Russia and India are going to sign agreements on the deliveries of 48 Mi-17V-5 helicopters and four Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates to India. Both contracts are expected to be signed in 2017.
According to Leonkov, India regularly buys Russian weapons and shows interest in a wide range of Russian-made military equipment.
"India is not only interested in ships and planes, but also in tanks, artillery systems, small arms. Thus, the market is quite encompassing. The contracts that have been signed with India so far are worth tens of billions of dollars. Moreover, India's neighbors — Iran, Pakistan, as well as the Arab countries — believe that they also could buy more modern weapons if India does so. Thus, the interest in Russian weapons is huge," the military expert said.
The frigates are designed for anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare, as well as for air defense missions, operating both independently or as part of convoys and naval task forces.
According to Leonkov, Russia has already supplied India with Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates before.
"The frigates were named 'Talvar.' And their supplies are going on. Thus, India will receive the frigates, which it already knows how to use," the expert noted.
The expert also specified that two Russian frigates will be transferred to India "ready for use," while two others will be produced by the Indians at their own shipyard.
