Navies, Ships, Submarines, Drones etc.

[balkannj]

Russian carrier allowed to conduct exercises in Greece

Greece has agreed for the first time to allow a Russian aircraft carrier to conduct military exercises in the southeast Aegean and within Greek air space this month, the Defense Ministry said yesterday. The carrier Kuznetsov will operate southeast of the Dodecanese island of Rhodes today, tomorrow and on January 8 and 10. It will also conduct exercises south of Crete on January 11. The ministry said that Russian Sukhoi 25 and Sukhoi 33 fighter aircraft and Kamov helicopters would take part in the operations. The Kuznetsov is currently on a mission in the Mediterranean with other ships in Russia’s northern fleet.

www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/politics_1KathiLev&xml/&aspKath/politics.asp&fdate=03/01/2009

[balkannj]

Russia plans navy bases in Mideast and African ports

Fri Jan 16, 2009 11:25am GMT

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has decided to establish naval bases in Libya, Syria and Yemen within a few years, a Russian military official was quoted as saying Friday by Itar-Tass news agency.

"It is difficult to say how much time it will take to create the bases for our fleet in these countries, but within a few years this will be done without question," the official was quoted as saying. "The political decision on this question has been taken," the official said. A spokesman for the Russian navy could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Kremlin is seeking to play a more assertive role in world politics and has been using its military to project its new-found confidence beyond its borders.

Russian nuclear-capable strategic bombers regularly fly around the globe on patrols, and warships traverse the oceans in another show of force by Moscow.

Analysts have said that the Syrian port of Tartus could be revived as a Russian naval base. During the Cold War, the Soviet navy had a permanent presence in the Mediterranean, using Tartus as a supply point.

Russian media reported that opening a naval base in the Libyan port of Benghazi was among the main issues discussed during Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's visit to Moscow in October last year.

[TsarSamuil]

Report: Russia to build new submarines equipped with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.

AP
Mar 27, 2009 10:58 EST

Russia said that new submarines will be armed with improved nuclear-tipped cruise missiles, a state-connected news agency reported Friday.

ITAR-Tass quoted the Defense Ministry as saying that the first in a series of six atomic submarines, the Severodvinsk, will join the navy in 2011. At least five other submarines of the same type will be built by 2017, it said.

The new hypersonic cruise missiles with increased range are designed to strike "aircraft carriers of the potential enemy if they pose a direct threat to Russia's security," the ministry said, according to ITAR-Tass. It said the missiles are also capable of hitting land targets.

A Defense Ministry spokesman declined to comment on the report.

Russia has increasingly relied on nuclear weapons to compensate for the decline of its conventional forces.

In December, the chief of the Russian military's general staff, Gen. Nikolai Makarov, said Russia will keep its arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons, which he said were necessary to counter a massive NATO advantage in conventional weapons.

Tactical nuclear weapons have a much shorter range compared to strategic nuclear weapons. They are intended for use within a theater of battle.

The United States and the Soviet Union decided in 1991 to eliminate some of their non-strategic nuclear weapons and withdraw others from duty, including those used by navy ships.

But in 2006 Russia signaled it no longer intended to abide by that decision when then-Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said that Russian submarines were carrying tactical nuclear weapons on patrol.

Earlier this week, the Russian navy's deputy chief of staff said the role of tactical nuclear weapons in the Russian navy may grow. Vice Adm. Oleg Burtsev said the increasing range and precision of tactical nuclear weapons makes them an important asset.



warfare.ru/?linkid=1764&catid=305

[TsarSamuil]

Russia's newest frigate starts final sea trials in Baltic Sea

RIA Novosti ^ | 13/ 05/ 2009

KALININGRAD, May 13 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's newest frigate, the Yaroslav Mudry, has started state-commissioned sea trials in the Baltic Sea, a spokesman for the Yantar shipyard said on Wednesday.

The frigate is the second vessel in the 11540 Yastreb series after the Neustrashimy, which recently took part in an anti-piracy operation in the Gulf of Aden.

"After the trials, the ship will undergo a final inventory check, and will be handed over to the Russian Defense Ministry in mid-June," the official said.

Earlier reports said the frigate was due to enter service in April. The construction of the Yaroslav Mudry has taken almost 19 years, due to financing shortages.

