This aircraft carrier will replace INS Viraat, which is India’s flagship carrier in service since 1987. This aircraft carrier is said to be seaworthy for at least 30 more years after it will be modernised.This aircraft carrier can be used for advanced weaponry including MiG-29K Fulcrum aircraft and Ka-27 Helix-A and Ka-31 Helix-B anti-submarine helicopters. It is this aircraft carrier’s price which has been escalated exorbitantly by Russia so that India can have an elite ship in its armoury.
Admiral Gorshkov or INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier is said to be ready to be docked on India’s sea waters by 2012.
India’s Gorshkov agreement with Russia and its arms race with its neighbouring countries have become oxymoronic in nature as the price of this deal has been rising ever since and countries like China are making India’s new weapons look obsolete.
The refurbishment agreement’s cost between Russia and India, which was originally signed for USD 974 million in 2004, has escalated to USD 2.33 billion. The ship was to be delivered in 2008 but the date has been extended to 2012. The reason, according to the Indian Navy, is India’s lack of visual inspection while signing the deal.
Indian Navy responds to RTI
In September 2008, responding to an RTI, the Indian Navy admitted that there were some instruments on the carrier that required replacement instead of the normal repair. These equipments included hull structures, systems and cabling. Indian Navy failed to spot these which in turn escalated the cost of the carrier.
Russia’s upper hand
Russia, on the other hand, said it underestimated the cost of modernisation adding that the market price of such an aircraft carrier is anywhere between USD 3 billion to USD 4 billion.
Russia also says that in case India fails to send the amount, the aircraft carrier will be used for the Russian Navy.
The spy connection
In April 2010, an inquiry was ordered against Commodore Sukhjinder Singh who was associated with the deal of Admiral Gorshkov. Singh’s ‘objectionable’ photographs with a Russian woman were sent to the Indian Navy, which made it suspicious that it may have resulted in the cost escalation of Admiral Gorshkov’s aircraft carrier.
Later the Navy suppressed the issue by saying the Commodore was the junior-most officer associated with the deal.
A navy official reported, “Preliminary indications are that the involvement has been at a personal level. He was the junior-most of the nine-member commercial negotiations committee. Moreover, he had already been posted to the quality assurance wing when the actual work on the refit price was done in the latter half of 2009.”
Singh was associated with the Gorshkov deal project right from the beginning. The officer was in charge of the Gorshkov refit project in Russia between 2005 and 2007. He was also part of the cost negotiation committee that decided a revised price of USD 2.33 billion.
After Singh’s Russian tenure ended, he was sent back to India on a crucial post of Principal Director of Aircraft Carrier Project and he was the Directorate General of Quality Assurance in the capital till the end of 2009.
China’s anti-ship ballistic missile
Barring all these problems, India is under a constant threat from its neighbouring countries. It has been reported that China has built an anti ship (aircraft carrier) ballistic missile which has been designed specifically to target aircraft carriers, a technology which even US does not possess.
The diplomatic ties between India and Russia have been on rocky terrain. But with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s visit to India in March 2010, the deal seems to be back on track.
The pace of the work has picked up significantly in the last six months. There has been additional deployment of work force to finish the refurbishment within the due date. According to a report, the aircraft carrier which is docked at Sevmash Shipyard for the past 12 years will be ready by the end of 2010. It will be tested in waters in 2011 and (if all goes well) will be delivered to India in December 2012.
Admiral Gorshkov or INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier is said to be ready to be docked on India’s sea waters by 2012.
India’s Gorshkov agreement with Russia and its arms race with its neighbouring countries have become oxymoronic in nature as the price of this deal has been rising ever since and countries like China are making India’s new weapons look obsolete.
The refurbishment agreement’s cost between Russia and India, which was originally signed for USD 974 million in 2004, has escalated to USD 2.33 billion. The ship was to be delivered in 2008 but the date has been extended to 2012. The reason, according to the Indian Navy, is India’s lack of visual inspection while signing the deal.
Indian Navy responds to RTI
In September 2008, responding to an RTI, the Indian Navy admitted that there were some instruments on the carrier that required replacement instead of the normal repair. These equipments included hull structures, systems and cabling. Indian Navy failed to spot these which in turn escalated the cost of the carrier.
Russia’s upper hand
Russia, on the other hand, said it underestimated the cost of modernisation adding that the market price of such an aircraft carrier is anywhere between USD 3 billion to USD 4 billion.
Russia also says that in case India fails to send the amount, the aircraft carrier will be used for the Russian Navy.
The spy connection
In April 2010, an inquiry was ordered against Commodore Sukhjinder Singh who was associated with the deal of Admiral Gorshkov. Singh’s ‘objectionable’ photographs with a Russian woman were sent to the Indian Navy, which made it suspicious that it may have resulted in the cost escalation of Admiral Gorshkov’s aircraft carrier.
Later the Navy suppressed the issue by saying the Commodore was the junior-most officer associated with the deal.
A navy official reported, “Preliminary indications are that the involvement has been at a personal level. He was the junior-most of the nine-member commercial negotiations committee. Moreover, he had already been posted to the quality assurance wing when the actual work on the refit price was done in the latter half of 2009.”
Singh was associated with the Gorshkov deal project right from the beginning. The officer was in charge of the Gorshkov refit project in Russia between 2005 and 2007. He was also part of the cost negotiation committee that decided a revised price of USD 2.33 billion.
After Singh’s Russian tenure ended, he was sent back to India on a crucial post of Principal Director of Aircraft Carrier Project and he was the Directorate General of Quality Assurance in the capital till the end of 2009.
China’s anti-ship ballistic missile
Barring all these problems, India is under a constant threat from its neighbouring countries. It has been reported that China has built an anti ship (aircraft carrier) ballistic missile which has been designed specifically to target aircraft carriers, a technology which even US does not possess.
The diplomatic ties between India and Russia have been on rocky terrain. But with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s visit to India in March 2010, the deal seems to be back on track.
The pace of the work has picked up significantly in the last six months. There has been additional deployment of work force to finish the refurbishment within the due date. According to a report, the aircraft carrier which is docked at Sevmash Shipyard for the past 12 years will be ready by the end of 2010. It will be tested in waters in 2011 and (if all goes well) will be delivered to India in December 2012.
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