16.12.2009
St. Petersburg shipyard Admiralteyskie Verfi will construct 6 Project 636 Varshavianka diesel-electric submarines for Vietnamese Navy, informs Interfax.
The construction contract at the cost about $2 bln was signed between Anatoly Isaykin, Director General of
Rosoboronexport and Vice Admiral Nguyen Van Hieu, Vietnamese Navy Commander. Delivery terms were not specified. St. Petersburg shipyard reported its readiness to deliver one sub in a year.
The contract also provides training of Vietnamese submariners, delivery of required equipment and technical facilities, specifies
Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
The parties talked about procurement of other weapon systems, including eight
Su-30MK2 fighters which have been already ordered by Vietnam, 12 other aircrafts of
Sukhoi and
Mi-17 helicopters.
Tatarstan shipyard
Zelenodolsky Zavod has previously launched
Gepard 3.9 frigate built for Vietnam. The second frigate will be delivered to Vietnamese Navy in 2010. The construction contract of two ships was signed in 2006.
Manpower of Vietnamese Navy is around 42,000 men. The Navy possesses 2
Yugo-class midget subs which are expected to be written-off in 2010, Soviet-made frigates of projects 159A and 159AE, Russian- and Vietnam-built corvettes of projects 1241.8 and 1241.1, Soviet-made PT boats and missile boats, Russian-made Project 10410 patrol boats, Soviet-made minesweepers, landing craft, Soviet- and Russian-built auxiliary vessels.
Project 636
Varshavyanka submarine is export variant of Project 877
Paltus.
PERFORMANCE
NATO classification:
Improved Kilo
Surface speed: 17 knots
Submerged speed: 20 knots
Operating depth: 240 meters
Test depth: 300 meters
Endurance: 45 days
Crew: 57 men
DIMENSIONS
Surface displacement: 2,300 tonnes
Submerged displacement: 3,950 tonnes
Extreme length (at design waterline): 76.2 meters
Extreme beam: 9.9 meters
Mean draft (at design waterline): 6.2 meters
ARMAMENT
Subs of the project are armed with 6 bow torpedo tubes (533-mm); the load is 18 torpedoes or 24 mines. The option is
Club-S missiles or
Strela-3M SAM.
Source: RusNavy.com, photo: Project 636 submarine (armybase.us)
