Russia’s biggest arms trader Rosoboronexport is bidding for a tender worth $11bn to supply submarines to India by offering its latest low-noise, fourth-generation Amur 1650-class submarines.
“The company will surely take part in the tender, and it will bid with its Amur 1650 non-nuclear submarine,” a Rosoboronexport official said.
India is planning to purchase six non-nuclear submarines, including technology transfer, to boost its undersea warfare capability, and to have an undersea force of 24 submarines by 2015.
The Amur-class submarine is an upgraded version of the Indian Navy’s Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines and has a depth submergence of 300m while being capable of cruise speeds of 20kt.
The submarines are designed for anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare and are equipped with 16 tube-launched torpedoes. They also have a capability of launching cruise missiles, according to Brahmand.com.
The Indian Navy currently has 10 Kilo-class submarines and has issued requests for technical specifications to a number of countries including Russia, Germany, Spain and France.
