Russian Aircraft Carrier Admiral Kuznetsov

At a press conference Rogozin – Russia’s straight-talking former ambassador to NATO – told reporters that by next year “production capacity will allow us to build six submarines and an aircraft carrier every year”.

He went on to say that this would increase Russian naval production levels beyond those of the Soviet Union.

A Realistic proposal

The announcement follows a similar one, four years ago, that Russia would build six new aircraft carriers and it’s worth noting that no actual construction has begun since that announcement.

So, it’s not surprising that today’s news has been greeted with skepticism from analysts, who argue that this level of production is way beyond Russia’s capacity – or, for that matter, the capacity of any country in the world. Streetwise Professor points to the US aircraft carrier programme, and notes that construction of the USS Gerald Ford is expected to take 10 years. If Russia took roughly the same amount of time to build a carrier, then it would have to have at least ten of them in construction at any one time.

The Streetwise Professor points to news about delays in the construction of the new Russian Graney submarines as further evidence that Russia simply isn’t ready to ramp up its production of submarines. Indeed, post-Soviet Russian submarine construction has a very checkered history, and the last major submarine project – the construction of the Russian Nerpa submarine, which was recently leased to India, was beset by problems which ultimately led to the deaths of 20 Russian sailors.

Financial incentive

A Russian Akula II Submarine

But I’m increasingly wondering whether – assuming that production targets can actually be met – the Russian Navy will be the recipient of all of these new submarines. Or whether Russia actually has an eye to meeting the demands of the international market, and plans to set up a cottage industry supplying the world’s navies with state of the art submarines.

Last week I noted that many Asia-Pacific countries were investing heavily in their navies, particularly their submarines, and linked to this interesting article at the Boston Globe.

As well as strong links with India and China, Russia already has deals to supply submarines to Vietnam and to support the development of Taiwan’s navy. Moving further afield, it’s also done a deal with Venezuela to supply submarines.

There’s definitely a market out there for Russian naval technology, and if Russia can ally it to its proven experience elsewhere in the arms trade, this could prove to be a very lucrative market for it indeed.

Six new Russian submarines and a new aircraft carrier – every year is a post from: Siberian Light

A Russian Akula II Submarine

Russia has formally handed over the Nerpa, an Akula class nuclear submarine, to India.

The Nerpa, along with a second Akula submarine to be handed over shortly, will be leased to India for ten years in a deal thought to be worth $2 billion.

Under the terms of the deal, once the ten year deal expires, India has an option to then buy the two submarines outright.

In a ceremonial handover attended by the Indian ambassador, the Indian flag was raised over the submarine – now rechristened the INS Chakra – and control was handed entirely to its Indian crew who, for the first time, set sail without any Russian technical specialists on board.

The Nerpa’s troubled history

Construction of the Nerpa actually began in 1993, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but was suspended shortly afterwards for lack of funding. It wasn’t until 2004, when an agreement was reached to lease the submarine to India, that construction started again.

The submarine had been due to be transferred to India in 2009, but its transfer was delayed after 20 crewmen were killed in an accident during its sea trials when the Nerpa’s fire suppression system was accidentally set off. Freon gas released by the fire suppression system displaced oxygen from an isolated compartment, suffocating all the crew in the area.

The disaster was blamed on a member of the crew who activated the fire suppression system without authorisation. However, the quality of the construction work was criticised after the accident for being poor. Although many submarines were constructed at the Amur shipyard during the 1980s, the Nerpa was the only one built between 1993 and 2008. Because of the lack of work, many of workers with specialised skills had either left or retired, leaving the construction to a relatively inexperienced workforce. Concerns were also expressed that the metals used in the Nerpa were not good enough quality, having been bought from China at a low cost.

Close Russia-India ties

Picture reprinted with permission from crossed-flag-pins.com

The Nerpa deal is also indicative of increasingly strong ties between India and Russia. As well as this submarine deal, India and Russia have also agreed a number of other major arms sales, including the sale of the Russian Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier, which is due to enter service in the Indian Navy in 2013 as the INS Vikramaditya.

