INS Vikrant (IAC1) & INS Vikramaditya - News & Discussions
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- aircraft carrier csl iac1 mig-29k
Fighters and AEW helis for IAC 1 still to be ordered. The way things are, most probably IAC1 will end up sharing Mig29K units with INS Vicky. But we will definitely need to order 4-5 Ka31.
Sad News coming, our aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya catches fire this morning while entering harbour in Karwar. The fire was brought under control without affecting the ship's combat capability however Lt Cdr DS Chauhan lost his life in firefighting efforts
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A batch of three MiG-29K fighter aircraft in formation from Indian Naval Air Squadron 303 during passing out parade at Indian Naval Academy (INA).
"The 173 metre-long ‘Ural’ is equipped with two highly efficient and compact RITM-200nuclear reactors on board, capable of generating up to 350MW combined"
"Rosatom, technical consultants and main equipment suppliers for the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in India" lead developed RITM-200 nuclear reactor for ice breaker
Russian nuclear powered icebreaker could facilitate India’s round year entry to Arctic
This is good news, it can open more possibilities of India Aircraft Carrier to be nuclear powered. Something to be explored
"Rosatom, technical consultants and main equipment suppliers for the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in India" lead developed RITM-200 nuclear reactor for ice breaker
Russian nuclear powered icebreaker could facilitate India’s round year entry to Arctic
This is good news, it can open more possibilities of India Aircraft Carrier to be nuclear powered. Something to be explored
This as I understand is a Russian designed, built and operated ship. How does this help us with IAC nuclear reactor ?
Most of the things in military are done with high level of tie ups/collaboration. Since Rasotom have already been part of design & equipment supplier for Nuclear power plant in India (kudankulam). A miniaturized nuclear reactor of high capacity can be quite beneficial. Beneficial can depend, how much India want to take there consultative experience, of an already existing nuclear player in India for military Large crafts propulsion.
I agree they are a large player in the civilian nuclear space, but what does this ship have to do with our need for nuclear reactor ? This will give them a product that's competitive to our needs, sure, but we aren't involved in this in anyway. Was there a collaboration/tie up signed with us on this ? I think the collaboration will happen through the Akula lease agreement not an ice-breaker ship.
It's a option available for Indian Navy is all I mean, if they wish to peruse. what role the ship Russia designed & to haul what, is not important.
Having a dual Nuclear power plant of close to 200MW capacity each, that too on a 170meter ship is extremely big deal.
Vikrant & Vikramaditiya are approx. 260 & 280meters long each to give that in prospective. What it means is in near future even a destroyer can be having a duel nuclear powered. Do we need that for a Destroyer?? NO we don't.. But a compact high capacity Nuclear is a big deal. Space is a premium in ships & whether we have a Collab or not, is for the future to decide, but it is a good option for collab that for sure, especially since its a known domestic entity in operation.
Navy's Newest Carrier Needs Critical Updates To Launch And Recover Aircraft With Certain Loadouts
The U.S. Navy has revealed that personnel aboard the first-in-class USS Gerald R. Ford carriers do not even have the necessary technical information to reliably launch and recover all configurations of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jet and EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft. This follows a new Pentagon report that says the flattop’s advanced electromagnetic catapults and improved arresting gear remain as problematic as ever.
On Feb. 14, 2019, USNI News was first to report on the lack of information, which only further speaks to Ford’s, at best, limited capabilities to perform its core mission of conducting naval aviation operations nearly two years after delivery. In January 2019, the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, or DOT&E, released its latest annual review of the carrier’s progress, covering developments during the 2018 Fiscal Year. The report was highly critical of the state of Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and the Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG).
“In a couple of months, they are on a path to publish the fully fleet-representative recovery bulletins that will give us the capability to recover any weapons configuration which F-18 or a Growler can have on a Nimitz-class,” U.S. Navy Commander Mehdi Akacem, Ford’s Air Boss, told reporters visiting the carrier earlier in February 2019, according to USNI News. “So, when we next get to sea, we’re going to have tests pilots come out to do one real validation on the actual aircraft carrier, but then once that’s complete then we will be able to have fleet aircraft to come out and operate with us.”
The Navy needs to develop these so-called launch and recovery bulletins in order to be able to properly set the parameters on the EMALS and AAG. These systems are highly automated so that the carrier’s crew can fine tune the launch and recovery process better than they could with the steam-powered catapults and arresting gear on the Nimitz-class carriers.