The frigate has a displacement of 4,250 metric tons and a maximum speed of 30 knots. It is armed with anti-ship missiles, air defense systems, a 100-mm artillery mount, depth charges, and a Ka-27 helicopter.

The frigate suffered minor damage on May 4 during preliminary sea trials when a Ka-27 helicopter crash-landed on the deck and fell into the sea.

"The crash of the Baltic Fleet's Ka-27 helicopter, whose rotor blades damaged the ship's bulkhead, had practically no effect on the schedule of the state-commissioned trials and the deadline for the ship's handover [to the Defense Ministry]," the spokesman said.

[TsarSamuil]

Russia's first Persian Gulf naval presence coordinated with Tehran

DEBKAfile ^ | 05/26/09 | DEBKAfile

Russian warships are due to call Wednesday, May 27, at the Bahrain port of Manama, seat of the US Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf, DEBKAfile's military sources reveal. They will be following in the wake of the Russian vessels already docked at the Omani port of Salalah, the first to avail themselves of facilities at Gulf ports.

Their arrival is fully coordinated between the Russian and Iranian naval commands.

According to our sources, this is the first time a Russian flotilla will have taken on provisions and fuel at the same Gulf ports which hitherto serviced only the US Navy. Moscow has thus gained its first maritime foothold in the Persian Gulf.

The flotilla consists of four vessels from Russia's Pacific Fleet: The submarine fighter Admiral Panteleyev is due at Manama Wednesday, escorted by the refueling-supply ship Izhorai, The supply-battleship Irkut and the rescue craft BM-37 are already docked in Salalah.

DEBKAfile's military sources report that the Russians, like the Iranians, cover their stealthy advance into new waters by apparent movements for joining the international task force combating Somali pirates. While Iranian warships have taken up positions in the Gulf of Aden, the Russians are moving naval units southeast into the Persian Gulf.

Monday, May 25, the Iranian naval chief, Adm. Habibollah Sayyari, announced that six Iranian warships had been dispatched to "the international waters" of the Gulf of Aden in a "historically unprecedented move… to show its ability to confront any foreign threats." He did not bother to mention the pirates.

Russian and Iranian naval movements in the two strategic seas are clearly synchronized at the highest levels in Tehran and Moscow.

Our military analysts find Russia and Iran seizing the moment for supplanting positions held exclusively by the US and other western fleets. They are taking advantage of two developments:

1. The number of US warships maintained in the Gulf has been reduced to its lowest level in two years; President Obama quietly reduced their presence near Iran's shores in order to generate a positive atmosphere for the coming US dialogue with the Islamic Republic. Not a single US aircraft carrier is consequently to be found anywhere in the Gulf region.

2. Monday, May 25, President Nicolas Sarkozy inaugurated France's first naval facility in the Gulf in Abu Dhabi. The Russian and Iranian policy-makers see no reason why Moscow cannot set up a military presence in the region if Paris can.

[TsarSamuil]

Russia to lay down 2nd Graney class nuclear sub in July.

MOSCOW, June 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will start construction of a second Project 885 Yasen (Graney) class nuclear-powered multipurpose attack submarine in July, a shipbuilding industry official said on Thursday.

Project 855 Yasen (Graney) class nuclear submarines combine the ability to launch a variety of long-range cruise missiles (up to 3,100 miles) with nuclear warheads, and effectively engage hostile submarines and surface warships.

"A second Yasen class nuclear submarine will be laid down on July 24 at the Sevmash shipyard on the eve of Russian Navy Day," said Vladimir Pyalov, general director of the Malakhit design bureau.

Pyalov said the new sub would be named Kazan.

Work on the first submarine in the series - the Severodvinsk - started in 1992, and the vessel had been scheduled to be commissioned before 1998. However, the construction was significantly delayed for financial reasons, and work had been suspended until 2001.

In 2003 Sevmash reportedly received extra funding to accelerate the completion of the Severodvinsk. Since then, the construction cost of the submarine had to be adjusted, and in 2008 financing totaled 4 billion rubles ($146 mln).

Pyalov confirmed on Thursday that the Severodvinsk would be commissioned by the Russian Navy in 2010.

