As you know, during the visit of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to India on March 12, an additional agreement was signed to finance the further restructuring of the Admiral Gorshkov heavy aircraft carrier into a full-fledged Vikramaditya aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy. Recall that the parties signed the first contract in New Delhi on January 20, 2004. Then Russia undertook to re-equip the ship for $ 974 million. India also purchased 16 MiG-29K / KUB carrier-based fighters, as well as several Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopters and early warning helicopters. (AWACS) Ka-31.
Honestly, even then the amount of the deal was in doubt, since Severodvinsk Sevmash had to not just modernize the ship, but almost completely rebuild, in fact, create it anew. Only the body remained the same. Everything else was to be replaced. The negotiators from the Russian side clearly miscalculated, undertaking to re-equip the ship for little money.
Negotiations with India on the sale of the Admiral Gorshkov's navy of this country have been under way since 1995. They were not going easy. Initially, by the way, the Russian side named a very real price - just over $ 2 billion. But the Indians insisted on lowering it. As a result, she fell by more than half.
It is easy to be convinced of the complex nature of the work by comparing the Admiral Gorshkov heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser with the future aircraft carrier Vikramaditya.
The ship with a total displacement of 44,500 tons of project 11434 was developed by the Nevsky Design Bureau under the leadership of Vasily Anikiev. Its laying under the name "Baku" took place at the Black Sea shipyard in Nikolaev in December 1978. The hull was launched in March 1982, and the tests of the cruiser began in June 1986. In December 1987, the "Baku" raised the naval the flag of the USSR and became part of the fleet.
"Baku" was significantly different in the composition of weapons, primarily electronic, from its predecessors, projects 1143 ("Kiev" and "Minsk") and 11433 ("Novorossiysk"). The cruiser was equipped with the Mars-Passat radar station with phased antenna arrays, the Lesorub combat information and control system and other electronic means that were perfect for that time. Rocket and artillery weapons were powerful. 12 anti-ship missiles P-500 of the "Basalt" complex could hit a target at a distance of up to 500 km. Two 100 mm AK-100 guns supplemented the strike arsenal. There was also a significant air defense potential: four blocks of the Kinzhal anti-aircraft missile system (ammunition - 192 missiles), as well as artillery installations for the defense of the near line.
But the main weapon of the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser was to be new aircraft and helicopters - modernized light attack aircraft Yak-38M, as well as new multipurpose supersonic vertical takeoff and landing fighters Yak-41M (Yak-141) and helicopters of the Ka-252RLD radar patrol (Ka- 31). However, by the time the ship was put into operation, the Yak-141 fighter was still undergoing flight tests. The development of the Ka-252RLD helicopter was also delayed. That is why "Baku" initially received only Yak-38M carrier-based attack aircraft.
In the fall of 1991, on the cruiser, renamed "Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov," the shipboard stage of testing the Yak-141 supersonic vertical take-off and landing fighter began. In the next flight, one of the prototypes crashed while landing on the deck. And soon followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, and funding for the program to create a unique aircraft that overtook the American F-35B by twenty years, stopped. With the decommissioning of the Yak-38 attack aircraft, the Gorshkov lost its strike air group. Only Ka-27PL anti-submarine helicopters and Ka-27PS search and rescue helicopters were based on it.
To operate the cruiser under the circumstances turned out to be too wasteful, and it was withdrawn from the fleet's combat strength. All weapons were removed from him.
The new look of "Admiral Gorshkov", which in the Indian Navy was named Vikramaditya in honor of the legendary almighty hero, was created by the Nevsky PKB (project 11430). The ship received a continuous flight deck with a length of 198 m with a bow ramp raised by 14 degrees to ensure take-off of aircraft. It will host 16 MiG-29K carrier-based fighters, two MiG-29KUB combat training aircraft, as well as up to 10 Ka-28 or Sea King PLO helicopters, HAL Dhruv and Ka-31 AWACS. It will also be able to receive promising Indian HAL Tejas fighters.
That is, the "Gorshkov" will become a full-fledged aircraft carrier capable of performing a variety of strike and defensive missions.
There is still conflicting information about the composition of the ship's other weapons. To provide close air defense, the aircraft carrier is likely to receive several installations of the Russian Kashtan missile and artillery complex. According to the Indian press, it is possible that Israeli-made Barak missiles will be placed on it.
The re-equipment of Admiral Gorshkov into Vikramaditya proceeded at a rapid pace at the beginning. But it soon became clear that the volume of work would significantly exceed the planned one. The Severodvinsk shipbuilders also lacked experience in building similar ships. Friction began to arise between the customer and the contractor. By January 2007, India had paid $ 458 million and then suspended further payments under the contract. However, Sevmash, at the expense of loans and its own funds, continued work on the ship, but their intensity slowed down. In November 2007, the Russian side raised the issue of the need for additional funding. In December 2008, the Indian government's security committee approved the start of negotiations on a new upgrade price for Vikramaditya.
Why did Delhi take this step? After all, it was possible to abandon the contract and through the courts to achieve at least part of the funds spent. There are three reasons. First, the Indian naval sailors clearly realized that their future aircraft carrier, which is now at Sevmash, will become a powerful and highly efficient ship. The second is in the long-standing friendly ties between the two states. Finally, the Indian Armed Forces won most of their victories, including at sea, with Soviet weapons.
In 2008 Vikramaditya was launched. Meanwhile, very difficult negotiations were going on alternately in Moscow, Delhi and Severodvinsk. They ended a few days before Vladimir Putin's visit to India. The new cost of modernizing the ship, according to Indian media, is $ 2.35 billion. By the end of 2012, the aircraft carrier, which is now more than 70% ready, should be transferred to the Indian Navy.
“The favorable result of the negotiations suggests that the proposals of Sevmash to increase the cost were legitimate,” said Nikolay Kalistratov, General Director of Sevmash after signing the additional agreement. - The company proved the correctness of its calculations, and the Indian side agreed with this, the change in value, although not fully, was satisfied.
Apparently, the Indian side is also satisfied with the results of the talks. It is not without reason that Commodore Sailindran Madusudanan, who for three years headed the group overseeing the re-equipment of the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier at Sevmash, was awarded the title of Rear Admiral after returning home. It was during his service in Severodvinsk that the most difficult stages of negotiations on the price issue fell out. Political will and tact on both sides allowed a fair compromise to be reached.
Simultaneously with the additional Vikramaditya agreement, Russia and India signed a contract for the delivery of 29 more MiG-29K / KUB carrier-based fighters to the Indian Navy. The deal is worth $ 1.5 billion. By the way, the first six such fighters under the 2004 contract arrived in India, and four of them have already been adopted by the Navy.
Now the team of Sevmash is faced with a responsible task to fulfill the order on time and with high quality. The staff of Europe's largest shipyard is determined to fulfill its obligations. To prepare the ship on time for the most critical phase - testing and delivery, a cooperation agreement was signed with the ChSZ, on which the "Baku" TAVKR is built. The experience of Ukrainian shipbuilders will certainly come in handy.
