http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2006/01/12/041.html

Thursday, January 12, 2006. Issue 3329. Page 5.

State Shipper Wins $1Bln Indian Order
By Lyuba Pronina
Staff Writer

State-controlled battleship maker Yantar has won a government tender worth around $1 billion to build three frigates for India, sweeping the deal away from Kremlin-connected financier Sergei Pugachyov.

“The results [of the tender] were announced on Dec. 22 by the inter-ministerial commission. … The contract signing is now under way between Rosoboronexport and the customer,” Yantar first deputy general director Vladimir Kiselyov said from company headquarters in Kaliningrad.

The deal would be worth no less than $1 billion, Kiselyov added.

The Krivak-class frigates on order weigh 4,000 tons, are roughly 125 meters long and are equipped with advanced weapons systems capable of striking naval, aerial and coastal targets.

Rosoboronexport, which negotiates the vast majority of the country’s weapons export contracts, was not available for comment Tuesday.

The deal should be signed this year, Kiselyov said, adding that it would take 56 months to deliver the first frigate.

Winning the tender, Yantar beat off St. Petersburg-based rivals Severnaya Verf and Baltiisky Zavod by offering a better delivery schedule and a “better relationship with the Russian Navy,” Kiselyov said.

Both Severnaya and Baltiisky are controlled by United Industrial Corp., or OPK. In turn, OPK is owned by Mezhprombank, which is controlled by Pugachyov, who is also a Federation Council senator.

OPK bought Baltiisky last year, ending a long-running rivalry with Severnaya Verf for export contracts. Baltiisky itself had completed a similar deal worth $1 billion with India back in 2004.

Kiselyov said Yantar would build the same class of frigate as Baltiisky. A Mezhprombank spokesman was not able to comment Tuesday.

The Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation with Foreign Countries refused to comment.

“For Yantar, this contract is a real chance to remain a player in the market,” said Konstantin Makiyenko, deputy head of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, a defense think tank. “It looks like the Russian military too would prefer to have competing shipmakers at a time when the government is trying to bring them together.”

will be similar to earlier Burke class – have a heli deck but no hanger which means no repair or bad weather stowage is possible. kashin has the wierdest helo hanger I know of.

I still think we should be concentrating on high class green n bluewater ASW JMSDF style though.

land attack should be left to a new class of land attack cruisers armed with
2 x 55 cal 5″ guns and lets say 40 brahmos sized cells with a point defence of 32 barak and 2 kashtan-M. kinda a poor mans ddx. should have significant radar and SIGINIT capability to direct a marine task force and observe the picture over land 100s of km away. the helo deck should be used to launch and recover long range rotor-UAVs and anti-sub UUV.

Adapters must be developed to accomodate future missiles also …. perhaps licensing a mod of the Sylver strikelength version is the way fwd.

remember the kashins are giving up their lone helicopters though in exchange for the
brahmos. the helo hanger volume is occupied by vls array now.

the helo landing deck is now little more than a exercise yard for the sailors. methinks in
the center of it they can put a 8×4 array of barak to add more sting in the tail.