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Indian Defense Briefs
(Source: Indian Ministry of Defence; issued May 17, 2007)
-- Delay in Delivery of Aircraft Carrier Gorshkov
The aircraft carrier Gorshkov is scheduled to be delivered by the end of 2008. The Russian side has assured at the highest level that the ship will be delivered as per contract. The aircraft carrier is undergoing necessary repairs / modifications in Russia at present.
The project is being closely monitored by the Empowered Apex Committee headed by the Defence Secretary and the Steering Committee headed by the Controller of Warship Production and Acquisition.
This information was given by the Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Shri Ravi Prakash Verma and Shrimati Manorama Madhavaraj in Lok Sabha today.
MUMBAI, MAY 1 (PTI)
The Indian Navy today denied reports that the delivery of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov would be delayed till 2010 and said the refurbishing of the ship was moving as per schedule.
"The work is going on as per schedule and I do not know where this particular report came from. The work is only three to four months behind schedule and we can expect the aircraft carrier to be delivered by late 2008 or early 2009," Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta told reporters here.
He was commenting on reports in a section of media recently which said that the delivery of Admiral Gorshkov or the rechristened `Vikramaditya' aircraft carrier would be delayed to 2010.
The aircraft carrier is currently being refurbished at a cost of USD one billion, which includes 16 MiG 29K aircraft, is being built at the Sevmash shipyard in Serverodvinsk City of Russia.
Mehta said that the Russians have committed for a timely delivery of the ambitious aircraft carrier to the Indian Defence Minister.
"Our officials, who are stationed at the spot have said that the work is going on as per schedule and we can have a month long delay once the work is completed as that part of Russia is frozen for a long time," he said.
Mehta was in the city to preside over the investiture ceremony of naval officers and men held at INS Kunjali today.
MUMBAI, MAY 1 (PTI)
Asserting that its objective is to "get smarter and not merely larger in terms of numbers", the Indian Navy today announced that it would commission 40 new ships, most of them to be built indigeneously, in the coming years.
"We are currently in the process of acquiring 34 new ships and have asked for funds for 40 more ships as part of ongoing process in the next three five-year plans," Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta told reporters here.
"This is an ongoing process and we need to scrap certain ageing ships in the fleet to make way for the new ones. The objective is not to get bigger in terms of numbers but smarter in terms of our capabilities," he said.
Mehta also said that a majority of the 40 new ships will be built indigeneously itself and said it is his "vision" to have a strong ship building industry in the country which includes both warship building as well as merchant navy ships.
The Naval chief also said that "assymetric threats" emanating from smaller vessels, mostly used by terrorist elements, were the next big challenge for the Indian Navy and welcomed US navy chief Admiral Mike Mullen's concept of "1,000-ship international navy".
"We are concerned that the economic assets of the country can come under the scanner of certain groups (terrorists) and we must be prepared to tackle them," Mehta said.
Regarding cooperation between countries, which is the key in Mullen's concept, Mehta said India is already strengthening relations with countries in the Indian Ocean and South East Asia like Mauritius, Myanmar and Thailand.
Mehta said maritime threats emanating from the terrorists would increase with time and asked the Navy to be more professional to meet the challenges while addressing the personnel of the Western Naval Command at INS Kunjali here today.
According to Mehta, the Indian Navy is being globally recognised during its participation in the joint exercises across the world and advocated an increase in such programmes which helps it in "shaping the maritime battlefield".
Mehta was at INS Kunjali to preside over the investiture ceremony commemorating naval officers and men for meritorious services and gallantry in the last year.
In another blow to India, besides the proposed hike in the Su-30 MKI contract, the Russians want to present a modified proposal for the Gorshkov aircraft carrier that is being built at Sevmash shipyard in Serverodvinsk city in north Russia. Even though India has already paid $113 million beyond the contract, Russia apparently wants more so that the carrier can be delivered by August 2008. The delay is on account of shortage of funds at the Sevmash shipyard and a gross underestimation of the cost of cabling of the ship.
(...)
Gorshkov Aircraft Carrier
Deal signed in 2004 during the NDA regime and the total cost of the floating airfield with MiG-29K fighters was $2 billion. Named Vikramaditya, the carrier was to be the showpiece of 2008 Independence Day
New Russian proposal
Russia wants India to pay more for getting the carrier, expected towards the end of this month, on time. With serious underestimation of cabling required and alleged diversion of resources from Sevmash shipyard, the delivery stands delayed to 2010 unless India coughs up more dollars. It has already paid an additional $113 million for Gorshkov.
***Ends***
India demands answers on Gorshkov
2 Nov 2007, 0108 hrs IST,Rajat Pandit,TNN
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NEW DELHI: With its patience wearing thin over Russia's evasive behaviour on huge delays in the modernisation refit of decommissioned aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, New Delhi has sought some firm answers from Moscow now.
