Much-delayed “INS Vikramaditya” aircraft carrier will sail out from
Severodvinsk and go on sea trails in June and July.
By
February 27, 2013
The rebuilt
former Soviet navy carrier is scheduled to be handed over to the Indian navy in
November. But first, the huge vessel will have to prove she is fully
functional.
A three
months sea trail period last summer revealed severe
problems with the vessel’s boilers and the official handover was postponed.
“INS Vikramaditya” had to sail back to the yard in Severodvinsk in Russia’s
White Sea region for repair and upgrades. Head of the Russian Federal Service
for Military-Technical Cooperation, Aleksandr Fomin, is quoted by The
Indian Express saying that the aircraft carrier will be
put in dock in Severodvinsk in April and go on sea trails in June and July.
Last summer
“INS Vikramaditya” was sailing in the Russian Northern fleet’s exercise areas
outside the Kola Peninsula.
The aircraft
carrier was originally put to service for the Soviet Northern fleet in 1987
under the name “Admiral Gorshkov.” The vessel was laid up after the breakup of
the Soviet Union, until a 2004 agreement between New Delhi and Moscow stipulated
an upgrading at Sevmash naval yard to be followed by transfer to the Indian
Navy.
The
malfunctions in the boilers last summer was discovered during high speed tests
in the Barents Sea. The reason was said to be cracks in the fire-brick
insulation caused by high temperatures. Now, India has agreed with Sevmash to
go ahead with using asbestos based insulation in the boilers, believed to cope
well with high temperatures.
Originally,
“INS Vikramaditya” was supposed to be delivered in 2008 and the (so far) five years delay is seen as an embarrassing torn in
Indian, Russian military hardware cooperation.
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