IN interested in acquiring MQ-4C Triton for ocean surveillance

The Indian Navy has earlier shown interest in acquiring six to eight of the maritime variants of the US high altitude, long endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) for extended ocean surveillance. The drones have been upgraded as the MQ-4C Triton maritime surveillance platform for the U.S. Navy, providing real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance over vast ocean and coastal regions.

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Not so much the bad shape of the boat- it was never completed, but has been in a covered part of the shipyard in a high level of completion as far as hull goes. The hull is a great “lease”, though it will take some time to get it running. It’s not like it has been rotting away somewhere.

Amur on the other hand….does not pump out nuclear boats like it did in Soviet times.

so theoretically it could be completed using Indian funds and put into service within say 4-5 years of a contract signature then? Interestingly enough, the IN is going for its own SSN apart from the Akula class INS Chakra. No idea whether it will be a derivative of the INS Arihant or a new hull design with commonality of other systems to keep design costs low and reduce development time.

Speaking of which, here is a grainy shot of the INS Arihant going out of the harbor for sea trials

INS Kolkata to fire long range LR-SAM missile in 2015

Stealth destroyer INS Kolkata, the largest warship built in India, will fire a long-range surface-to-air missile (LR-SAM) for the first time in 2015.

“The vertical launch units of the LR-SAM, also called Barak 8, have been built into the vessel and the MF-STAR [multifunction surveillance and threat alert radar] is in place for missile guidance. All you need to do is take delivery of the missile, load it and fire. It is slated to take place next year,” Captain Tarun Sobti, Commanding Officer of INS Kolkata, told The Hindu during an exclusive tour of the ship.

The ship, commissioned in August in Mumbai, has just finished its maiden work-up here, during which the vessel and its crew were put through their paces by the Flag Officer Sea Training. The ship will carry 32 SAMs, with an enhanced range of up to 70 km, for missile defence.

An operational firing of the vertical BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, against surface targets, would be carried out early next year, Capt. Sobti said. The vessel fired BrahMos during the sea-acceptance trials off Karwar in June.

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And it appears that India will lease another Akula class SSN from Russia.

India to lease a second nuclear submarine from Russia

The Indian Navy will soon have another nuclear submarine. The government has decided to lease a second nuclear submarine from Russia, top Defence Ministry officials have told NDTV.

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India is looking at the hull of the Iribis – a Russian Akula class submarine – that was never completed after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

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