"So far, there has been an utter lack of clarity on Russia's part. We are now seeking concrete answers on the technical and financial audit of the entire Gorshkov project," said a source.
Defence minister A K Antony, on his part, also did some "tough talking" during his mid-October visit to Moscow about "issues relating to life cycle support" of Russian-origin weapon systems and "the delay in refurbishment" of Admiral Gorshkov, holding that these were "a cause of concern" for India.
The Gorshkov issue, in fact, is even likely to be taken up during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Russia later this month. "We might get some answers then," said the source.
The 44,570-tonne Admiral Gorshkov was initially supposed to join Indian Navy by August 2008 as per the $1.5 billion package deal signed with Russia in January 2004. The deal includes 16 MiG-29K 'Fulcrum' supersonic fighters and a mix of Ka-31 and Ka-28 helicopters to operate from its carrier's deck.
But the assessment now is that India will not be getting the carrier, already rechristened INS Vikramaditya, anytime before 2010. Any delay beyond that will adversely affect India's plan to further bolster its "blue-water" capabilities in Indian Ocean and beyond.
For one, the country's solitary aircraft carrier, the ageing 28,000-tonne INS Viraat, is on its last legs now. For another, construction of the 37,500-tonne indigenous aircraft carrier at Cochin Shipyard has also been delayed to 2015 or so.
India cannot buy an aircraft carrier off-the-shelf and Admiral Gorshkov remains the only available option at present. Even earlier, as first reported by TOI, Antony had written to his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov to seek his personal intervention in the matter.
Antony had expressed the hope that Moscow will honour its contractual obligations regarding Gorshkov, which is berthed at the Sevmash shipyard at Severodvinsk in north Russia. Though Serdyukov has himself reviewed the project, Moscow is yet to provide any answers, sources said.
Russia, on its part, contends it had grossly underestimated the refit cost of the partly-burnt Admiral Gorshkov, which was decommissioned by the Russian Navy a decade ago.
Technical problems, too, continue to dog the carrier's refit programme, which includes removal of the missile launchers on the bow to build a ski-jump at a 14.3 degree angle for the MiG-29Ks.
It is also to be fitted with new-generation air defence and other weapon systems, new engines, eight diesel boilers with generators, electrical machinery, communication systems, distillation plants and the like. The Gorshkov project, apart from cost escalation of Sukhoi-30MKI fighters and tardy support of spares for acquired weapon systems, has emerged as a major irritant in the otherwise strong military relationship between India and Russia.
The total value of several ongoing projects as well as new programmes and purchases in the pipeline with Russia - which include Sukhoi-30MKIs, T-90S main-battle tanks, Talwar-class stealth frigates and the new fifth-generation fighter aircraft - is estimated to be well over $10 billion.
Then, of course, there is the hush-hush Rs 2,600 crore deal to lease from next year the nuclear-powered Akula-II attack submarine for 10 years, for which Indian sailors have already undergone training in Russia.
soultrain escreveu: India Seeks 98 Anti-Ship Torpedoes
By VIVEK RAGHUVANSHI
NEW DELHI — India is on a global hunt to acquire 98 advanced, heavyweight anti-ship and anti-submarine torpedoes.
The foreign maker is to supply 20 of the weapons; transfer enough technology and licenses to allow the rest to be built at state-owned Bharat Dynamics Ltd., Hyderabad; and set up a torpedo-repair facility at the Karwar naval maintenance base, where conventional and nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers will be based, a senior Indian Navy official said.
A request for proposals was sent in early October to firms in Germany, Italy and Russia, according to the official.
The torpedoes will arm the two dozen conventionally powered submarines being developed for the Navy under its $200 million Project 75.
The submarines will also carry EADS SM39 Exocet anti-ship missiles.
The Project 75 subs are to be delivered between 2025 and 2030. The program’s goal is the replacement of some of India’s aging submarines. The Navy will retire 16 of its subs by 2012.
What the Navy Needs
The Navy’s requirements, the official said, include:
å The ability to hit targets up to 50 kilometers away after being launched from a depth of 600 meters.
å A service life of at least 30 years.
å Active and passive homing.
å Acoustic countermeasures.
å Anti-jamming features.
India wants the transfer of technologies associated with the homing head, warhead, batteries, propulsion motor, power transmission, optical fiber cable and casings.
The Naval Science and Technological Laboratory at Visakhapat-nam, the maritime arm of the state’s Defence Research and Development Organisation, is working on the heavyweight ship-launched Varunastra torpedo, slated to arrive by mid-2009. å
E-mail: vraghuvanshi@defensenews.com.