet another irritant to the navy's mounting animosity towards Russia over technical problems, delays and cost overruns in several naval and other defence programmes.
The collective setbacks prompted IN chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta to call on his government to reduce its dependence for military hardware on Russia, which currently supplies around 70 per cent of India's defence needs.
Image: INS Sindhuvijay (credit unknown)