"The Sevmash shipyard will float out the Severodvinsk submarine in December this year, and after a series of sea trials it will join the Russian navy in 2010," the official said.

The submarine's armament includes 24 cruise missiles, including the 3M51 Alfa SLCM, the SS-NX-26 Oniks SLCM or the SS-N-21 Granat/Sampson SLCM. It will also have eight torpedo tubes as well as mines and anti-ship missiles such as SS-N-16 Stallion.

Russia's Navy commander, Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky, said in July last year that the construction of new-generation nuclear-powered ballistic missile and attack submarines is a top priority for the Russian Navy's development.

Under the Russian State Arms Procurement Program for 2007-2015, the Navy will receive several dozen surface ships and submarines, including five Project 955 Borey nuclear-powered strategic ballistic missile submarines equipped with new Bulava ballistic missiles, two Project 885 Yasen nuclear-powered multipurpose submarines, six Project 677 Lada diesel-electric submarines, three Project 22350 frigates and five Project 20380 corvettes.

[TsarSamuil]

Video
www.ntv.ru/news/107427/

Russia launches first nuclear submarine since USSR's collapse

Pravda ^ | 23.06.2009

Russia’s strategic nuclear-powered Yury Dolgoruki submarine has finally been launched. It is the first submarine, which Russia made after the collapse of the USSR. Russian shipbuilders can be both proud and ashamed of the new cruiser: the works on the submarine began 16 years ago.

The construction of the nuclear cruiser was very slow due to the lack of finance. When the submarine was finally assembled, it turned out that the Bulava rocket was not ready for it. Officials of Russia’s Defense Ministry say that the new rocket would be passed into service in 2009 or in 2010.

The Yury Dolgoruki can submerge at the depth of 400 meters. The cruising capacity makes up 90 days. The submarine is 160 meters long and 13.5 meters wide. The sub is equipped with torpedoes and cruise missiles. It also has six torpedo launchers and shoulder-fired air defense systems. The submarine can fire Bulava missiles from 12 launching silos, but all of them are empty for the time being.

Yury Dolgoruki is the first SSBN submarine of the Borei class that is being built for the Russian Navy. Named after the founder of Moscow Yury Dolgoruki, it was laid down on 2 November 1996 and was first planned to enter service in 2001.

However, the SS-N-28 missile that the Borei class was supposed to carry was abandoned after several failed tests, and the submarine was redesigned for the Bulava missile. Based on the Russian Topol-M (SS-27) ICBM the Bulava missile is smaller than the original SS-N-28, and in the 2007 START treaty data exchange it was reported that all Borei-class submarines would carry 16 missiles instead of 12, as originally intended.

The submarine was rolled out of its construction hall into a launch dock on 15 April 2007 in Severodvinsk, when it was about 82% complete. The Russian Government has allocated nearly 5 billion rubles, or 40% of the Navy's 2007 weapons budget, for the completion of the submarine.

[TsarSamuil]

Russia to take part in Indian diesel submarine tender.

ST. PETERSBURG, June 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will participate in an expected tender to supply diesel-electric submarines to the Indian navy, the Russian state arms exporter said on Friday.

"We will offer India an export version of the Lada class diesel submarine - the Amur class vessel. We will take part in the Indian tender when it is announced with these submarines or vessels of another class," said Oleg Azizov, head of Rosoboronexport's delegation at the International Maritime Defense Show 2009 in St. Petersburg.

"We have a bilateral cooperation agreement [in the military-technical sphere] until 2020, which includes the possibility of supplying submarines to this country," Azizov added.

The Project-677, or Lada class, diesel submarine, whose export version is known as the Amur 1650, features a new anti-sonar coating for its hull, an extended cruising range, and advanced anti-ship and anti-submarine weaponry, including the Club-S integrated cruise missile systems.

Azizov also said Vietnam and Egypt were studying the possibility of buying Russian Project 636 Kilo class diesel submarines.

"Vietnam is still studying various possibilities for the development of its submarine fleet. If they choose Project 636 submarines, offered by Russia, we will start talks on the issue," the official said, adding that the same approach applied to Egypt.

The Project 636 Kilo class submarine is thought to be one of the most silent submarine classes in the world. It has been specifically designed for anti-shipping and anti-submarine operations in relatively shallow waters.

