LUCKNOW /India/. February 7. /TASS/. Russia is ready to set up the production of the latest Project 12701 ‘Alexandrit-E’ minesweepers in India, Russia’s Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation told TASS at the DefExpo international arms show on Friday.

"We are offering Indian partners to set up the production of various classes of aircraft, Project 12701 ‘Alexandrit-E’ mine countermeasures ships and Project 75-I diesel electric submarines inn India under the Make in India program," the federal defense agency said.

Under this program, active work is underway to set up the local production of Russia’s Ka-226T helicopters and Kalashnikov AK-203 assault rifles in India, it said.

Russia’s Project 12700 Alexandrit-class coastal-type minesweepers are referred to the new generation of minesweeping forces and are designated to fight sea mines, which the new ships can encounter in the sea and on the seabed without entering the dangerous zone. The minesweepers can employ various sweeps, as well as remotely controlled and autonomous underwater drones. The minesweepers of this Project displace about 890 tonnes, are 62 meters long and 10 meters wide, have a crew of 44 men and an operating range of 1,500 miles.

The Project 12700 mine countermeasures vessels (minesweepers) have the world’s biggest hull made of monolithic fiberglass formed by vacuum infusion. As its advantage, this solution provides for the ship’s higher strength compared to the steel hull. The hull made of the monolithic fiberglass has a longer service life (up to 30 years) than the hull made of low-magnetic steel while its weight is considerably smaller.

The DefExpo-2020 international land, naval and homeland security exhibition runs in Lucknow in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on February 5-9.