INS Vikramaditya

Career (India)
Name:	INS Vikramaditya
Builder:	Black Sea Shipyard, Mykolayiv, Ukraine
Laid down:	December 1978 (as Baku)
Launched:	April 17, 1982 (as Admiral Gorshkov) December 4, 2008 (as Vikramaditya)[citation needed]
Commissioned:	1987 (Soviet Union), Planned for 2012 (India) (Sea trials in 2011)
Recommissioned:	Planned for 2012
Decommissioned:	1996 (Soviet Union)
Status:	Mooring Trials
General characteristics
Class and type:	Modified Kiev class aircraft carrier
Displacement:	44,570 tons full load
Length:	283.1 m overall
Beam:	51.0 m
Draught:	10.2 m
Propulsion:	4 shaft geared steam turbines, 140,000 hp
Speed:	32 knots (59 km/h)
Range:	13500 miles at 18 knots (33 km/h)
Armament:	8 CADS-N-1 Kashtan CIWS guns
Aircraft carried:	16-24 Mikoyan MiG-29K 10 helicopters, possible mix of Ka-28 helicopters ASW, Ka-31 helicopters AEW, or HAL Dhruv

INS Vikramaditya (Sanskrit: विक्रमादित्य, Vikramāditya, "Brave as the Sun") is the new name for the former Soviet aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, which has been procured by India, and is estimated to enter service in the Indian Navy after 2012.

The Vikramaditya is a modified Kiev class aircraft carrier built in 1978–1982 at Black Sea Shipyard, Mykolaiv, Ukraine. The ship is presently being extensively refitted at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It is projected to replace India's only current aircraft carrier, INS Viraat.

History

Purchase

The carrier when it was Admiral Gorshkov

The Admiral Gorshkov entered service in 1987, but was inactivated in 1996 because it was too expensive to operate on a post Cold War budget. This attracted the attention of India, which was looking for a way to expand its carrier aviation capabilities. On January 20, 2004, after years of negotiations, Russia and India signed a deal for the sale of the ship. The ship was free, while India would pay US$800 million for the upgrade and refit of the ship, as well as an additional US$1 billion for the aircraft and weapons systems. The Navy looked at equipping the carrier with the E-2C Hawkeye, but decided not to. In 2009, Northrop Grumman offered the advanced E-2D Hawkeye to the Indian Navy.

The deal also includes the purchase of 12 single-seat Mikoyan MiG-29K 'Fulcrum-D' (Product 9.41) and 4 dual-seat MiG-29KUB aircraft (with an option for 14 more aircraft) at US$1 billion, 6 Kamov Ka-31 "Helix" reconnaissance and anti-submarine helicopters, torpedo tubes, missile systems, and artillery units. Facilities and procedures for training pilots and technical staff, delivery of simulators, spare parts, and establishment maintenance on Indian Navy facilities are also part of the contract.

The conversion plans for the aircraft carrier involve stripping all the armament from the front of the carrier, including the P-500 Bazalt cruise missile launchers and the four Antey Kinzhal surface-to-air missile launchers, to make way for a 14.3º bow ski-jump.

These upgrade plans involve stripping all the weaponry and missile launcher tubes from the ship's foredeck to make way for a Short Take-Off But Assisted Recovery (STOBAR) configuration. This will convert the Gorshkov from a hybrid carrier/cruiser to a pure carrier.

The announced delivery date for INS Vikramaditya was August 2008, which would allow the carrier to enter service just as the Indian Navy's only light carrier INS Viraat retires. The INS Viraat’s retirement has been pushed out to 2010–2012. The issue with the delays has been compounded by the ongoing cost overruns. This has resulted in high-level diplomatic exchanges to get these issues resolved. India has agreed to pay an additional US$1.2 billion for the project, more than doubling the original cost. However, ongoing delays with the Vikramaditya's delivery schedule, pushing the delivery to 2012, could mean that even this postponement of the Viraat's retirement may not come soon enough. As a result, the Indian Navy may find itself without an aircraft carrier for the first time since the 1960s. The indigenous Vikrant-class aircraft carrier has been delayed by at least a year and may be commissioned at the earliest in 2013 from the proposed 2012.

In July 2008, it was reported that Russia was increasing the total price to US$3.4 billion, blaming unexpected cost overruns on the deteriorated condition of the ship. India has paid US$400 million as of November 2008. However, the Russians were considering keeping the ship themselves if India did not want to buy the ship anymore.^{[citation needed]} In December 2008, government sources in India stated that the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had finally decided in favour of purchasing the Admiral Gorshkov as the best option available. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) criticised that Vikramaditya would be a second-hand warship with a limited life span, which will be 60 percent costlier than a new one and there is a risk of further delay in its delivery.

The Indian Navy Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta defended the price for the warship saying: "I can't comment on the CAG. But you all are defence analysts, can you get me an aircraft carrier for less than USD two billion? If you can, I am going to sign a cheque right now". The statement from the Chief of Naval Staff possibly indicates that the final deal could be in excess of US$2 billion. When asked about CAG's finding that the Navy had not done its risk analysis before going in for the ship, he said, "I can ensure you that there is no such thing. There is no question, we have been looking at the ship since late 90's."

On July 2, 2009, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that the carrier should be completed as soon as possible so it could be delivered to India in 2012 On December 7, 2009, Russian sources indicated that final terms had been agreed on, but no delivery date was set. On December 8, 2009, it was reported that India and Russia ended the stalemate over Gorshkov price deal by agreeing on a price of US$2.2 billion. Moscow was asking for US$2.9 billion for the aircraft carrier, nearly three times the price that was originally agreed between the two sides in 2004. On the other hand, New Delhi wanted the price to be scaled back to US$2.1 billion. On 10 March, the price of the Admiral Gorshkov was finalised at US$2.35 billion by both governments, a day ahead of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's two-day visit to India.