At least on paper, the idea is that, with sufficient data, these systems can be set to very precise parameters that are specific to a certain type of aircraft and its loadout. There are many benefits to doing this, including reducing the wear and tear on both the carrier and its aircraft. In principle, the catapults will only need to use just enough force to throw a plane into the air and the arresting gear will only put the minimum amount of strain on the airframe to bring it safely to a stop.
For example, the EMALS settings would be for an F/A-18E/F carrying a purely air-to-air loadout won’t be the same as one loaded down with 10 1,000-pound class precision-guided bombs. Differences in total fuel load, the exact configuration of the particular airframe, and other factors might come into play, as well. This would all apply to the AAG recovering returning aircraft, which might have partial stores and fuel loads.
Concerns about how much stress the EMALS, in particular, puts on heavily laden aircraft has long been an issue. In 2017, the Navy had announced it had finally developed a software fix to prevent the catapults from over-stressing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers specifically when carrying the 480-gallon centerline drop tank.
"[But] there is no urgency to apply the fix, as shipboard launches of F/A-18s with [external fuel tanks] will not be conducted until 2019, following CVN-78’s Post Shakedown Availability," Rob Koon, a spokesperson for Naval Air Systems Command, told USNI News at the time. “There will be no impact because the aircraft launched prior to that time will not have [external fuel tanks]. [Post-shakedown availability] is the next availability for incorporating the software updates aboard CVN-78 without disrupting its upcoming test schedule.”
The problem is that until the Navy has sufficient data points, and has conducted flight tests to confirm their validity, Ford will still be limited in not only what kinds of aircraft it can send up, but what they can carry at all. Commander Akacem told the assembled reporters that the goal was to have all of the necessary information about the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G by the end of 2019.
Unfortunately, neither the EMALS nor the AAG have come close to meeting the Navy’s basic requirements after years of development. Akacem and the rest of Ford’s crew will have to contend with the extremely poor reliability of both systems as they try to confirm the launch and recovery data.
As of September 2018, Ford had conducted a total of 747 launches using EMALS, with the system suffering 10 critical failure over the course of those tests, according to DOT&E’s latest report. The Navy’s requirement is for the catapults to be able to launch an average of 4,166 aircraft before experiencing a serious fault.
The AAG’s performance was even worse. In 763 attempted recoveries, the arresting gear also suffered 10 operational mission failures. This included one instance in which the backup barricade system, primarily meant to stop an aircraft experiencing some sort of inflight emergency, also failed.
USN
The barricade system in place on the Nimitz-class carrier USS Ronald Reagan.
DOT&E noted that this rate was not only exponentially lower than the Navy’s established requirement of one failure every 16,500 recovery attempts, but also didn’t meet the requirements laid out in a new “re-baselined reliability growth curve.” What this means is that the service has outlined a new, delayed schedule for when the AAG should be making progress and the system isn’t even meeting those demands.
In its report covering the 2017 Fiscal Year, DOT&E said that problems with the AAG meant Ford had just a one percent chance of being able to get through a typical day of flight operations without a problem. For testing purposes, the Navy had defined a normal day as recovering 84 aircraft during a 24-hour period.
To make matters worse, crews still have to power down the entire EMALS or AAG system in order to troubleshoot problems, instead of being able to just cut off electricity to specific components. This effectively brings flight operations to a halt while trying to assess and fix the fault. It takes an hour and a half just to spin down the EMALS generators and motors before any repair work can begin.
USN
An F/A-18F Super Hornet comes in to land on Ford during testing.
These problems also raise the question about how representative the data the Navy is collecting will be in the long term if there becomes a need for significant changes to the EMALS or AAG in the future. Major modifications to either system could require the service to have to re-validate the settings all over again.
With two more Ford-class carriers already under construction, and the Navy having just agreed to purchase another pair after that, one can only hope that the service will be able to certify that all of the carrier air wing’s aircraft will be able to fly from their decks at all as soon as possible. But the ongoing difficulties with the EMALS and AAG present a definite risk of more delays,.
If nothing else, this only underscores the extremely limited operational capability Ford has at present and further calls into question when it might be able to make any sort of meaningful contribution to real-world missions.
The U.S. Navy has revealed that personnel aboard the first-in-class USS Gerald R. Ford carriers do not even have the necessary technical information to reliably launch and recover all configurations of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jet and EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft. This follows a new Pentagon report that says the flattop’s advanced electromagnetic catapults and improved arresting gear remain as problematic as ever.
On Feb. 14, 2019, USNI News was first to report on the lack of information, which only further speaks to Ford’s, at best, limited capabilities to perform its core mission of conducting naval aviation operations nearly two years after delivery. In January 2019, the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, or DOT&E, released its latest annual review of the carrier’s progress, covering developments during the 2018 Fiscal Year. The report was highly critical of the state of Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and the Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG).
“In a couple of months, they are on a path to publish the fully fleet-representative recovery bulletins that will give us the capability to recover any weapons configuration which F-18 or a Growler can have on a Nimitz-class,” U.S. Navy Commander Mehdi Akacem, Ford’s Air Boss, told reporters visiting the carrier earlier in February 2019, according to USNI News. “So, when we next get to sea, we’re going to have tests pilots come out to do one real validation on the actual aircraft carrier, but then once that’s complete then we will be able to have fleet aircraft to come out and operate with us.”
The Navy needs to develop these so-called launch and recovery bulletins in order to be able to properly set the parameters on the EMALS and AAG. These systems are highly automated so that the carrier’s crew can fine tune the launch and recovery process better than they could with the steam-powered catapults and arresting gear on the Nimitz-class carriers.
At least on paper, the idea is that, with sufficient data, these systems can be set to very precise parameters that are specific to a certain type of aircraft and its loadout. There are many benefits to doing this, including reducing the wear and tear on both the carrier and its aircraft. In principle, the catapults will only need to use just enough force to throw a plane into the air and the arresting gear will only put the minimum amount of strain on the airframe to bring it safely to a stop.
For example, the EMALS settings would be for an F/A-18E/F carrying a purely air-to-air loadout won’t be the same as one loaded down with 10 1,000-pound class precision-guided bombs. Differences in total fuel load, the exact configuration of the particular airframe, and other factors might come into play, as well. This would all apply to the AAG recovering returning aircraft, which might have partial stores and fuel loads.
Concerns about how much stress the EMALS, in particular, puts on heavily laden aircraft has long been an issue. In 2017, the Navy had announced it had finally developed a software fix to prevent the catapults from over-stressing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers specifically when carrying the 480-gallon centerline drop tank.
"[But] there is no urgency to apply the fix, as shipboard launches of F/A-18s with [external fuel tanks] will not be conducted until 2019, following CVN-78’s Post Shakedown Availability," Rob Koon, a spokesperson for Naval Air Systems Command, told USNI News at the time. “There will be no impact because the aircraft launched prior to that time will not have [external fuel tanks]. [Post-shakedown availability] is the next availability for incorporating the software updates aboard CVN-78 without disrupting its upcoming test schedule.”
The problem is that until the Navy has sufficient data points, and has conducted flight tests to confirm their validity, Ford will still be limited in not only what kinds of aircraft it can send up, but what they can carry at all. Commander Akacem told the assembled reporters that the goal was to have all of the necessary information about the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G by the end of 2019.
Unfortunately, neither the EMALS nor the AAG have come close to meeting the Navy’s basic requirements after years of development. Akacem and the rest of Ford’s crew will have to contend with the extremely poor reliability of both systems as they try to confirm the launch and recovery data.
As of September 2018, Ford had conducted a total of 747 launches using EMALS, with the system suffering 10 critical failure over the course of those tests, according to DOT&E’s latest report. The Navy’s requirement is for the catapults to be able to launch an average of 4,166 aircraft before experiencing a serious fault.
The AAG’s performance was even worse. In 763 attempted recoveries, the arresting gear also suffered 10 operational mission failures. This included one instance in which the backup barricade system, primarily meant to stop an aircraft experiencing some sort of inflight emergency, also failed.
USN
The barricade system in place on the Nimitz-class carrier USS Ronald Reagan.
DOT&E noted that this rate was not only exponentially lower than the Navy’s established requirement of one failure every 16,500 recovery attempts, but also didn’t meet the requirements laid out in a new “re-baselined reliability growth curve.” What this means is that the service has outlined a new, delayed schedule for when the AAG should be making progress and the system isn’t even meeting those demands.
