Reports: Russian accident sub intended for India

Reports: Russian accident sub intended for India

news.yahoo.com

MOSCOW – India's navy was supposed to lease the brand-new Russian nuclear submarine that suffered an accident over the weekend which killed 20 people, news reports said Monday.

An Indian naval spokesman would not comment Monday on leasing this or any submarine from Russia — but his boss has said previously that India was interested.

The Akula-class sub was undergoing trials in the Sea of Japan when its fire-extinguishing system activated in error, spewing Freon gas that suffocated the victims and injured 21 others.

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Russian military equipment seems to have alot of these "incidents" esp thier navy. Im begining to wonder if Made in the Soviet Union" is a warning lable. The safety systems on thier ships given the number of accidents (or lack thereof) is appaling.

That being said, if the Indians are really getting this sub and a few more that really is a serious force multiplier for the indian navy and really tips the scales in thier favor in the region (I mean they already are the heavyweight). Add to that asperations for a real aircraft carrier and they will be a major force to recon with.

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

The Chinese are up in arms about this-no pun intended.

The subs threaten to change the balance of power in Asia and China already is perturbed with India and now their buddies in Russia is leasing the Indians equipment.

Armed with cruise missiles capable of hitting targets 3,000 kilometers (1,860 miles) away, Akula-class subs are considered the quietest and deadliest of Russian attack submarines. A sub of that class could unsettle the military balance of power in Asia, dramatically bolstering India's navy capability as it jockeys with China for influence over energy supply routes in the Indian Ocean.

Seems like a real bargain for $65m a year!

Yeah USSR military hardware is notoriously dangerous. Wasn't there a massive scandal surrounding the MIG21 being known as the widowmaker of the IAF?

I wonder if the Indians will retrofit a better fire extinguisher... or for that matter they may strip down the entire sub apart to study it, replace all the faulty bits and end up with a superstrength version. Certainly seems to be the new MO post- Sukhoi SU-30MKI.