Indian submarine returns to home base after repairs in Russia

The submarine Sinduratna of the Indian Navy has returned to its home base in Mumbai (Bombay) after two-year-long repairs and upgrading at the ship-building plant Zvyozdochka, in the northwestern Russian city of Severodvinsk, Zvyozdochka spokespeople report.

It took the Sinduratna 90 days to make it to India. Zvyozdochka specialists escorted her back home.

This diesel/electricity-propelled boat was designed by the St. Petersburg-based company Rubin and built at Nizhny Novgorod's Krasnoye Sormovo plant in 1988. Here are some of her technical specifications: displacement 2,300 tons; length 72.6 meters; width 9.9 meters; draft 6.2 meters; top velocity 10 knots on the surface, 18 knots submerged.

The submarine has had some new gear installed as part of the upgrading - such as a Club-S missile, designed to hit ships, submarines, and ground targets at a range of 200 kilometers; a hydro-acoustical system for combat control, and a navigational system.

The Sinduratna is the Indian Navy's second submarine to have been repaired at Russia's Zvyozdochka plant. Its Sinduwira boat was repaired and upgraded here in 1999.