Russia has built Kilo class submarines for India, China and Iran.

Azizov earlier said Russia could sell up to 40 fourth-generation diesel-electric submarines to foreign customers by 2015.

[TsarSamuil]

en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/

Russia set to build up its naval facilities in Syria.

MOSCOW, July 20 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Navy will expand and modernize its Soviet-era naval maintenance site near Tartus in Syria to support anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast, a high-ranking navy source said on Monday.

About 50 naval personnel and three berthing floats are currently deployed at the Tartus site, which can accommodate up to a dozen warships.

"Two tug boats from the Black Sea Fleet will deliver a new berthing float to Tartus," the source said.

"Following modernization, the Russian naval maintenance site in Tartus will become fully-operational," he added.

The Navy maintenance site near Tartus is the only Russian foothold in the Mediterranean. Russian navy commanders have long been calling for the expansion and modernization of the Tartus base.

"The base in Tartus will provide all necessary support for the Russian warships which will be engaged in protecting commercial shipping around the Horn of Africa," the official said.

According to the Russian Navy, the naval base in Syria significantly boosts Russia's operational capability in the region because the warships based there are capable of reaching the Red Sea through the Suez Canal and the Atlantic through the Strait of Gibraltar in a matter of days.

Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the deputy chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, said in January that the General Staff had backed the Navy command's proposal to develop naval infrastructure outside Russia.

Russia has reportedly been involved in talks to establish naval facilities in Yemen, Syria and Libya, among other countries in the Mediterranean.

[TsarSamuil]

Russia Navy must seek alternative to Sevastopol base - top brass.

MOSCOW, July 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Black Sea Fleet should have at least two main bases, in Sevastopol and Novorossiisk, the first deputy chief of the Navy General Staff said on Saturday.

"The fleet should not have a single base [in Sevastopol] because it would be a mistake to put all our eggs in one basket," Vice Admiral Oleg Burtsev said in an interview on Ekho Moskvy radio station.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet uses a range of naval facilities in Ukraine's Crimea, including the main base in Sevastopol, as part of a 1997 agreement, under which Ukraine agreed to lease the bases to Russia until 2017.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko announced last summer that Ukraine would not extend the lease of the Sevastopol base beyond 2017, and urged the Russian fleet to start preparations for a withdrawal.

Burtsev said regardless of the outcome of the talks on the extension of the 1997 agreement on Russian naval facilities in Ukraine Russia will continue the development of infrastructure in Novorossiisk.

"We have no other option but to develop the infrastructure at the base in Novorossiisk," he said.

In 2003, President Vladimir Putin signed a presidential decree setting up a naval base for the Black Sea Fleet in Novorossiisk. Russia has allocated 12.3 billion rubles (about $480 million) for the construction of the new base between 2007 and 2012.

The construction of other facilities and infrastructure at the base, including for coastal troops, aviation and logistics, will continue until 2020.

[TsarSamuil]

Russian Subs Patrolling Off East Coast of U.S.

NyTimes.com
By MARK MAZZETTI and THOM SHANKER
Published: August 4, 2009

WASHINGTON — A pair of nuclear-powered Russian attack submarines has been patrolling off the eastern seaboard of the United States in recent days, a rare mission that has raised concerns inside the Pentagon and intelligence agencies about a more assertive stance by the Russian military.

The episode has echoes of the cold war era, when the United States and the Soviet Union regularly parked submarines off each other’s coasts to steal military secrets, track the movements of their underwater fleets — and be poised for war.

But the collapse of the Soviet Union all but eliminated the ability of the Russian Navy to operate far from home ports, making the current submarine patrols thousands of miles from Russia more surprising for military officials and defense policy experts.

“I don’t think they’ve put two first-line nuclear subs off the U.S. coast in about 15 years,” said Norman Polmar, a naval historian and submarine warfare expert.

The submarines are of the Akula class, a counterpart to the Los Angeles class attack subs of the United States Navy, and not one of the larger submarines that can launch intercontinental nuclear missiles.

According to Defense Department officials, one of the Russian submarines remained in international waters on Tuesday about 200 miles off the coast of the United States. The location of the second remained unclear. One senior official said the second submarine traveled south in recent days toward Cuba, while another senior official with access to reports on the surveillance mission said it had sailed away in a northerly direction.

