Indian Navy conducts pre-delivery trials of Russian n-sub

Moscow: Pre-delivery trials of the Russian Schucka-B (NATO: Akula-II) class nuclear attack submarine, the K-152 "Nerpa" are expected to be complete by August-end after which it will be handed over on a ten-year lease to the Indian Navy.

It will be commissioned into the navy as INS Chakra.

An earlier, Charlie-class nuclear submarine, similarly taken on lease by the Indian Navy in the late 1980s, was also commissioned as the 'Chakra'.

The Akula-II submarine is currently in the midst of trials in the Sea of Japan with an Indian crew operating under the supervision of Russian naval personnel and shipyard experts. The crew is expected to sail for home waters sometime in the September-November period, the state-run ITAR-TASS news agency said in its report.

"The Indian crew is giving a kind of proficiency test to the Russian experts. After the completion of trials in the end of August, the process of transfer of the nuclear submarine to the Indian Navy will commence," the agency reported quoting unnamed officials of Amur Shipyard - the manufacturer of the Nerpa.

The Indian crew has undergone a two-year-long training course, including a six month crash course in the Russian language in India, and about 18 month training in St Petersburg to sail and operate the Shchuka-B class submarine.