Project 1135-6 Stealth Frigate
Defence deals worth more than $ 8 billion are expected to be inked next month when the annual summit of India-Russia takes place in New Delhi

by Huma Siddiqui

Sources confirmed to FE that, “Besides the $ 2.2 bn deal for Frigates of Project 1135-6 frigates for the Indian Navy, the $ 5.5 bn S-400 Triumf advanced air defence missile system and the $1-bn Kamov-226 helicopters will be part of the agenda when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Russian President Vladmir Putin meet in New Delhi, next month.”

Progress report will be shared on the 140 Kamov-KA-226 helicopters, the joint venture for which was inked at the BRICS summit in Goa in 2016, and are to be built in India as part of ‘Make in India’ initiative. Russian government firm Rostec Corporation has a 49.5% stake and state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) has a 50.5 % stake.

As reported earlier, due to US-related sanctions imposed on Russia, payments could run into problems and these are issues that will be discussed at both at delegation as well as bilateral talks between the two countries.

“Russia has expressed its keenness to invest in India in collaboration with the central government, especially in manufacturing spare parts of aircraft and making defence planes.”

Under the Project 1135-6 frigates for the Indian Navy, Moscow and New Delhi are looking at the possibility of transporting the hulls of the frigates, currently located at the Yantar shipyards in Kaliningrad Oblast, to the Goa shipyard which has been nominated for this project by the government.

The S-400 Triumf advanced air defence missile system which was expected to be stalled due to Washington’s Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), is expected to be inked soon.

On July 1, 2018 the Indian Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) cleared the $5.5 billion agreement to purchase S-400 air defence missile systems from Russia with minor changes. The deal gained preliminary approval from the DAC in 2016.