23.01.2008
The delivery of an Indian Navy diesel submarine which recently underwent a two-year refit at a Russian Barents Sea shipyard will be delayed by at least six months, a shipyard spokesman said.
The Indian Navy refused last week to take delivery of the Sindhuvijay, a Project 877 EKM diesel submarine, whose overhaul began at the Zvyozdochka shipyard in Severodvinsk in late 2005, saying its Club-S cruise missile system had not met specifications.
"The submarine has passed all its sea trials and was ready in November 2007, but the delivery had to be delayed due to problems with the Club-S system," a Zvyozdochka spokesman said.
The Indian Navy claimed that cruise missiles failed to find their targets in six consecutive test firings in September-November last year.
The Zvyozdochka official said the submarine would remain at the shipyard awaiting further missile firing tests at a White Sea testing site in July-August.
The much-touted Club-S submarine cruise missile family includes the 3M-54E1 anti-ship missile and the 3M-14E land-attack versions, with a flight range of 275km (about 170 miles). The high-precision missile can be launched from standard torpedo tubes from a depth of 35 to 40 meters (130 feet).
In a contract signed in 2001, India had sent ten Kilo class submarines to Russia for refitting to make them capable of firing the Club-class cruise missiles.
The Sindhuvijay is the fourth Indian Navy submarine that has been overhauled at the Zvezdochka shipyard.
Russia earlier announced a delay in the overhaul of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier, sold to India under a 2004 contract, citing time and costs overruns.
The delivery of the carrier has been pushed back to 2012-13, according to some sources, while Russia asked for an additional $1.2 billion for the warship, which was originally sold for $1.5 billion.
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