Russian Government Rules Out Collision In Kursk Tragedy

Kursk Gives Up Another Body
The body of another crew member has been recovered from the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk, bringing to 86 the total number of bodies found aboard the vessel, Interfax news agency reported Monday citing the Northern Fleet's military prosecutor Vladimir Mulov.

The crew member's body was discovered during the examination of a lower deck in the third compartment of the vessel, the Northern Fleet said. It is the first body recovered since the beginning of the year.

So far 75 bodies have been identified. All 118 crew perished when the vessel, the pride of the Northern fleet, sank to the bottom of the Barents Sea during naval exercises on August 12, 2000.

The submarine was raised from the seabed in October and towed to dry dock in the Roslyakovo ship-building factory not far from Russia's northwestern port of Murmansk. Investigators are dismantling the vessel in an effort to discover the cause of the tragedy, as yet unkown.

Moscow (AFP) Jan 22, 2002
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov for the first time on Tuesday ruled out the possibility that a collision with a foreign submarine could have sunk the nuclear-powered Kursk in August 2000.

Experts who have examined the wreck of the vessel raised last October have found no proof of a collision, Klebanov said, quoted by the Interfax news agency.

Specialists from Rubin, the company that built the sub, have looked at fragments of the external hull from the place where it suffered the most damage.

"It is a catastrophe that happened because of objective reasons which accumulated during the 1990s," said Klebanov, referring to a lack of financing which has led to a deterioration of the Russian navy.

"The state must pay more attention to its armed forces" so that such catastrophes do not happen again, he said.

Klebanov gave no further details but said an official statement on the cause of the Kursk trategy could be made in mid-2002, after the raising of the bow where missiles and torpedoes were stored.

All 118 crew perished when a series of explosions caused the vessel, the pride of the Northern fleet, to sink to the bottom of the Barents Sea during naval exercises on August 12, 2000.

The submarine apart from the bow was raised from the seabed in October and towed to dry dock in the Roslyakovo ship-building factory not far from Russia's northwestern port of Murmansk.

Theories abound as to the cause of the sinking, with investigations so far favouring three: a collision with another possibly NATO vessel; a torpedo exploding in a firing chamber; and the possibility that the sub hit a World War II mine.

FLOATING STEEL

Putin Inauguration Of New Sub Seen As Balm To Russian Navy

Moscow (AFP) Dec 4, 2001
President Vladimir Putin inaugurated the Russian fleet's new multi-purpose Gepard nuclear submarine Tuesday in an apparent sop to bruised feelings in the navy after the sacking of several top admirals.

SUPERPOWERS US Warned Not To Ignore Chinese Military Advances	NUKEWARS Russia, US To Set Up Working Committees On Disarmament Indian Defense Minister Confident US Will Not Block Israeli Radar Sale War Hysteria Over, India's 'hindu Heartland' Heads For Crucial Polls Russia Calls For Binding Agreement On "Irreversible" Nuclear Cuts
MISSILE NEWS	MISSILE DEFENSE Missiles In "Position" As India Mulls Further Action Against Pakistan Abm Pullout: The Phonecall That Soured Putin's Year. Or Did It? US Official Defends Plans for Missile Defense Despite Test Failure
AEROSPACE Boeing Sonic Cruiser Completes First Wind Tunnel Tests	UAV NEWS Boeing's Condit Downplays Prospects For Share In JSF Bounty UCAV Named "Best Of What's New", Completes Low Speed Taxi Tests Washington Sharpens Eyes With Global Hawk Deployment CIA Gets New Powers To Eliminate Bin Laden As UAVs Get Armed
IRAQ WARS	MILTECH

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement