INS Vikramaditya delayed until 2011

i think , that viraat will carry on till the new boat is in the fleet - then she will be retired - she is very old now

reply to post by Harlequin


Yes. How many years is it now?
50 Almost?


[edit on 17-8-2007 by Daedalus3]

she was commissioned in the royal navy in 1959 as HMS Hermes and was retied from the RN in 1984 and sold to the Indians in 1986 where she was renamed as INS Viraat - at teh time she underwent a massive 10 year life extension refit. She underwent another major refit in 2001 , but in 2003 had to to towed back to harbour for more repair work owing to a systems failure and only returned to the fleet in 2004.

she has had 2, 10 year end of life extension refits - you can`t keep refitting her and extending the life of a 55 year old ship.


she was originally laid down in WW2 as HMS elephant , work was suspened in 1945, and only resumed in 1952 to clear the dock - she launched in 1953 and was finished in 1957.


so in theory this grand ship is *technically* allready 62 years old.

Originally posted by Daedalus3
You possibly cannot believe that somebody in his position would say
something like this without consulting his defence attaches

That why he didn't say anything at all. He was careful not to state anything

He said that there has been no official Russian writings to say there is a delay, but he did not claim that it will definitely be delivered on schedule. Also, with the responsibility he had overseeing these "issues" the delays could have implicated himself in mis-management


The same thing happened with the IL-76 purchases China made, Its a similar scenario

A good read on the Indian Carrier Saga: How it all started and where it seems to be heading.


Note that the steel acquisition delays are mentioned in the article indicating that it is quite recent, less than a year old.

21st June 1944 was when the first steel was laid down for what was to become HMS Hermes (INS Viraat)

which makes her (techincally) 63 years 3 weeks and 5 days old today

Indian Defence Minister states that the Gorshkov will be delayed due to 'unforseen circumstances'.

I read this in a local paper as well.
So its looks like the delay is there!

www.defenseindustrydaily.com...

and now she`s delayed even more

2012

June 3/08: Press Trust of India reports that Russia’s Sevmash shipyard has promised readiness by 2012 – maybe. RIA Novosti quotes Sevmash officials as saying that:

“The successful solution of all the financial issues will enable the shipbuilders to sail the aircraft carrier out into the Barents Sea for trials. In the winter of 2012, the ship is expected to be finally refitted and trials will continue in the summer of that year… At the end of 2012, the aircraft carrier is expected to be fully prepared for its transfer to the Indian navy in accordance with the schedule approved by the Russian Navy.”

Negotiations and maneuvering around the contract’s final details continue, and Sevmash’s history of delivery, detailed below, must also be considered when evaluating such statements.

The MiG-29K`s for her have allready started arriving and will be based now in Goa.

Just buy HMS Invincible will ya and have a working carrier