India to buy Russian aircraft carrier

Dawn ^ | November 05 2003 | AFP

[knighthawk]

MOSCOW, Nov 5: Russia and India plan to sign the contract for India's purchase of the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov within weeks, Interfax reported Russian defence officials as saying on Wednesday.

"All technical and financial issues on the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier have been settled and the contract will be signed by December," the news agency quoted an unnamed official at the Russian defence industry as saying.

"The details of the deal will be clarified during the Moscow visit of an Indian delegation headed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee," the official said. Vajpayee is to make an official three-day visit to Moscow starting Nov 11, Indian diplomatic sources in the Russian capital said on Monday.

The defence ministry official said the deal would be worth 1.5 billion dollars.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

They have a pretty respectable background in carrier operations. More than the French and Spanish.

Vikrant was assigned to the eastern theatre in the Bay of Bengal in 1971. She joined the newly created Eastern Fleet with Rear Admiral S H Sharma flying his flag on the ship. The Indian Navy did its part to fool the enemy, transmitting confusing radio signals. Though Vikrant was anchored in the Andamans, an Indian destroyer off Visakhaptnam sent signals that there was a ship in the area carrying 200 tonnes of meat, which only an aircraft carrier could store. She was considered such a prized catch by the Pakistan Navy that they sent their submarine, the Ghazi, all the way to the Bay of Bengal to drop mines outside Visakhapatnam harbour and sink the aircraft carrier off the harbour. The Pakistani submarine Ghazi blew up on 04 December 1971, after a depth charge attack by INS Rajput off the harbour entrance.

After the sinking of the Ghazi, the Vikrant then cordoned off and every port in the erstwhile East Pakistan -- Cox's Bazar, Chittagong, and Khulna -- was pounded by the Sea Hawks based on the Vikrant. Such was the impact of the air attack from Sea Hawks, that the Pakistani Naval commander in the then East Pakistan remarked, "Indian naval aircraft were hitting us day and night. We could not run." On one occasion, with aircraft airborne and no wind conditions, the ship had to take a chance with her cracked boilers to land the returning flights. This was easily the carrier's best of the finest hour. Such was the performance of the ship in the liberation of Bangladesh that it earned two Maha Vir Chakras and 12 Vir Chakras.

Everyone loves a hero. The Vikrant received a tumultuous welcome when she returned to Madras. The civil administration led by then Chief Minister M G Ramachandran, organised a special meal for the entire crew of 1100, served on banana leaves, on the jetty. That the ship was the darling of Madras and was adopted by the city goes without saying. When it came to showing the flag, there has been no ship like the Vikrant. Once, when the carrier was berthed at Bandar Abbas, the Shah of Iran flew the officers to Teheran for a special concert. In West Asia, where the only aircraft carrier people had seen were from the United States, they were surprised to see that an Asian navy could also fight a three-dimensional war.

[dozer7]

"The ship requires a crew of 1200."

Great post. But the question that begs asking of the Indians is where will their air wing come from? The pilots, aviation boatswain mates, aircraft handlers, purple shirts, AOs. A tactical question. Without them it is just an underway paved tennis court. Whoever supplies or trains the natives will certainly have an agenda.

just thoughts for the forum.

regards

the dozer

[Cannoneer No. 4]

ping

[Cannoneer No. 4]

ping

[Wombat101]

I do recall seeing a bunch of Indian squids a time or two around Pensacola and I could swear there were some with us at China Lake back in the late 80's.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

The 'Admiral Gorshkov' design/redesign fails to accommodate any other type of fixed-wing aircraft other than MiG-29Ks. Thus presently the best Russian fighter in the entire Russian armed forces, the Sukhoi-33 (Sukhoi-27K) was ruled out. Limited elevator capacity was the possible reason.

Similarly absence of steam catapults rule out the possibility of operating the excellent French Rafale. Similarly vital fixed-wing platforms for AWACS and ASW operations are also ruled out. 'Admiral Gorshkov' is dependent on considerable fossil fuel and thus dependent on frequent replenishments at sea.

[Ronin]

Very true. But frankly, dear sir, the only Navy I really care about is our own. If India wants this thing, I say more power to her. India may not be the nicest democracy on the block, but she is a democracy and in my view a more faithful friend than Pakistan or China.

Having said that, I think India would be well advised to put some more rupees down on ASW. Carriers make lovely targets and one attack boat in the wrong place can ruin a CV's entire day.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

MiG-29K FULCRUM

MiG-29K FULCRUM

Multi-Role Shipborne Fighter

[chilepepper]

boy i sure wish i had the rust-o-leum franchise in india!

[Centurion2000]

Most excellent .... thanks. I wonder how these match up against F-18's ?

[Cronos]

Well, considering that they have a pretty large navy and already have 2 carriers, the natives wouldn't really need training. They also do have quite a bit of naval expertise, having played an important role in keeping the Brts propped up during WWII. We've been having quite a few wargames along with the Indian Navy and Army. Since they are developing (they've been self-sufficient in growing food for how many decades now?) it's good that they're steeping up as a good potential ally to keep the Chinese down. THey'll have to play a dicy game though, wouldn't want to be a nation with crazy chicoms on my border.

[Oztrich Boy]

The current one is the Viraat (ex HMS Hermes, refitted with ski ramp) which operates Harriers. However she is overdue for replacement, and will probably be decomissioned when the "new" one comes on line.

As Viraat is only 2 years out of an extensive refit, and there have been rumours of the Indians looking at second-hand ex-RN F/A.2 Harriers, I suspect the plan is for Viraat to remain in service until the first new project Air Defence Ship is available (supposedly 2010, but I expect it to be late)

[Non-Sequitur]

But the question that begs asking of the Indians is where will their air wing come from?

The RIN has had a Fleet Air Arm and carrier aviation for decades. I imagine that they'll come from there.

[dozer7]

"I do recall seeing a bunch of Indian squids a time or two around Pensacola and I could swear there were some with us at China Lake back in the late 80's."

Dude retired from China Lake. Where were the Indian squids?
Just asking. I have been around NAVAIR forever where did these guys come from. Again just asking, curious.

best regards

the dozer

[RussianConservative]

On or off, let me know.

[A. Pole]

Maybe the Russians intend to resurrect their own training facilities for the occasion. Other than that there are going to have to be a lot of very bold Indian pilots

There is a simpler solution for the both parties. Russian pilots on Indian payroll.

[freeper4u]

This is good news:

1) That's one less Russian carrier on the market for the Chinese to pickup. China is currently thought to be working on a Russian carrier that it hopes to field by 2006, and having an Indian group in close proximity would provide a counterweight.

2) Like the activity of all other carrier owning Western nations of the world, I'm sure an Indian carrier group would only be fielded in support of US lead operations.