In its report covering the 2017 Fiscal Year, DOT&E said that problems with the AAG meant Ford had just a one percent chance of being able to get through a typical day of flight operations without a problem. For testing purposes, the Navy had defined a normal day as recovering 84 aircraft during a 24-hour period.
To make matters worse, crews still have to power down the entire EMALS or AAG system in order to troubleshoot problems, instead of being able to just cut off electricity to specific components. This effectively brings flight operations to a halt while trying to assess and fix the fault. It takes an hour and a half just to spin down the EMALS generators and motors before any repair work can begin.
USN
An F/A-18F Super Hornet comes in to land on Ford during testing.
These problems also raise the question about how representative the data the Navy is collecting will be in the long term if there becomes a need for significant changes to the EMALS or AAG in the future. Major modifications to either system could require the service to have to re-validate the settings all over again.
With two more Ford-class carriers already under construction, and the Navy having just agreed to purchase another pair after that, one can only hope that the service will be able to certify that all of the carrier air wing’s aircraft will be able to fly from their decks at all as soon as possible. But the ongoing difficulties with the EMALS and AAG present a definite risk of more delays,.
If nothing else, this only underscores the extremely limited operational capability Ford has at present and further calls into question when it might be able to make any sort of meaningful contribution to real-world missions.
INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier to get indigenous landing aids
The flight deck of the Indian Navy's sole aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya will be equipped with indigenous landing aids after the Navy expressed dissatisfaction with the original Russian equipment.
Called the Optical Landing System (OLS), these landing aids have been developed by the Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO) and are undergoing shore-based trials at a Naval airbase.
The OLS provides the glide slope information to the pilot through a system of lenses and coloured lights so as to enable him to touch down at the right spot on the carrier deck and snag the arrester cables that bring the aircraft to a halt. The system is located at an angled position on the deck’s left side towards the rear.
According to scientists associated with the project, the Navy had wanted the landing aids to be visible from a longer distance than was possible with the Russian system and also to have a higher resolution for coloured light to ensure clarity.
The system tells the pilot whether he is too high or too low when approaching the carrier from the rear for landing. An image of a “meatball” is created by the lights and lens, which turns red if the aircraft is too low. If it is too high, the ball will move above horizontally placed bars of green datum lights that act as a reference point for the pilot to judge his position.
INS Vikramaditya, an extensively modified Soviet-era warship, was commissioned into the Navy in November 2013 and formally entered service in June 2014 after arriving here from Russia. It has an aerial complement of MiG-29K fighters and helicopters.
The flight deck of the Indian Navy's sole aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya will be equipped with indigenous landing aids after the Navy expressed dissatisfaction with the original Russian equipment.
Called the Optical Landing System (OLS), these landing aids have been developed by the Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO) and are undergoing shore-based trials at a Naval airbase.
The OLS provides the glide slope information to the pilot through a system of lenses and coloured lights so as to enable him to touch down at the right spot on the carrier deck and snag the arrester cables that bring the aircraft to a halt. The system is located at an angled position on the deck’s left side towards the rear.
According to scientists associated with the project, the Navy had wanted the landing aids to be visible from a longer distance than was possible with the Russian system and also to have a higher resolution for coloured light to ensure clarity.
The system tells the pilot whether he is too high or too low when approaching the carrier from the rear for landing. An image of a “meatball” is created by the lights and lens, which turns red if the aircraft is too low. If it is too high, the ball will move above horizontally placed bars of green datum lights that act as a reference point for the pilot to judge his position.
INS Vikramaditya, an extensively modified Soviet-era warship, was commissioned into the Navy in November 2013 and formally entered service in June 2014 after arriving here from Russia. It has an aerial complement of MiG-29K fighters and helicopters.
Transmission setup of the under construction INS Vikrant AC :
Vikrant uses a COGAG setup. 4 of these reduction gearboxes(pic below) are installed, each of them take shaft power from a GE LM2500+ gas turbines and provide a high torque low speed output.
Those output shafts feed into a gearbox(pic below). 2 of which are installed on the ship, each taking 2 shaft inputs and providing one shaft output. that output shaft has a prop screw at the end. INS Vikrant has two propeller shafts.
Transmission setup of the in service Shivalik class frigates :
Shivalik class frigates use a CODOG propulsion setup. It uses the same gas turbine as the Vikrant i.e. the GE LM2500+ and thus the reduction gear box is the same.
The output of the reduction gearbox and the direct output of the diesel engine feeds on to the main gearbox(pic below) which in turn produces the output shaft with the prop screw on the other end.
