India to Lease a Second Nuclear Submarine From Russia

[Trawllu]

I guess not.

Yasen class would be worth it even at a high cost.

+ consider the learnings + crew being trained on it and high end systems how many ste of crew can be trained and retrained and refreshed in 10 years ?

 

[sancho]

There appears to be a certain degree of confirmation that this sub won't be the usual Ackula II, as was the case in K-152.

On what information do you base that?

 

[Guynextdoor2]

The Decision should have been taken in 2011, now by the time we get this Sub, Chakra II would already be 10 Yrs old and her lease would be about to expire.

Unless their is an under the table negotiations going on, under which The lease of Nerpa will be extended by another 10-15 years, once the current lease expire.

This will ensure that we will have 2 SSNs in service, by the time our first domestic SSN enters service.

As far as SSBNs are concerned, INS Arihant will enter service in 2016, after completing its Sea trials, INS Arhidaman on the other hand, could enter service in 2020, third SSBN could take till 2022-24

The only reason why they are being 'leased' is because these kinds of strategic machines cannot be 'sold' in the market. Chakra 2's lease will be 'extended' routinely until retirement.

 

[sancho]

The only reason why they are being 'leased' is because these kinds of strategic machines cannot be 'sold' in the market. Chakra 2's lease will be 'extended' routinely until retirement.

Depends on if the Russian Navy want them back or not? The only reason why the Nerpa or even the Gorshkov carrier wasn't finished or refurbished, was the lack of funds, not because they didn't want these vessels. So they will be highly interested in adding the Akula to their their fleet, that needs modernisations too and unless Russian MoD can provide proper orders of the Yasen class, the Nerpa will be a good addition even in 10 years.

 

[Guynextdoor2]

Depends on if the Russian Navy want them back or not? The only reason why the Nerpa or even the Gorshkov carrier wasn't finished or refurbished, was the lack of funds, not because they didn't want these vessels. So they will be highly interested in adding the Akula to their their fleet, that needs modernisations too and unless Russian MoD can provide proper orders of the Yasen class, the Nerpa will be a good addition even in 10 years.

Well we gotta wait and watch then.

 

[Luca1]

The only reason why they are being 'leased' is because these kinds of strategic machines cannot be 'sold' in the market. Chakra 2's lease will be 'extended' routinely until retirement.

They can but only among P5.

US even sold SLBM trident III to Britain.

 

[Trawllu]

Depends on if the Russian Navy want them back or not? The only reason why the Nerpa or even the Gorshkov carrier wasn't finished or refurbished, was the lack of funds, not because they didn't want these vessels. So they will be highly interested in adding the Akula to their their fleet, that needs modernisations too and unless Russian MoD can provide proper orders of the Yasen class, the Nerpa will be a good addition even in 10 years.

@Guynextdoor2

no i dont think they will want nerpa back

by the time 2020 - they will have a new double hull design

 

[sancho]

@Guynextdoor2

no i dont think they will want nerpa back

by the time 2020 - they will have a new double hull design

They will have a new sub in production, but will the MoD have enough money to order more? Look at the current state of Russia with sanctions, the currency and the economy gowing down and the US forcing the Oil price to very low levels, all that hurts Russia and their financial capability to support their forces. So if they can't afford to order more SSNs and have to phase our older subs by the time the Nerpa lease ends, they surely will be happy to add it to their fleet without additional costs or delays.
The fact is, the lease doesn't automatically extend the operations in Indian Navy and the sub as such still belongs to Russia, that's why they decide if we can use it longer or not. We can only ask them for an extention and have to see if the costs (and they surely will be higher than the initial deal) justifies another lease.
The lease of the 2nd sub will make us dependent on Russia too, that's why I would prefer a bigger deal with licence production capability and ToT to India. That would benefit both industries / countries, but makes us less dependent on Russia.