The Pentagon and intelligence officials spoke anonymously to describe the effort to track the Russian submarines, which has not been publicly announced.

President Obama spoke by telephone with President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia on Tuesday, but it was not clear whether the subject of the submarines came up, although another source of friction between the two countries did. Mr. Medvedev called Mr. Obama to wish him a happy birthday and the White House said the president used the opportunity to urge Russia to work through diplomatic channels to resolve rising tensions with Georgia.

The submarine patrols come as Moscow tries to shake off the embarrassment of the latest failed test of the Bulava missile, a long-range weapon that was test fired from a submarine in the Arctic on July 15. The failed missile test was the sixth since 2005, and some experts see Russia’s assertiveness elsewhere as a gambit by the military to prove its continued relevance.

“It’s the military trying to demonstrate that they are still a player in Russian political and economic matters,” Mr. Polmar said.

One of the submarines is the newer Akula II, officials said, which is quieter than the older variant and the most advanced in the Russian fleet. The Akula is capable of carrying torpedoes for attacking other submarines and surface vessels as well as missiles for striking targets on land and at sea.

Defense Department officials declined to speculate on which weapons might be aboard the two submarines.

While the submarines have not taken any provocative action beyond their presence outside territorial waters of the United States, officials expressed wariness over the Kremlin’s motivation for ordering such an unusual mission.

“Anytime the Russian Navy does something so out of the ordinary it is cause for worry,” said a senior Defense Department official who has been monitoring reports on the submarines’ activities.

The official said the Navy was able to track the submarines as they made their way through international waters off the American coastline. This can be done from aircraft, ships, underwater sensors or other submarines.

“We’ve known where they were, and we’re not concerned about our ability to track the subs,” the official added. “We’re concerned just because they are there.”

Once among the world’s most powerful forces, the Russian Navy now has very few ships regularly deployed on the open seas. Moscow has contributed warships to the international armada searching for Somali pirates. In addition, a flotilla of Russian warships participated in exercises with Venezuela last year.

BUT I GUESS US SHIPS IN BLACK SEA IS OK!?

[TsarSamuil]

Russian warship arrives in Bulgaria for Blackseafor naval drills.

SEVASTOPOL, August 6 (RIA Novosti) - The Caesar Kunikov large amphibious landing ship from Russia's Black Sea Fleet arrived on Thursday to the Bulgarian port of Varna to take part in the 14th Blackseafor naval drills.

Formally established on Turkey's initiative in 2001, Blackseafor - which comprises Turkey, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Romania, Georgia and Russia - conducts search and rescue operations and environmental monitoring, and organizes goodwill visits among Black Sea countries. Its charter says Blackseafor can also be deployed for peacekeeping operations under a UN or OSCE mandate.

"The Blackseafor warships will practice, in particular, monitoring of commercial shipping, interception and pursuit of suspicious vessels...communications and tactical maneuvering," a spokesman for the Black Sea Fleet said.

Georgian warships have not participated in the Blackseafor exercises for a number of years, and will not take part in the upcoming drills.

Russia has said it will not take part in any joint naval exercises involving Georgian warships.

Diplomatic ties were cut between Russia and Georgia after last August's war over South Ossetia, which began when Georgian forces attacked the province in an attempt to bring it back under central control.

The Caesar Kunikov is a Ropucha-I class large landing ship. The vessel was involved in August 2008 Russian-Georgian naval skirmish.

[TsarSamuil]

Russia Increasing Surface Warship Fleet.

Defense Technology International ^ | Aug 4, 2009 | Maxim Pyadushkin

The Russian navy plans to boost rearmament efforts by acquiring new classes of surface ships. The service is due to receive more than 40% of the defense budget this year, according to government officials, though most of the money will be spent on nuclear submarines.

At the International Maritime Defense Show (IMDS) here, June 24-28, navy commander Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky said the service is increasing the construction of new classes of warships. The first results of these efforts will be seen at the next IMDS in 2011.

