“Sea Soul” – disaster of Indian Ocean

Sea Soul is the name of Indian Navy’s submarine which will be repaired by Russian shipbuilders. In Hindi, this name sounds like Sindugosh. This is already the third submarine of Kolo class, or 636 project (or Vashavyanka, according to Russian classification), which will be repaired in Russian dockyards. The first repaired in Russia submarine Sinduvir (something like “Mermaid”) has already gone 14 thousand miles in Indian Ocean. The second one, Sinduratna (“Sea Pearl”) will leave Severodvinsk dock Zvezdochka this August. Speeding up by India of signing the Sindugosh contract could be probably explained by its confrontation with Pakistan. Kilo submarines are armed with Club cruise missiles with dot pointing of warheads and they are able to defeat both water and coast targets at a distance of 1,200 km. These submarines which were also built in Russian works Red Sormovo, in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, and in Admiralty Dockyards in St Petersburg, have great hydroacoustic characteristics. Taking into account the fact that Pakistani military ships are mostly armed with out-of-date acoustic equipment, they cannot hear Indian Kilo submarines underwater. Apropos, Indians are very pleased with reception of their crews in the city of Severodvinsk: officers and sailors who came with their families received separate flats in a specially build house, while their children go to the best school of the city, where they are being taught Russian. The replacement of Indian guests will take place in August: Sinduratna will go to Indian Ocean, while Sindugosh will moor in the moor line of Zvezdochka work.

Andrei Mikhailov Specially for PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Vera Solovieva

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/06/08/42413.html