This setup is repeated to get two propeller shafts of the Shivalik class.
Transmission setup of the in service Kamorta class ASW corvette :
Of course its known to us all that the Kamorta is the smallest ship among all three here(barely displaces around 3300 tons) and uses 4 diesel engines in CODAD configuration. In 2006, DCNS(now Naval Group) won the contract for the design and integration of four pairs of raft-mounted gearboxes intended for the propulsion of the four P28 ASW corvettes ordered by the Indian Navy.
The first two raft-mounted gearboxes for the first corvette were produced in France on the DCNS Nantes site, but the next four were produced in India under a transfer of technology agreement between DCNS and its industrial partner WIL(Walchandnagar Industries Limited).
The photo below is from acceptance test of the seventh raft-mounted gearbox on 12 March, 2012 by prime contractor GRSE(Garden Reach Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd). The noise and vibration measurements on the raft-mounted gearbox, made on a test bench at WIL, validated the architecture proposed by DCNS to meet the contract requirements.
Except for the Kamorta the other 2 vessels mentioned here uses gearboxes designed, developed and manufactured in India by and Indian company by the name Elecon. If we can make gear boxes for ships as big as ACs and complex as multi-role frigates, its very much likely that we can make gearboxes for every other type of vessels(not sure about submarines though).
Look at our destroyers, still rocking the smoky-*censored* Ukrainian Zorya Mashproekt DT-59 Naval Engine.
As @Parthu said before and I totally agree with it, The GE LM2500 engine and its derivatives will probably be the future go to Gas Turbine engine. Its already in use on various in-service/under-construction vessels, the Navy already has experience in operating and maintaining it. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Industrial and Marine Gas Turbine division, Bangalore, India, is assembling the LM2500 gas turbines in-country under license from GE.
https://hal-india.co.in/Product_Details.aspx?Mkey=54&lKey=&CKey=35
With the support industry in place(license production, gearboxes, etc.) and the better performance provided by these engines this is a very much likely that it is poised to take over the marine gas turbine scene in India.
Case in point the Navy's latest P-17A class frigates under construction will use the LM2500 engines.
GE to Supply LM2500 Gas Turbine Auxiliary Equipment for Indian Navy’s P17A Frigates | GE Aviation
Vikrant uses a COGAG setup. 4 of these reduction gearboxes(pic below) are installed, each of them take shaft power from a GE LM2500+ gas turbines and provide a high torque low speed output.
Those output shafts feed into a gearbox(pic below). 2 of which are installed on the ship, each taking 2 shaft inputs and providing one shaft output. that output shaft has a prop screw at the end. INS Vikrant has two propeller shafts.
Transmission setup of the in service Shivalik class frigates :
Shivalik class frigates use a CODOG propulsion setup. It uses the same gas turbine as the Vikrant i.e. the GE LM2500+ and thus the reduction gear box is the same.
The output of the reduction gearbox and the direct output of the diesel engine feeds on to the main gearbox(pic below) which in turn produces the output shaft with the prop screw on the other end.
This setup is repeated to get two propeller shafts of the Shivalik class.
Transmission setup of the in service Kamorta class ASW corvette :
Of course its known to us all that the Kamorta is the smallest ship among all three here(barely displaces around 3300 tons) and uses 4 diesel engines in CODAD configuration. In 2006, DCNS(now Naval Group) won the contract for the design and integration of four pairs of raft-mounted gearboxes intended for the propulsion of the four P28 ASW corvettes ordered by the Indian Navy.
The first two raft-mounted gearboxes for the first corvette were produced in France on the DCNS Nantes site, but the next four were produced in India under a transfer of technology agreement between DCNS and its industrial partner WIL(Walchandnagar Industries Limited).
The photo below is from acceptance test of the seventh raft-mounted gearbox on 12 March, 2012 by prime contractor GRSE(Garden Reach Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd). The noise and vibration measurements on the raft-mounted gearbox, made on a test bench at WIL, validated the architecture proposed by DCNS to meet the contract requirements.
Except for the Kamorta the other 2 vessels mentioned here uses gearboxes designed, developed and manufactured in India by and Indian company by the name Elecon. If we can make gear boxes for ships as big as ACs and complex as multi-role frigates, its very much likely that we can make gearboxes for every other type of vessels(not sure about submarines though).
