Navy personnel begin training on Admiral Gorshkov

NEW DELHI (PTI): With the Navy set to induct aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov by next year, the first batch of Navy personnel have begun training on the refurbished vessel in St. Petersburg, Russia.

"The first group of 152 sailors and officers have started their training on-board INS Vikramaditya in Russia.

The training comprises four months of theory and almost a similar period of practical exercises on the ship," naval spokesperson told PTI here Thursday.

The group comprises sailors and officers from technical branches of the Navy who will train on the Gorshkov christened as INS Vikramaditya. The ship will have a total crew of 1400 people.

"The training is being conducted by Russian trainers and instructors. More such batches from different branches of naval operations will undergo similar period of training in the coming months," the officer said.

He said the training would be over "well in time" to ensure scheduled induction of the carrier in the Navy by 2012.

The Navy has already inducted the MiG-29K carrier borne fighter aircraft at its airbase in Goa and has plans to induct 45 of them.

It is also in the process of creating a Shore-Based Test Facility (SBTF) there on which the pilots will take off and land to simulate flying operations at sea.

The deal to purchase the 45,000 tonne Kiev class carrier was signed between India and Russia in 2004 at USD 974 million along with 16 MiG-29K naval fighters for USD 526 million.

However, the original delivery schedule of December 2008 went for a toss after the shipyard made a huge claim of an additional USD 1.5 billion for the refit project and went slow on the work in 2007 and hiked it again to USD 2.7 billion in 2009.

Last year, the two sides resolved the issue after long negotiations and settled on a final price of USD 2.3 billion for the warship.

INS Vikramaditya to start sea trials in the falls

Indian carrier INS Vikramaditya (former Russian aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Gorshkov) which is being modernized at defense shipyardSevmash will conduct her first sortie in the falls of 2011, reported ITAR-TASS referring to Anastasia Nikitinskaya, the head of Sevmash's press service, having specified that "approximately, in October or November". 

The carrier undergoes mooring trials since March 1. According to Sevmash's press service, test of main propulsion plant will be the most complicated and critical. Another high-end task is testing of radioelectronic systems including those made in India, and air-technical facilities. End objective of mooring trials is preparation of shipborne systems for coming sea trials. 

According to Russian-Indian intergovernmental package agreement signed in Jan 2004 in New Delhi, hull of Russian aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Gorshkov was handed over to India for free providing that the ship would be modernized by Sevmash and equipped with Russian-made air wing. Also, Russia will train about 1 500 Indian crewmembers and construct basing infrastructure in the Indian Ocean. As reported by Indian sources, Russian aircraft carrier would cost them $2.33 bln. 

The carrier must be delivered to Indian Navy in the end of 2012. Reportedly, her service life would be 30 years. 

Admiral Gorshkov (formerly named Baku) was commissioned into Northern Fleet in 1987. The ship's length was 283 meters; beam – 51 meters; displacement – 45,000 tons. The carrier's after-upgrade specifications have not been disclosed so far.

Mooring trails for Indian carrier

After near a decade long rebuilding, the mooring trails of aircraft-carrier Admiral Gorshkov starts in Severodvinsk.

The large former Soviet aircraft carrier has been a headache for the naval yard in Severodvinsk all time since Russia in 2004 signed the agreement to sell and rebuild the vessel to the Indian navy.

Read also: Indian officer in Severodvinsk honey-trap

Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk and the Indian navy have both disagreed on costs and time-schedule for the aircraft carrier that sailed for the Soviet / Russian navy from 1987 to 1994.

It is believed that India will pay Russia some $2.2 billion for Admiral Gorshkov.

Press-service of Sevmash says the mooring trails for the vessel started on March 1st. The yard says this is a serious step in the modernization of the vessel that now enters its final rebuilding step.

Tests of the main machinery will be the most difficult part of the ongoing tests, says Anastasia Nikitinskaya, head of press service at Sevmash.

If the tests at quay prove successful, Admiral Gorshkov will sail for sea trails out in the White- and Barents Seas in the autumn this year.

Once the aircraft carrier sails to Indian waters, it will be renamed INS Vikramaditya.

INS Vikramaditya started mooring trials

Aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya which is retrofitted for Indian Navy started mooring trials on March 1. Sevmash shipyard's director general Nikolai Kalistratov signed an order to begin the trials. 

This is an essential milestone in the carrier's modernization particularly marked in the general schedule. Outfitting works have reached the final stage. The ship has been gradually filled with equipment, mechanisms, pipelines, cables; and now all those systems must be tested in different modes. 

The trials will be conducted in accordance with special programs and techniques. Tests of main propulsion plant are considered the most complicated and important. The second large-scale goal is testing of radioelectronics, including Indian-made systems, and air-technical facilities. The main purpose of mooring trials is preparation of shipborne systems for further important stage – shipyard's sea trials. The aircraft carrier is planned to take the sea late in 2011.