In April 2010, a scandal over the project emerged when it was announced that a Commodore had likely been blackmailed to influence the negotiations over the cost of the Gorshkov to India. Commodore Sukhjinder Singh had been a senior figure supervising the refit of the carrier, working as the principle director for the project; he was discharged from the service due to this incident.

Refurbishment

The hull work was completed by 2008 and the Vikramaditya was launched on 4 December 2008. Around 99% of the structural work and almost 50% of the cabling work has been completed by June 2010. Almost all of the large equipment, including engines and diesel generators, has been installed. A naval MiG-29K prototype is being used to test the deck systems of INS Vikramaditya in 2010.

Sea trials of Vikramaditya are to begin sometime after March 2012, after the cold tempuratures of the Russian winter let up.

Design

The MiG-29Ks are to be based on the INS Vikramaditya

The ship will be operated in a STOBAR configuration, with a 14.3 degree ski-jump on the bow and three arrestor wires on the stern of the angled deck. This will allow the operation of MiG-29K and Sea Harrier aircraft. The maximum take off length for the MiG-29K on the Vikramaditya will be between 160–180 metres.

An added advantage of “Admiral Gorshkov’ platform is its superstructure profile that has the potential to accommodate powerful planar or phased array radar systems with the “billboard style” antennae, which was first observed on the United States Navy's USS Long Beach, along with extensive command and control facilities to conduct an aerial campaign. The ship is also projected to be equipped with a robust combination of air defence weaponry, such as a SAM and/or a CIWS.

The hull design is based on the earlier Admiral Gorshkov, launched in 1982, but it will be larger with a full load displacement. The conversion plans for the aircraft carrier involve all the armament, including the P-500 Bazalt cruise missile launchers and the four Antey Kinzhal surface-to-air missile launchers fitted on the front, to be removed to make way for a 14.3º bow ski-jump. Two restraining stands will also be fitted, allowing combat aircraft to reach full power before making a ski jump-assisted short take-off. The ability to launch only one aircraft at a time might prove to be a hindrance. Under the modernisation plan, the 20-ton capacity elevator beside the ship's island superstructure will remain unchanged, but the aft lift will be enlarged and its lift capacity increased to 30 tons. Three arresting gears would be fitted on the aft part of the angled deck. Navigation and carrier-landing aids would be refitted to support fixed-wing STOBAR (Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery) operations including the LAK optical-landing system.

Kamov Ka-31 "Helix" are to be based on the INS Vikramaditya in an airborne early warning role.

The eight boilers are being removed and converted to take diesel fuel instead of furnace fuel oil and modern oil-water separators as well as a sewage treatment plant are being incorporated to meet international standards. She is also being fitted with six new Italian-made Wärtsilä 1.5 MW diesel generators, a Global Marine communications system, Sperry Bridgemaster navigation radar, a new telephone exchange, new data link and an IFF Mk XI system. Hotel services are being improved with new water-producing plants as well as York International refrigeration and air conditioning. A new galley is being installed together with improved domestic services and accommodation for 10 female officers.

Though the official expected life span of the ship is 20 years, experts suggest it could actually be a minimum of 30 years from the time of commissioning. On completion of the modernisation, over 70 percent of the ship and its equipment will be new and the remainder will have been refurbished.

Status

Russia will hand over modernized aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (former Admiral Gorshkov) to India on Dec 4, 2012, reports RIA Novosti referring to Sergei Novoselov, deputy director of Sevmash shipyard for international military cooperation.

Indian Navy MiG-29K at MAKS Airshow.

All reconfiguration work is being completed at Severodvinsk, Russia; however it has been delayed by three years due to underestimating the amount of cabling needed and will be commissioned by 2012. An expert level discussion on technical and financial matters has been held between India and Russia to sort out the issues. The MiG-29K entered operational service with India in February 2010. A compromise was finalised and India will pay an extra undisclosed amount. Russia will install new systems instead of repairing the old ones and the carrier will be delivered in 2011. It will then begin an 18-month sea trial before it is commissioned into the Indian Navy in 2012.

On 1 June 2010, the Times of India reported a naval officer saying: "With India earlier this year agreeing to the revised refit cost of $2.33 billion for Gorshkov, after three years of bitter wrangling since the earlier agreement inked in January 2004 had earmarked only $974 million for it, Russia has appointed a high-level apex committee to oversee the work on the carrier." The ship is likely to go for harbour trials by early 2011 to ensure it can be handed over to India by December 2012 or so.

Dock trials begun on March 1, 2011. The focus of the trials is on the main power generation units and the radio-electronic armament systems, manufactured in India. With trials starting in early 2011, final delivery to India is now almost certain in the later half of 2012.

Indian Navy personnel have begun training on Admiral Gorshkov.

Naming

"Vikramāditya" is Sanskrit for "Brave as the Sun" and was the title of some of the most famous kings in Indian history, such as the Vikramaditya of Ujjain, famed as a noble ruler and a mighty warrior. It is also a title that was used by the Indian emperor Chandragupta II who ruled between 375-413/15 AD.

See also

• List of aircraft carriers

External links

• Video: INS vikramaditya hits water
• Defense Industry Daily – INS Vikramaditya Hits Delay, Cost Increases. Covers the program's full history, the ship's aerial complement, and associated events.
• INS Vikramaditya – Bharat Rakshak
• Photos, models & information at Worldwide Aircraft Carriers
• India to get revamped aircraft carrier from Russia (Part 1)
• Latest Video of INS VIKRAMADITYA !
• Satellite Photo of INS VIKRAMADITYA in Severodvinsk from the Google Maps