Russia, Indonesia sign corvette construction agreement

Russia's state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport said Friday it has signed a contractual agreement on the design and construction of corvettes for the Indonesian navy, RIA Novosti reports. "The agreement envisions further cooperation on the design and construction of corvettes modeled on [Russia's] Project 20382 Steregushchy ship for the Indonesian navy," the agency said in a statement at a naval show in St. Petersburg. The sides agreed to sign an official contract on the corvette construction in the near future. The contract stipulates that the first vessel will be built in Spain and later fitted with weaponry and electronic equipment at a shipyard in St. Petersburg. An unidentified source in the Indonesian navy told RIA Novosti that the construction of the first corvette could promote the development of a joint Russian-Indonesian program for construction of ships of this type. "Indonesia will make a final decision on this issue in the future," the source said. Meanwhile, a Rosoboronexport official said Russia was in talks with Venezuela on the delivery of five diesel submarines for the Venezuelan navy.

"We are negotiating a contract for the purchase of five Project 636 [Kilo-class] diesel submarines [for Venezuela]," said Innokenty Nalyotov, an aide to Rosoboronexport's general director.