Ordinarily, you would expect a country like India to have the patience to wait a few years until its own technology enters service, but its local situation is very unstable – as well as the well-known tensions with Pakistan, there has been a rapid buildup of naval power by most countries in the Asia-Pacific and as one of the two major countries in the region, India has to take care not to be left behind.

As a consequence, many of these deals – such as the Nerpa deal – are designed as a stop-gap to boost the Indian military while it develops technology of its own. The Arihant, an Indian developed and built class of nuclear submarines, is due to enter service in the next few years.

Nerpa Nuclear Submarine delivered to India is a post from: Siberian Light

In Delhi, Aeroflot flies into Indira Gandhi International Airport. In Goa, flights go to Goa’s Dabolim Airport from the end of October onwards.

There are two Aeroflot India offices.

The Aeroflot Mumbai office can be found at 241-242 Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021, Tel: 022-2821682 (Reservations). The address of the Aeroflot Delhi office is: Delhi office: 1 BMC House, Middle Circle, Connaught Place, New Delhi 110001,
Tel: 011-3310426 (Reservations)

If you want to book a flight to India with Aeroflot, there are a number of options open to you. The first is to telephone Aeroflot using the numbers above. Bookings can be taken easily over the telephone. You can also make Aeroflot bookings by visiting the Aeroflot website and booking online.

If you aren’t comfortable booking direct with Aeroflot, then there is no problem to use any other online flight booking agent, such as Expedia, or Skyscanner. You can also book direct with Air India, which has a code sharing agreement with Aeroflot Russian airlines.

According to this Aeroflot press release, more than 150,000 passengers were carried on the Moscow – Delhi – Moscow route in 2003.

Before you fly, don’t forget to read our articles about Aeroflot baggage allowances, Aeroflot safety and, if you are a frequent flier, the Aeroflot bonus scheme.

Aeroflot India is a post from: Siberian Light

It has never been officially weighed, but is estimated to be approximately 190 carats, which makes it one of the largest cut diamonds in the world – at one point it was the third largest cut diamonds known.

The Orlov diamond, which is sometimes also referred to in older style spelling as the Orloff diamond is not, as many people wrongly assume, a Russian diamond. Instead it originally comes from India, and has a fascinating back-story (not much of which can be verified – but it makes a great tale, nonetheless).

An amazing find, it was incorporated into a statue in the Sri Rangandathawamy Temple of Srirangam, where it served as the statue’s eye. It stayed in temple until a French soldier heard of it. It is thought that he deserted from the French army and converted to Hinduism, solely so that he could gain access to the diamond – the temple was located on an island, and Christians were not allowed to enter. It took the soldier several years, but he eventually gained access to the temple and stole the diamond.

The soldier quickly escaped to Madras, in British controlled India and sold the diamond to an English captain for £2,000 – a massive sum at the time. The diamond was transported to England, and quickly sold on for £12,000 – a sum which we can assume left the ship’s captain a very rich man – to a Persian dealer.

At around the same time, Grigory Orlov, a Russian count had been busy advancing his political career by seducing Catherine the Great of Russia. When they met she was married to Peter III, the Emperor of Russia, and they are said to have had a passionate affair before Orlov helped her to depose her husband in the coup that led to her becoming Empress of Russia. However, the relationship did not last, and Orlov soon fell out of favour at the Russian court.

It was while trying to find a way back into Catherine’s favours that Orlov came into contact with the Persian merchant. He bought the diamond that was soon to become named after him for a reported 400,000 Dutch Florins, and presented it to Catherine on Catherine’s day 1766, in lieu of flowers.

Catherine accepted the diamond, named it after Orlov, and had it placed into a sceptre designed especially to house the diamond. The gift didn’t, however, win Orlov back his place in Catherine’s affections.

The diamond is now regarded as one of the most famous Russian diamonds, and is on display at the Kremlin in Moscow.