Some signs of rearmament were on display at the show. In St. Petersburg harbor, the navy exhibited its first Stereguschiy-class corvette, which entered service in February 2008. Another ship on display was the new Project 11540 Yaroslav Mudry frigate that entered service on June 19. The 125-meter-long (410-ft.) ship has a full-load displacement of 4,000 tons, top speed of 30 kt., a 3,000-mi. range and endurance of 30 days.

The navy already operates one ship of the class, the Neustrashymy, that was acquired in 1993. Last winter it participated in an antipiracy mission in the Gulf of Aden. The keel of the Yaroslav Mudry was laid down in Kaliningrad in 1991, but three years later, when the ship was 75% finished, construction was suspended due to a lack of funds. Work resumed in 2002 on an upgraded version of the ship. Yakov Kushnir, chief designer of surface ships at the Zelenodolsk design bureau, told DTI that the frigate has more advanced electronic systems than the older Neustrashymy frigate, including satellite TV communication. The Yaroslav Mudry also was equipped with additional armament—two four-tube launchers for the Uran antiship missile system that uses Kh-35 missiles with a maximum range of 130 km. (80 mi.).

The Yaroslav Mudry is likely to be the last ship of the series. “We will not continue construction of this class,” says Vysotsky. Building ships based on older designs is not worth the money, since the Yaroslav Mudry will stay in service for only 10-15 years. The navy will instead rely on new types such as the Project 22350 frigates. The first such ship—Admiral Gorshkov—has been under construction at the northern shipyard in St. Petersburg since 2006. The service life of the new ships will be 25-45 years, says Vysotsky, who adds that the keel of another frigate will be laid this year.

Russian defense contractors showed a range of surface ships and submarine concepts at the show that they are offering to the navy and for export.

One model displayed by the Malakhit design bureau of St. Petersburg calls for a submarine with an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system—a first for the Russian defense industry. The 870-ton P-650E, the largest member of the Piranha family of small diesel-electric submarines, has a section with a fuel cell module (see diagram). It mixes oxygen from an inner tank and hydrogen from a tank outside the sub’s inner hull to generate electricity for propulsion. Malakhit designed and tested an AIP system in the 1990s, but work was suspended due to a lack of funding. The AIP system can reportedly provide half the vessel’s submerged endurance of 20 days at 4 kt.

The P-650, like other submarines in the family, is for littoral operations. Due to a high degree of automation, it needs only nine crewmen. The sub is armed with torpedoes and mines, and can launch Club antiship missiles through its torpedo tubes. It is also able to insert combat swimming teams.

[TsarSamuil]

Bulgarian Navy Celebrates Its 130th Birthday.

Novinite.com
Defense | August 9, 2009, Sunday

The Bulgarian Navy celebrates Sunday, August 09, 2009, the 130th year since its creation at a special ceremony in the Black Sea city of Varna.

Sunday's celebrations are the culmination of a series of events over the recent weeks marking the anniversary.

The major event Sunday morning was the ritual for the raising of the flag of the Bulgarian naval forces, followed by the handing of the diplomas of the graduates of the Bulgarian Naval Academy.

The celebration ceremonies were attended by the Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, the Defense Minister Nikolay Mladenov, the Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov, the Head of Defense (formerly known as Head of the General Staff of the Army) Gen. Simeon Simeonov, and were commanded by the recently appointed new head of the Bulgarian Navy, Rear Admiral Plamen Manushev.

Citizens and guests of Varna have the chance to get on board of some of the vessels of the Bulgarian Navy at the Sea Station in Varna.


The Bulgarian Navy celebrated Sunday the 130th year since its founding. Photo by BGNES

[TsarSamuil]

Russia shortlisted for submarine contract with Indonesia.

JAKARTA, August 11 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has been shortlisted for a $700 million contract to deliver two submarines to Indonesia, the Indonesian Navy commander said on Tuesday.

"Of the four bidders for the submarines, Russia and South Korea have reached the final round, passing France and Germany," Admiral Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno said.

Russia's bid is the Project 636 diesel-electric submarine (export agent Rosoboronexport) while South Korea's is the U-209 sub manufactured by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering under German license.

"One of the principal conditions [of the contract] is, among other things, the transfer of technology," Purdijatno said.

The successful bidder is expected to be named by the end of August.

The Indonesian defense minister has said the submarines are to be delivered in 2011.