Chapter 426 Delhi-Class Destroyer

Protest! General Kumaramangalam's reason for coming here this time was, of course, to protest. You sold so many things to China, which seriously damaged our national defense security!

Of course, General Kumaramangalam's protest did not contain any political motives and had no results. It was just an opening statement! If his protest was genuine, Andrei could have coldly rejected it now. Do you Indians need to say anything about our Soviet Union exporting weapons? We don't need to pay attention to the accusations of the Americans, let alone you?

Of course Andre would not refuse outright. Now the two sides were like old friends, chatting about family matters when they met, just like the daily expressions they used in China, such as "Have you eaten?", "What a nice weather today" and so on.

"We have our reasons for this," Andre said. "However, we also understand the protests from our Indian friends."

Sitting down on a chair in the room, Andre looked at several Indians in front of him. At this moment, the expressions on their faces were very special, as if they were being raped and had to pretend to be happy.

In this way, Andre quietly appreciated the expressions of these people, took the bowl of water handed to him by the waiter, and started drinking tea.

"General Andrei, in order to maintain the strategic balance, we hope to import the same weapons from the Soviet Union!" Finally, one person couldn't help it and spoke to Andrei first.

What is India's purpose? Of course, it wants to import weapons! Last time, it imported MiG-23, which is far from enough!

"What weapons do you want?" Andre asked with a smile. At this time, he had completely taken the initiative.

"Even if it's the Sovremenny-class destroyer, we want it too. We want to buy four!" said General Kumaramangalam. At this point, he didn't care whether the Soviet Union would rip them off. In short, he wanted whatever China had!

"Four Sovremenny-class destroyers, of course no problem." Andre said, "However, I suggest that you still investigate. Our Sovremenny-class destroyers are not suitable for your navy's equipment."

Since the Sovremenny class is intended for export, it is no problem to equip India with a few of them. Moreover, there is no need to worry about India's imitation. India's military industry is a huge joke. The sky-high priced Arjun tank, the difficult-to-produce LCA fighter, and the Delhi-class destroyer have been commissioned, but 80% of the equipment on them are exported from Russia. India just built the shell itself. Later generations of India had to build its own aircraft carriers, but even the steel plates used for the aircraft carriers had to be imported from Russia.

However, there are even worse things for India. It does not need the Sovremenny-class destroyers for the time being. After all, the Sovremenny-class destroyers are also the most advanced naval destroyers of the Soviet Union.

Not suitable! After hearing Andre's words, several Indians looked at each other, wondering why it was not suitable.

"Our Sovremenny-class ships are designed primarily for our navy. As you all know, our main Soviet naval bases are all in temperate zones or even in frigid zones. Therefore, our warships do not have air-conditioning equipment installed for refrigeration. Moreover, since there are too many weapons on the warships, they take up space, and there is no ability to retrofit air-conditioning later. When we really get to the Indian Ocean, in that kind of sultry weather, the biggest enemy for the officers and soldiers on the warships is the heat," said Andre.

Weapons are adaptable. It can be said that Soviet weapons are mainly designed for combat in cold and temperate zones, and will never be used in the tropics. There is really no refrigeration equipment on the warships! If they are delivered to the Indian army, it will be extremely painful for them.

"Moreover, I heard that your country is preparing to develop advanced destroyers on its own. If you introduce destroyers from the Soviet Union, your own destroyers will definitely be squeezed out." Andre continued.

Self-developed! Indians have been investigating the possibility of self-developed destroyers since 1977. For a big country full of ambitions, India has an ambitious plan for domestically produced weapons. The plan for the Delhi-class destroyer can be said to have begun to take shape. However, with the current level of Indians, progress is certainly very slow.

Now, after hearing Andrei's words and knowing the plan, General Kumaramangalam nodded. This was the reality. Although they asked the Soviet Union to export the Modern-class to them out of indignation, once this plan was implemented, their own advanced destroyer plan would be even more distant.

"I have a good idea." Andrei said, "We will send engineers from the Neva Design Bureau to help you develop a destroyer suitable for you, based on our Kashin-class destroyer, with a displacement of more than 6,000 tons. In this way, your self-designed destroyer will be more suitable for your operating environment. It will also support the development of your own shipbuilding industry and save costs. The price of buying a Sovremenny-class destroyer from us is enough to build four similar warships yourself."

Get to the point, analyze what the other party needs, and provide a solution that makes the other party feel that it is completely for them. In this way, the negotiation will definitely be successful! Moreover, what Andre said is a plan that has been implemented in the future, so of course it is the most feasible.

In later history, the Indian government approved Plan 15 in 1977 to build three new-generation destroyers. The plan was officially launched in 1982. After repeated consideration, the design unit NavalHQ finally chose the Soviet Kashin-class guided missile destroyer for improvement and enlargement. The detailed design of Plan 15 was completed in 1985, and the construction of the first ship began in November 1987. This is the Delhi-class destroyer.

Hearing this, General Kumaramangalam began to nod: "If this is the case, it is certainly more suitable than purchasing the Sovremenny class. General Andre, we need the help of your technical staff."

I know my own strengths. With the help of the Soviet Union, the design and manufacture of warships will definitely be smoother. This is much better than China directly introducing warships! Finally, we can defeat China! The Indians breathed a sigh of relief.

"However, you still have a big disadvantage." Andre continued: "Your submarine force is too old and needs to be replaced."

Since the Indians have come this time, they can't just leave like this. They brought hundreds of millions of dollars with them, so they have to stay. Andre felt that if he became an arms dealer, it would be more fulfilling than being a military district commander.