(Note: The Orlov Diamond should not be confused with the Black Orlov diamond which, as its name suggests, is black in colour. This diamond is also reported to be of Indian origin, but this is thought to be inaccurate. It is privately owned, and not on display at the Kremlin.)

Orlov Diamond is a post from: Siberian Light

In late February it was discovered that India and USA have begun consultation at the high level about question of cooperation in the area of ballistic missile defence. According to a statement by Robert Gates, US Secretary of State for Defense, the question was about US participation in the development of an Indian ballistic missile defence system.

“We’re beginning to talk about conducting a joint analysis on what India’s needs would be in the realm of missile defence, and where co-operation might help advance that.”

This is a very important project for Deli, because India is facing threats from neigbouring states� threats, especially from Pakistan, which has nuclear weapon. This expansion of military cooperation between India and USA implies certain consequences for geopolitics.

India�s entering to American influence is one more stage in the development of the so called Big Asia Belt, which includes all the countries from Turkey to Iraq, Afganistan and Pakistan to Indo-China. Russia left this region in 2003 giving up its base in Vietnam. As a result there are only two countries which are free of American military influence in this region � Iran and China.

Cooperation in the area of ballistic missile defence development gives the US an opportunity to include India in the global American anti-missile system. However, taking into account military activity in Caucasus, cooperation between Deli and Washington may lead to Russian concerns that any Southern missile defence system would also be directed at Russia. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact, that Robert Gates visit to India synchronized with preparations for the placement of the American anti-missile system in Czech Republic and Poland. And, at the same time NATO has been holding a summit where a key item on the agenda was whether to include Ukraine and Georgia as NATO members and whether to begin cooperation with these countries in the anti-missile sphere.

Does Russia still sell what countries want to buy?

Russia has been selling military equipment to India for many years. Also it has been negotiating for the last 5 years about the creation of an Indian missile defence system based on the Russia C-400 system.

However, Russia has not proved a reliable supplier, and a few big contracts have been broken. India accuses Russian producers, because they often don�t deliver on time, or ask for more resources. Moreover, India complains that Russian equipment is often of very low quality.

One of the biggest scandals happened 4 years ago. India discovered a lot of defects in the anti-air system �Shtil-1�, which has been installed on 3 destroyers. These system even couldn�t hit the target! As a result, a �Rosoboronexport� � Russia�s ams export agency � were fined $40 million.

Currently there is a conflict between India and �Rosoboronexport� which touches on reconstruction of the aircraft �Admiral Gorshkov�. Accordng to the contract which was signed 4 years ago, reconstruction of the aircraft must be done by 2011. But Russia recently said that expenses for modernization described in the contract were twice under-estimated. That is why Russia has asked to prolong the time of works and asked for more finances. The same thing has happened with other projects. One month ago India rejected to accept submarine �Sinduvijay� which has been reconstructed in Severodvinsk.

A lot of claims have been made against other projects: planes have defects which make them impossible to use, components are supplied with a huge delay and their quality is very low. All this makes India less likely to buy Russian military equipment. Currently India buys weapons in USA and following the recent visit of Robert Gates to India, it was decided to begin cooperation in the sphere of nuclear technologies.

Similar problems complicate relations between Russia and China. China already has given up to buying Russian military equipment. Algeria also refused to accept planes and tanks because their quality doesn�t correspond international norms.

Russian euphoria, which appeared in 2003-2005 with growth of orders for military equipment, resulted in over-estimation of forces and capacities by Russian organizations which were producers of military equipment. They signed more contracts for weapon supply than they could realize.

All this has almost destroyed the image of Russia in the sphere of militaty technologies. And in fact Moscow soon will find out itself sidelined in the market of military equipment, particularly in the Asiatic market.

In my opinion Russia will lose its place in the market, if does not take certain measures to improve of its image among countries currently looking to buy military equipment. In particular, it must ensure that it makes a realistic estimation of its capacities � financial and timings � and ensure that the equipment it supplies is of sufficient quality.

Is the US replacing Russia as Asia’s arms supplier? is a post from: Siberian Light