Article Posted on : - Jun 29, 2011

ST. PETERSBURG (BNS): The fifth International Maritime Defence Show (IMDS) will begin in the Russian city of St. Petersburg from Wednesday.

The biennial naval exhibition, organised by the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade and supported by the Defence Ministry, is expected to witness the participation of over 400 defence companies from around 30 countries, including France, USA, UK, Germany, India and China.

Some 45 delegations from 39 countries are also expected to visit the show.

The exhibitors will showcase a range of products, from shipbuilding technology to naval equipment and weapons during the five day defence exhibition.

Russia, leading the largest contingent, will exhibit over 40 ships, boats and seaplanes of its Navy and Border Guard Service.

The main attraction will be the Russian Navy’s new stealth corvette, Soobrazitelny. The second Steregushchy class (Project 20380) corvette was floated out in March, 2010 and is expected to join the Navy this year.

The other warships taking part in the show include Project 11540 frigate Yaroslav Mudry and Project 677 submarine Saint Petersburg (export version - Amur-1650) among others.

Three foreign ships – the US Navy frigate Carr (FFG52), German Navy frigate Hamburg (F220) and Dutch Navy frigate Van Amstel (F831) – will also attend the show.

Besides the international exhibition, the event will consist of scientific conferences on naval shipbuilding technology.

BrahMos Aerospace, the producer of BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile system, is also taking part in the international event that will conclude on July 3.