Russia again delays delivery of Admiral Gorshkov to India

India will not get refurbished aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, rechristened as INS Vikramaditya by the Indian Navy, anytime soon as Russia has further delayed the delivery of warship by over a year. The new schedule for the delivery has been set for the ‘fourth quarter of 2013'.

This was informed to the media during a joint press conference of Indian Defence Minister AK Antony and the Russian Defence Minister Anatoly E. Serdyukov on the sidelines of the twelfth meeting of the Indian-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC).

Addressing the media, Defence Minister Serdyukov said, “We believe the handover of the ship will take place in the fourth quarter of 2013,". The initial plan was to get the aircraft carrier group inducted on the occasion of the coming Navy Day, December 4, 2012 but it was initially postponed for three months when seven out of the aircraft carrier’s eight steam boilers broke down when they were run at maximum power to enable the ship to achieve its top speed of 30 knots.

The Russian sources had said that the Indian side had objected to the use of asbestos in the insulation of the boilers because of feared health hazards and the manufacturer used other material which turned out to be sub-standard and this had lead to the overheating.

Speaking to the media, Defence Minister AK Antony said that he has communicated his ‘serious concern’ to his Russian counterrpart. "I myself expressed serious concern about the delay," Antony said. He added that the issue of penalizing Russia on the matter of delay was not discussed.

Speaking on the occasion, Russian Defence Minister also added that both countries will produce 1000 pieces of Brahmose cruise missiles and this was decided along with the discussions on the licensed production of SU 30 MKI and T-90 Main battle Tanks, up gradation of air defence equipments, and Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV).

A highly placed source informed TSI Online that there will be additional contract for 42 Sukhoi 30-MKI aircraft and 71 MI 17 V5 helicopters. This will be in addition to the already ordered 272 Sukhoi aircraft and 80 MI 17 choppers.

The source, on the condition of anonymity, added that both countries are working on hypersonic cruise missile and the Russia has agreed to give missiles for the Project 75 (I) next generation submarine, which is to be the follow-on order of the six Scorpene submarines.

The Project 75 (I) is supposed to have Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system which will allow the diesel submarines to remain submerged for longer period of time without resurfacing to recharge the battery which requires air (oxygen).

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