Look at our destroyers, still rocking the smoky-*censored* Ukrainian Zorya Mashproekt DT-59 Naval Engine.
As @Parthu said before and I totally agree with it, The GE LM2500 engine and its derivatives will probably be the future go to Gas Turbine engine. Its already in use on various in-service/under-construction vessels, the Navy already has experience in operating and maintaining it. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Industrial and Marine Gas Turbine division, Bangalore, India, is assembling the LM2500 gas turbines in-country under license from GE.
https://hal-india.co.in/Product_Details.aspx?Mkey=54&lKey=&CKey=35
With the support industry in place(license production, gearboxes, etc.) and the better performance provided by these engines this is a very much likely that it is poised to take over the marine gas turbine scene in India.
Case in point the Navy's latest P-17A class frigates under construction will use the LM2500 engines.
GE to Supply LM2500 Gas Turbine Auxiliary Equipment for Indian Navy’s P17A Frigates | GE Aviation
Just yesterday we read news about electric shaft engine being accepted by Navy for modernization..
We ll move away form mechanical transmission.
We will probably move away from mech transmission, as will the rest of the world. But surely you aren't expecting immediate shifts, are you ? The P-17A frigate is a under-construction ship for future operations which uses mech transmission.
It will take time for IEP to come up and mature, until then the old reliable mech transmission is going to rule the roost.
Indian Navy to get new aircraft-carrier in 2021: Vice Admiral A.K. Saxena
The Indian Navy will get a new aircraft-carrier in early 2021, a year and a half from now, Vice Admiral A.K. Saxena said today.
The Navy, down to one carrier, the Russian-built INS Vikramaditya, once Admiral Gorshkov, has always aspired to be a two-carrier fleet, with one operating out of the Arabian Sea and the other, the Bay of Bengal. With the INS Viraat, once HMS Hermes, retired a couple of years ago, the Navy has been looking for another carrier.
The new carrier is likely to begin sea-trials early next year and is expected to join the fleet the year after. But the Navy is also looking at another carrier, to be built at the Cochin Shipyard, the first carrier to be built in India.
While the government has cleared the project, in principle, the budgetary allocation is yet to be made, the vice-admiral, Controller, Warship Production and Acquisition, said. He was replying to questions about the debate within the defence establishment about the use of land-based aircraft or another carrier. He mentioned that it will be a carrier, but decisions about its structure were being taken.
The other important issue relates to the necessary warplanes for the carrier. The INS Vikramaditya uses the MiG-29K fighters. What the Navy would want for the first carrier is yet to be decided. A carrier usually carries a complement of fighters and helicopters, the numbers depending on the size. The new carrier (INS Vikrant or Indigenous Aircraft carrier 1) is likely to be about 40,000 tonnes and a complement of 40 fighters and helicopters can be assumed. But fighters are expensive, the most expensive part of the carrier's complement.
The old Vikrant, once with the Royal Navy, was decommissioned in the late Nineties. It saw action in the 1972 Indo-Pak war. The Viraat saw action in the Falklands war: she was HMS Hermes then, with Prince Andrew a part of the crew.
Indian Navy to get new aircraft-carrier in 2021: Vice Admiral A.K. Saxena | India News
The Indian Navy will get a new aircraft-carrier in early 2021, a year and a half from now, Vice Admiral A.K. Saxena said today.
The Navy, down to one carrier, the Russian-built INS Vikramaditya, once Admiral Gorshkov, has always aspired to be a two-carrier fleet, with one operating out of the Arabian Sea and the other, the Bay of Bengal. With the INS Viraat, once HMS Hermes, retired a couple of years ago, the Navy has been looking for another carrier.
The new carrier is likely to begin sea-trials early next year and is expected to join the fleet the year after. But the Navy is also looking at another carrier, to be built at the Cochin Shipyard, the first carrier to be built in India.
While the government has cleared the project, in principle, the budgetary allocation is yet to be made, the vice-admiral, Controller, Warship Production and Acquisition, said. He was replying to questions about the debate within the defence establishment about the use of land-based aircraft or another carrier. He mentioned that it will be a carrier, but decisions about its structure were being taken.
