Russia to offer Amur Class subs for Indian Navy’s next submarine tender

St. Petersburg: Russia will participate in an open tender for the supply of next-generation diesel-electric submarines to the Indian Navy, according to a senior official of the Russian state arms export agency.

"We will offer India an export version of the Lada class diesel submarine - the Amur class vessel. We will take part in the Indian tender when it is announced with these submarines or vessels of another class," said Oleg Azizov, who is leading Rosoboronexport's delegation at the International Maritime Defense Show 2009 in St. Petersburg.

"We have a bilateral cooperation agreement [in the military-technical sphere] until 2020, which includes the possibility of supplying submarines to this country," Azizov added.
 
Amur Class

The Project-677, or Lada class, diesel submarine, whose export version is known as the Amur 1650, amongst other things, features a new anti-sonar coating for its hull, an extended cruising range, and advanced anti-ship and anti-submarine weaponry, including the Klub-S integrated cruise missile systems.

The project's general designer Yuri Kormilitsin has said: "The submarine has been conceived as a kind of an underwater sea hunter, capable of destroying any target – surface naval ships, transport vessels, or submarines – using torpedoes, missiles, mines and also with the help of frogmen."

The use of state-of-the-art acoustic protection systems and original engineering innovations on Amur-class submarines will make them several times quieter than the earlier Project 877 Kilo-class submarines, a number of which currently serve with the Indian Navy.