What to say, Thank you Russia, take out OLD MONK Rum, and party:
http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_04_04/army-navy-submarine-Nerpa/
The Russian-made submarine "Nerpa" has joined the Indian navy. The handover ceremony was held on the Visakhapatnam base on April 4th . The Russian nuclear-powered sub, which the Indians have named "Chakra", will be leased by the Indian Navy for the next 10 years. All Indian TV channels have reported the details.
"Nerpa" is a third generation submarine of 13,000 tons displacement that can dive to a depth of 600 metres. Its maximum speed is 30 knots. It can carry cruise missiles, torpedoes and rocket-propelled torpedoes.
Russia is not only handing over the nuclear sub to India but will help it with the training of personnel. India plans to add the Arihant nuclear-powered submarine to its navy next year. It hopes that its full-scaled nuclear-powered navy will be formed by 2020.
The above-mentioned deal offers proof that Russia and India are privileged partners, Indian political analyst Vinay Shukla says.
"India understands perfectly well that Russia is the only country in the world that is ready to transfer modern technologies to India and also to supply modern arms, including nuclear-powered submarines and jet-fighters of the 5th generation. This is new evidence of the privileged partnership between the two countries."
Russia's ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin took part in the handover ceremony on the Visakhapatnam base. In an interview with the Voice of Russia he said that this event would be a red-letter day not only in the history of the Indian Navy but also in the history of the Russian-Indian relations.
"I would like to stress here that the handover of the Russian nuclear sub to India was held ahead of a very significant date – the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Russia ( April 13th ) and shortly before the 50th anniversary of the beginning of military-technical cooperation between the two countries. Russia is doing what no other country is doing: it displays generosity and sincerity while sharing with India the best of what it has, and the
nuclear-powered sub "Chakra" is the product of our friendly relationship and at the same time, our common child. It has a Russian heart – in this case, the reactor, and a fascinating Indian smile."
The benefits from the export of the Russian military hardware are steadily growing. In 2011 Russia's income from the export of military hardware reached 11 billion dollars. And more than 50 per cent of military purchases fall on India. Among Russia's partners are the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Indonesia, Venezuela, and Vietnam. And the sum of Russia's contracts with China for the supply of aviation products currently stands at 1 billion dollars. It is rather doubtful that all these countries will start buying military hardware somewhere else besides Russia, a military expert, Alexander Khramchikhin says.
"India, Vietnam and Algeria buy Russian military hardware because as a rule, it is cheaper than the Western equivalent. Second, because they have got accustomed to it, and third, because Russia - at least, for India and Vietnam - is ready to develop production there."
One of the examples of such cooperation is the Russian-Indian Joint Venture BrahMos. A hypersonic missile that was developed by the BrahMos international team was successfully launched last week. Its new modification is three times faster than the USA's subsonic Harpoon cruise missile. And now India has joined the club of nations that have a fleet of nuclear submarines.