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| India-Pakistan | ||
| Russian aircraft carrier ready in 2012 if India pays $2 bln more | ||
| 2008-11-16 | ||
The Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier could be handed over to the Indian Navy in 2012 if Delhi provides sufficient funding for the project, the director of a Russian shipyard said on Thursday.
Another shipyard executive said the market dictated that India should pay a further $2 billion. "The market price of such an aircraft carrier varies between $3 billion and $4 billion. The ongoing maintenance and upgrade makes up 60-70% of the new carrier's cost. This is about $2 billion," said Sergei Novoselov, deputy general director of Sevmash. A source in Russian Defense Ministry said that if India failed to foot the bill, the carrier could be given to the Russian Navy. "If India does not pay up, we will keep the aircraft carrier," he said. Kalistratov said the aircraft carrier was 49% complete and would be floated out before the end of this week so construction could be completed in a wet dock. The original $750 million contract to deliver the Admiral Gorshkov to India, which Russia's state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport signed with the Indian Navy in 2004, projected the work would be completed in 2008. However, Russia later claimed it underestimated the scale and the cost of the modernization and demanded an additional $1.2 billion, which New Delhi said was "exorbitant." After long-running delays and disputes, Russia and India agreed in February to raise retrofit costs for the aircraft carrier, docked at the Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia for the past 12 years, by at least $800 million. The current contract covers a complete overhaul of the ship and equipping it with modern weaponry, including MiG-29K Fulcrum aircraft and Ka-27 Helix-A and Ka-31 Helix-B anti-submarine helicopters. The carrier, renamed the Vikramaditya, is to replace India's INS Viraat carrier, which, although currently operational, is now 50 years old. After modernization, the carrier is expected to be seaworthy for 30 years.
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| Posted by:john frum |
| #12 Deacon, the Indian Navy has operated carriers since 1956 and used one of them successfully in the 1971 war with Pakistan. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2008-11-16 23:55 |
| #11 DB, apparently there is also a huge difference between building a carrier and making money selling it. |
| Posted by: Skunky Glins 5*** 2008-11-16 21:40 |
| #10 There is a huge difference between owning a carrier and being able to operate it. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2008-11-16 20:06 |
| #9 First thingys first - RUSSIA wants the $$$, but I doubt it will turn the GORSHKOV, etc. over to India iff the latter appears to Russ to becom destabilized wid risk of national breakup ala PAN-ASIA ISLAMIST THREAT 2015-2020. Russ itself is subject to many of the same Islamist pressures ala 2015-2020, and ultimately may decide to keep the Gorshy for itself anyway in order to milpol CYA its own domestic arse agz Radical Islamism!? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-11-16 17:49 |
| #8 BY various MSM-Net sources, the NERPA Sub is reportedly only leased to INDIA for as long as 10 years, NOT necess leased-to-own as other sources had claimed, an arrangement which could prove legally and diplom tricky iff RUSSIA OR INDIA NEED TO USE THE SHIP + SIMILAR IN COMBAT MISSIONS. Pragmatically, wid the USN-DOD itself debating the LT utility of the CV21 class versus extending the service lives of the NIMITZ-Class, as given the advances in super-tech + proposed OWG-NWO "1000-Flag/Nation" Global Task Force = UNO Global Naval Police, smaller CV's like GORSHKOV are basically INTERNATIONAL AIR-SEA CADET TRAINING SHIPS FOR JAMES T. KIRK'S STARFLEET + FEDERATION [OF EARTH/TERRAN SYS SPACE COLONIES]. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-11-16 17:41 |
| #7 But WAIT! Ther's MORE! The keyword in this well-known phrase is WAIT. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2008-11-16 14:02 |
| #6 I wasa thinkrn the same thing Heh. Obviously an instance of great minds thinking alike. And I was worried about being too obscure! |
| Posted by: SteveS 2008-11-16 12:39 |
| #5 But WAIT, order NOW and we'll send you TWO Russian aircraft carriers! Just pay shipping and handling. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2008-11-16 12:05 |
| #4 Way, way, waaaaaaaaaaaaaay OT but did anyone else ever notice that Swee'Pea looked an awful lot like Whimpy? Whimpy you dog!! Just sayn' . . . . |
| Posted by: Ferd Berfel 2008-11-16 11:40 |
| #3 LOL Steve - I wasa thinkrn the same thing and got beat badly to the punch |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-11-16 11:24 |
| #2 I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a Gorshkov today. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2008-11-16 10:51 |
| #1 The Vikrant, now being built in Cochin shipyard, Kerala, will hit the water in 2010 and is epected to enter service in 2012. A sister ship will be ready by 2017. So India may have two Indian built aircraft carriers before the Gorshkov is ready. |
| Posted by: john frum 2008-11-16 08:19 |