JAKARTA. Nov 23 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian-made Varshavyanka submarines offered to Indonesia will be armed with the Club-S missile system, which is being exhibited at the INDO Defense 2006 Expo & Forum international exhibition of armaments and military hardware in Jakarta.
"If Indonesia signs a contract to buy Russian-made submarines, we are ready to arm them with the Club-S missile system," deputy head of the foreign economic department at the Novator Design Bureau Valery Pantyukhin told Interfax-AVN in Jakarta on Thursday.
Indonesia had shown interest in the Club-S system, and it was decided to display it at the Jakarta arms show.
Club-S systems are already being exported to India and China, and "negotiations are underway with a number of states," he said.
Club-S was designed at Novator, which is a component of the Almaz-Antey consortium. The system is made up of four missiles: two anti-ship missiles 3M-54E and 3M-54E1, one anti-sub missile of two modifications 91RE1/91RTE2 and one cruise missile for land-based targets 3M-14E. All the missiles but 91RTE2 may be launched from 533-millimeter torpedo tubes.
"The 3M-54E anti-ship cruise missile has a detachable supersonic warhead. It is next to impossible to intercept the missile, because it flies over the sea at a low altitude. While approaching the object, the missile does a zoom, the supersonic warhead separates after homing on target, and it hits the target in about 30 seconds," Pantyukhin said. According to him, the range of the missile is from 12 to 220 km. There are no other missiles of this kind in the world.
The second anti-ship missile, 3M-54E1, is intended for engaging sea surface targets. It does not have a supersonic warhead. The missile is autonomous at the entire flight trajectory. "The 3M-14E is a strike missile for engaging ground targets. It flies at a low altitude as well, doubling the terrain to a distance of up to 270 km. It can adjust the flight using satellite navigation systems," Pantyukhin said.
The fourth missile of the Club-S system is an anti-submarine one. There are two modifications of the missile, the 91RE1 for submarines, and 91RTE2 for surface ships. "The 91RE1 and 91RTE2 missiles carry a torpedo inside. On the initial stage, the missile flies up to 50 km in the air, then the torpedo separates and starts seeking a target. The advantage of this way of delivery is that the submarine cannot hear that a means of attack is approaching it," Pantyukhin stressed.
Indonesian Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono voiced the intention to buy the Russian submarines using a $1 billion credit line extended by Moscow on the eve of the Jakarta exhibition. He said Indonesia will buy six Sukhoi fighter jets, two Kilo class submarines and nine helicopters of various types in 2007-2010.