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Russia in stormy waters over Indian
frigates
By Sergei Blagov
MOSCOW - Russia on Wednesday solemnly delivered
an advanced stealth frigate to India in the latest twist
in its long-running saga of naval supplies to the South
Asian sub-continent.
The handover of the
Krivak-III class frigate, INS Talwar (Sword), took place
at St Petersburg's Baltiysky Wharf shipbuilders and the
ceremony in Russia's "northern capital" was attended by
Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, supreme commander of the
Russian navy, and visiting Chief of Army Staff of India,
General Nirmal Chandra Vij.
With several radar
signature-reducing features, the stealth frigate, known
as Project 1135.6 in Russia, passed all tests, including
weaponry, in the Baltic Sea, according to the Russian
official news agency RIA. For nearly one month, 28
Indian officers and 230 sailors practiced in operating
the frigate.
Two other frigates, INS Tabar and
INS Trishul, are still being built by Russia as part of
an estimated US$1 billion deal signed in November 1997.
The frigates are equipped with Indian-made communication
equipment, diesel generators from Denmark, German water
purifiers and Ukrainian turbines.
The frigates
are designed for anti-submarine warfare and the air
defense of warship groups. They are equipped with a
number of weapon systems, including eight vertical
launch cells for the Klub-N anti-ship and anti-submarine
cruise missiles, as well as the Shtil surface-to-air
missile system. The frigates are also designed to carry
one heavy-duty helicopter, like the Kamov-28 Helix-A
anti-submarine warfare chopper.
The remaining
two frigates are due to be delivered to the Indian navy
later this year, Russian state-run RTR television
channel commented. But according to earlier media
reports, the third frigate, INS Tabar, will be ready for
induction only by 2004-05.
"If our Indian
clients are satisfied by the quality of work, then we
expect more contracts," Andrei Belyaninov, chief of
Russia's predominant arms exporter, Rosoboronexport,
commented. Early this year, Belyaninov stated that he
expected 2003 to be a breakthrough year for producers of
naval and air defense systems.
However, there
have been indications otherwise. Some Russian media
outlets, notably the influential Russian Izvestia daily,
reported that Vij came to Russia to settle an alleged
major row over the frigate deal. According to Izvestia,
the Indian navy had refused to accept the two remaining
frigates, allegedly due to the poor quality of the
Russian weaponry. Moreover, expired missiles were
reportedly supplied for the Shtil missile complex, hence
the system under-performed. There has been no official
Russian reaction relative to these media allegations.
Last fall, the Russians reportedly said that the
frigate was ready for delivery. More than 400 personnel,
with each crew comprising around 20 officers and 180
sailors, were sent to Russia for training on two of the
frigates. On arrival, the Indians reportedly discovered
that the surface-to-air missile system was not
performing, and the INS Trishul crew was recalled.
Indian naval officials reportedly did not want to accept
the warships, which they viewed as not combat-ready.
India signed the deal for the purchase of the
three 4,000-tonne frigates in November 1997, and since
then it has been marred by controversy. Last year's crew
recall was the second major delay: the first occurred
because of mismanagement in the shipyard in the initial
stages of the project.
Baltiysky's management
reportedly privatized the wharf, using $50 million
allegedly taken from the Indian down payment. Then, in
an attempt to cover a lack of funding, Baltiysky
attempted to get a deal to supply the Chinese navy with
destroyers - known as Project 956E in Russia - from
Northern Wharf, another shipbuilding facility in St
Petersburg.
Hence Russia's deal to build
Sovremenny-class destroyers for the Chinese also became
marred by scandals. That $1.4 billion deal was clinched
in Moscow in January 2002. The government had named
Northern Wharf as the contractor because the firm had
built destroyers for the Russian navy and supplied two
previous such destroyers to China, delivered in December
1999 and November 2000.
After China reportedly
transferred $610 million to Northern Wharf as payment
for the destroyers, deputies in the Russian parliament
claimed that the company had failed to pay $300 million
in taxes. Subsequently, a government tender commission
recommended that Baltiysky Wharf carry out the rest of
the contract.
However, Beijing was reportedly
reluctant to have its destroyers built at Baltiysky,
where Indian naval vessels were being built, and
threatened to cancel the deal. So the government moved
to give the contract back to the Northern Wharf, and in
response Baltiysky pointed out that it contributed
heavily to the construction of Project 956E in terms of
components, and should the contract be taken away, it
would refuse to supply these. The government replied
that it would not tolerate any ultimatums from Baltiysky
and so Project 956E was returned to the Northern Wharf.
Baltiysky then managed to complete the Indian order with
longish delays.
During the past 45 years, the
former Soviet Union and then Russia has built a total of
67 naval vessels for India. Yet success in the past
cannot guarantee future results. Izvestia also
speculated that the current dispute over the frigates
may prompt India to backtrack on a long-awaited deal to
procure the Russian-built Admiral Gorshkov aircraft
carrier for an estimated $500 million.
According
to a report earlier this month by the Center for
Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, a Moscow-based
think tank, Russia delivered a total of $4.8 billion
worth of arms last year and received revenues of $4.5
billion, a third consecutive post-Soviet record.
Konstantin Makiyenko, deputy head of the center, said
that some $1 billion should be received this year with
the delivery of the three frigates for India. Yet he
argues that if Russia does not intensify marketing of
aircraft carriers and submarines, defense exports may go
down in 2005 and 2006, when most of the current
contracts will end.
(Copyright 2003 Asia Times
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