leave it to the Frogs, to name an "Underwater" warship, for a DESERT BUG!!!
Posted on 07/09/2005 9:45:47 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
French deal stuck; Germans make submarine pitch
Saturday July 9 2005 00:00 IST
NEW DELHI: With the deal for French Scorpene submarines stuck at the Cabinet level, the Germans are in the country again, pitching hard for their HDW Class 214 submarines to be considered for what will be a Rs 12,000 crore order.
With the French making a full attempt to convince the government to close the deal, the Germans are determined to get a foot in the door.Top officials representing the German shipbuilder HDW - including a technical expert from the shipyard and a management top-brass - were in the Capital for the last few days.
They made a comprehensive presentation to the Navy’s controller of warship production & acquisition, Vice-Admiral JS Bedi, on Tuesday.
The HDW officials have been regularly visiting India ever since the firm was cleared of corruption charges three months ago. The case involved their sale of four submarines to the Indian Navy in the mid-1980s.
But the current visit by the HDW officials has a special significance. For the first time, they told the Navy that the HDW Class-214 submarine could be integrated with submarine-to-land missile systems, including the American Sub-Harpoon or Russian Klub-3M-54E1 (now part of the Navy’s Kilo-class subs).
Significantly, it was the absence of such a missile capability on the proposed Class 214 that originally compelled the government to look at the French Scorpene, which can fire Exocet-39 missiles.
The company has also suggested that interest in the Sub-Harpoon missiles would now be simpler to address, considering growing Indo-US relations. For the Navy, the delays are proving to be a serious threat to force levels, though Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash has said the force is equipped for all current threat perceptions.
The Navy currently operates four German HDW 209 submarines of the Shishumar-class.
High-level visits, both from France and Germany, have now become commonplace.
Last year saw the visit of Germany’s industry minister Peter Eickenboom, while the French Navy vice-chief visited a month ago. The Indian contract will be one of the largest single submarine purchases in the region.
A team from the German firm will be visiting later this month to discuss the all-important subject of offsets and licensed technology transfer. Vice-Admiral Bedi was given also given a comprehensive introduction to the Fuel Cell-powered Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system - technology that allows longer and quieter submerged missions.
Interestingly, the Germans also presented the Navy with the option of integrating a Light Missile System, which makes the submarine capable of firing missiles at Anti-Submarine Warfare helicopters hovering just above the ocean surface.
Wouldn't it be better if the words like "crore", "lakh", "jawan" etc. (which are routinely found in Indian papers) were given their English equivalents?
A crore is equal to 10 million & by current exchange rates(1 dollar equals about 44 rupees),the amount given is equal to around 3 billion US dollars.
leave it to the Frogs, to name an "Underwater" warship, for a DESERT BUG!!!
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