The other important issue relates to the necessary warplanes for the carrier. The INS Vikramaditya uses the MiG-29K fighters. What the Navy would want for the first carrier is yet to be decided. A carrier usually carries a complement of fighters and helicopters, the numbers depending on the size. The new carrier (INS Vikrant or Indigenous Aircraft carrier 1) is likely to be about 40,000 tonnes and a complement of 40 fighters and helicopters can be assumed. But fighters are expensive, the most expensive part of the carrier's complement.
The old Vikrant, once with the Royal Navy, was decommissioned in the late Nineties. It saw action in the 1972 Indo-Pak war. The Viraat saw action in the Falklands war: she was HMS Hermes then, with Prince Andrew a part of the crew.
Indian Navy to get new aircraft-carrier in 2021: Vice Admiral A.K. Saxena | India News
INS Vikrant will be delivered by 2021, fighter jet trials soon after that, Navy says
Top naval officer says construction of the indigenous aircraft carrier, at the Cochin Shipyard, is progressing at a 'brisk pace'.
New Delhi: Indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant is being built at a brisk pace and will be ready for delivery by early 2021, a top naval officer said Monday. The warship had missed its 2018 deadline, and there had been speculation of a further delay in its commissioning.
Vice Admiral A.K. Saxena, controller, warship production and acquisition, Indian Navy, however, said, “The construction is moving at a brisk pace. The gas turbines could be fired in the third quarter of this year. Basin trials will follow and so will the testing of the aviation complex.”
Saxena was addressing the media at the curtain raiser event of a seminar, ‘Nation Building through Shipbuilding’, scheduled to be held on 25-26 July.
The vice admiral said fighter jet trials for INS Vikrant would follow soon after the Navy is handed over the aircraft carrier. While the light combat aircraft for the Navy has been delayed, the force has floated a Request For Information (RFI) for 57 deck-based fighters.
The carrier is being made by Cochin Shipyard Limited.
Submarines to have indigenous components
Saxena further said the next generation submarines, to be produced after the completion of the submarine programme Project 75-I, could have over 50 per cent of indigenous components. The Ministry of Defence had last month floated an expression of interest inviting firms to manufacture six submarines under the programme.
On the second indigenous aircraft carrier IAC-2, Saxena said the government has nearly accepted the requirement, and the project, which is on the drawing board at present, is being deliberated upon.
At the moment, it is about the availability of finances versus the requirement for it, he said.
The only aircraft carrier that India operates at present is the INS Vikramaditya.
Talking about Reliance Naval being issued the request for proposal (RFP) for the new missile boats, Saxena said the firm had the technical capability and its financial capabilities will be checked after the RFP stage.
INS Vikrant will be delivered by 2021, fighter jet trials soon after that, Navy says
Top naval officer says construction of the indigenous aircraft carrier, at the Cochin Shipyard, is progressing at a 'brisk pace'.
New Delhi: Indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant is being built at a brisk pace and will be ready for delivery by early 2021, a top naval officer said Monday. The warship had missed its 2018 deadline, and there had been speculation of a further delay in its commissioning.
Vice Admiral A.K. Saxena, controller, warship production and acquisition, Indian Navy, however, said, “The construction is moving at a brisk pace. The gas turbines could be fired in the third quarter of this year. Basin trials will follow and so will the testing of the aviation complex.”
Saxena was addressing the media at the curtain raiser event of a seminar, ‘Nation Building through Shipbuilding’, scheduled to be held on 25-26 July.
The vice admiral said fighter jet trials for INS Vikrant would follow soon after the Navy is handed over the aircraft carrier. While the light combat aircraft for the Navy has been delayed, the force has floated a Request For Information (RFI) for 57 deck-based fighters.
The carrier is being made by Cochin Shipyard Limited.
Submarines to have indigenous components
Saxena further said the next generation submarines, to be produced after the completion of the submarine programme Project 75-I, could have over 50 per cent of indigenous components. The Ministry of Defence had last month floated an expression of interest inviting firms to manufacture six submarines under the programme.
On the second indigenous aircraft carrier IAC-2, Saxena said the government has nearly accepted the requirement, and the project, which is on the drawing board at present, is being deliberated upon.
At the moment, it is about the availability of finances versus the requirement for it, he said.
The only aircraft carrier that India operates at present is the INS Vikramaditya.
Talking about Reliance Naval being issued the request for proposal (RFP) for the new missile boats, Saxena said the firm had the technical capability and its financial capabilities will be checked after the RFP stage.
INS Vikrant will be delivered by 2021, fighter jet trials soon after that, Navy says