Indian navy takes second Barents Sea summer

Much-delayed “INS Vikramaditya” aircraft carrier will sail out from Severodvinsk and go on sea trails in June and July.

By

Thomas Nilsen

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.