Really, Japan and/or South Korea could easily counter a large Chinese Carrier. With a Cavour Type STOVL Carrier equipped with F-35B’s……..Something China could hardly counter………:diablo:

They don’t have anything planned as of this time though. 😉

India rejects Russian aircraft carrier price demand

India’s finance ministry has for the second time rejected a proposal from the nation’s defence ministry to approve an additional $1.2 billion in funds to complete a retrofit project to the decommissioned Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov.

Moscow had originally agreed to deliver the modernised vessel for $1.5 billion, but demanded the additional payment after citing factors including an underestimation of the level of work required at its Sevmash shipbuilding yard.

India, which has already paid Russia two-thirds of the original programme cost, has made no further payments since January 2007, and the 44,500t carrier’s expected delivery date has slipped from 2009 until at least 2012. The finance ministry’s latest decision also stemmed from a request to allocate $60 million to perform sea trials of the refurbished vessel during 2011.

The Indian navy has ordered 12 RSK MiG-29K fighters and four MiG-29KUB trainers to operate from the ex-Russian navy ship.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/10/31/318150/india-rejects-russian-aircraft-carrier-price-demand.html

Does this mean the Russian Navy finish the Refit and recommission her? does she get scrapped? or do the Russians fold and the Indians get her for the original quoted price?

Ouch!

Well you have to admit that if the news reports are anything to go by, they arent exactly trouble free. 😉

Last i heard it was something about being overweight and it halving their service lives.:confused:

Mate you know how much the population hated Howard for crawling up Bush’s back door! Had we have started an Australian Coast Guard, we would have been America in all but name, politically it would have been like taking a gun and putting it to your head then pulling the trigger and praying that the gun misfires. The only thing with the ACS’s vessels is that like the RAN’s Patrol boats, they are not really equipped to take on the Pirates who have far superior weapons on their vessels- I mean how can 2 50’s take on a 5 inch gun? If any of the Bay class come across a pirate boat armed with RPG-7’s then I am sorry to say that the Bay class will loose the fight as they (again like the Armidale’s) are made of aluminium alloy and this burns very hot and very fast just like magnesium!

Of the entire surface fleet, the latest vessel “Ashmore Guardian” is the one I think is great, I am looking forward to hearing more of this vessel in the future. She is a purpose built vessel as you can see, but the only down side it weapons- the only ones she has are the personal weapons of the crew, she doesn’t even have the 50’s 🙁 Oh and did anyone notice the Anzac in the back ground of this pic? 😉

With Regards to the Ashmore Guardian, she looks like a converted tuna boat.

In regards to pirates, please list the pirates that have 5″ guns? the Armidale class with their Stabilised 25mm Typhoon mounts could probably take on any conceivable law enforcement task, unless pirates can get their hands on retired FAC’s including SSM’s.

Wonder if it would be worth it for the RAN to pass the Armidales to Customs and replace them 1 for 1 with a class of 1,500-2,000t helicopter capable “sloops”.

Those Dash 8’s and Reim’s seem to have very big surface search radar’s, wonder if they’d work with the Orions in a war situation, while they wouldn’t be able to do anti-sub work, they could free up the orions from tracking enemy vessels.

In my opinion, C2 will pretty much be a direct T23 replacement with the 32 or so SAM’s, 8 Harpoons and either one merlin or two lynx. C1 will be about the same size as the T45 and will have everything the C2 will have, but will have extra VLS cells for land attack missiles in addition.

New minesweeper to join Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in November

MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti) – The new Vice Admiral Zakharin minesweeper will join Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in November, the Navy headquarters said on Monday. (Russia’s Black Sea Fleet – Image gallery)

“The minesweeper is currently in the final stages of official tests in Novorossiisk. The tests will be completed in November, and the warship will become part of the Black Sea Fleet,” a Navy official said.

He said that initially, the minesweeper was to be transferred to the Northern Fleet, but that a decision was then made to give it to the Black Sea Fleet.

The construction of the Vice Admiral Zakharin started in 1994 as a 266ME minesweeper for Vietnam, but in 2000 it was redesigned as ‘Project 02668’ and completed in 2006.

The ship has a displacement of 853 metric tons, a length of 61 meters, and a width of 10.2 meters. Its maximum speed is 16 knots and its effective range is almost 5,000 km (3,000 miles) at 12 knots per hour. The minesweeper has a crew of 60.

I hate to say this, but 14 years to build a minesweeper is just embarrassing, expecially considering that a minesweeper is basically a glorified fishing trawler with mine sweeps replacing the normal nets.