Gorshkov Latest!!

here are few interesting things i found……

Former Naval Chiefs against buying Russian carrier
12 February 2002

Former Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral (retd.) J.G. Nadkarni has stated that he is opposed to the acquisition of the Russian aircraft carrier, Admiral Gorshkov, for the Indian Navy as its price is exorbitant and above all it is a 15-year-old ship. Admiral (retd.) Nadkarni said the Russians were offering the vessel which had remained in-operational for several years with a price tag of at least $1 billion. “There should be more transparency in the deal which is not there at the moment. The Centre should explain why it was necessary to enter into this agreement at such an enormous cost,” he said. Admiral (retd.) Nadkarni, who was the Naval Chief from 1987 to 1990, said, “For the huge price the Russians are demanding, the aircraft carrier should remain operational for at least two decades.” He further said, “The Indian Navy does not need such a huge ship weighing 44,000 tonnes which may face anchoring problems in India. In contrast, the indigenous aircraft carrier is expected to weigh between 15,000 and 20,000 tonnes, which is ideally suited to the Navy’s requirements.”

In an earlier report, Admiral (retd.) Nadkarni had said if India decided to buy the Russian aircraft carrier, it would be one of the largest single defence deals New Delhi entered into with any country since Independence. On February 8th, India and Russia moved into an advanced level of negotiations over the delivery of Admiral Gorshkov. A deal is expected to be clinched in April if Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov has his way. If a pact is reached, the aircraft carrier after undergoing a three-year refit program, will join the Navy with 20 MiG-29K naval fighters and weapons. Admiral (retd.) Nadkarni said he would not call Admiral Gorshkov junk. “But we could have avoided it if the country’s indigenous aircraft project had been implemented earlier,” he said.

Sharing his view, another former Naval Chief, Admiral (retd.) L. Ramdas said that if the Centre had gone ahead with the indigenous project, the need for acquiring Admiral Gorshkov would not have arisen at all. The Union government has been short-sighted on the important issue. According to him if the construction of the indigenous aircraft carrier had started soon after the Union Cabinet gave its green signal for the project three years ago, it would have been completed now and replaced the Vikrant. The Centre approved the the indigenous aircraft carrier project designated as Air Defence Ship in the late 1990s and there is no indication when it will be implemented. “Admiral Gorshkov is an old and expensive ship and it will take three years for it to join the navy,” Admiral (retd.) Ramdas said. He was the Naval Chief from 1990 to 1993.

As the Naval Chief, he recalled he was opposed to its acquisition as it was too large and may face anchoring problems. Other defence officials said Admiral Gorshkov’s three sister ships were scrapped after the Yak-38 vertical take-off planes they were designed to carry failed to function as planned. They said the aircraft carrier suffered a severe damage on 01 February 1994, following a fire in one of its boiler rooms. A Russian defence analyst, Pavel Felgenhauer, is quoted as saying that Admiral Gorshkov is suitable only as a helicopter carrier. Former Russian Deputy Defence Minister Vitaly Shlyikov is reported to have stated that the ship’s deck is too short and Russia never designed American-style catapults to enable short take-offs of fighters
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What’s the deal on Gorshkov? Its name
11th Feb 2002

What’s in a name? Plenty, it would seem, since both India and Russia are stuck over a name for the 44,500-tonne aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov the Indian Navy hopes to acquire soon. But that’s not all that negotiations are deadlocked over. Price, steady supply of spares over a 15-year period, technical aspects, training of sailors and dockyard personnel for maintenance and assets on board (aircraft and helicopters) are the subject of deliberations currently on between New Delhi and Moscow. The carrier, last used in 1988, has been junked by the Russian Navy. It comes as a free gift but the collateral damage to the Indian government will be approximately Rs 8,000 crore. “The re-fitting cost will be around Rs 3,500 crore ($738.6 million). Add to this the cost of aircraft, which could well be another Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 crore. These prices are still to be discussed in detail,” sources in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

India wants to rechristen the carrier INS (Indian Navy Ship) Vikrant after the first carrier, decommissioned in 1997. The Russians, however, are insistent that the ship be named INS Admiral Gorshkov, as a symbol of friendship. While naval officials feel this hurdle may be crossed with relative ease the sticking point, they say, will be bringing the retrofitting cost down keeping all the qualitative requirements (QR) intact. According to Admiral (retd) Vishnu Bhagwat, the cost of retrofitting when he was in service (1998) was approximately $400 million. “There has been some hard nosed bargaining from both sides. It is expected to come down to between $600-$650 million for retrofitting plus the cost of aircraft on board. But officially price negotiations are still to begin,” sources in naval headquarters said.

Though the Navy is keen, there have been questions raised over its viability. “It is too large a ship to enter Mumbai port and Karwar is still a decade away from being made operational. Its size will also make it a target in case of a war; most of the navy will be engaged in protecting the aircraft carrier itself,” a former Chief of Air Staff said. The technical negotiation committee is expected to submit its report shortly; within two weeks, a price negotiation committee (PNC) will be set up.

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No Gorshkov, but accords look to future
09 February 2002

India and Russia, on February 8th, failed to clinch the much-talked about Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier deal, despite an agreement in principle. The two sides, however, signed wide-ranging protocols on military-technical cooperation in areas like aviation, warship building and land-systems for the Army. Defence Minister George Fernandes and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, tight-lipped about the leasing of two Russian nuclear submarines to India, said the two countries will now increasingly focus on joint development of futuristic weapon systems. Emerging after the conclusion of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation meeting, Defence Minister Fernandes and Deputy Prime Minister Klebanov said the two sides had reached an agreement on the Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bombers and Admiral Gorshkov.

“The technical discussions on Admiral Gorshkov have been completed,” said Defence Minister Fernandes, adding that the price negotiations for the 44,570-tonne decommissioned carrier, which has attracted some criticism for its high retrofitting costs, will follow soon after. Defence Minister Fernandes said he was optimistic of signing the deal for the carrier and the TU-22s in the near future. Deputy Prime Minister Klebanov, in turn, said, the two sides should be ready to sign the contract by summertime if India did not have any reservations. He said the two countries will now work jointly in the interests of our armed forces and also keep the world market in mind. One example of this joint development of high-tech weapon systems will be the proposed fifth-generation combat aircraft. Moscow will soon send a concept paper on the strike fighter to New Delhi, which in turn will be followed by an Indian technical team’s visit to Russia

These are things happening in the Gorshkov deal…..they are making such a big issue out of it!!!