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Imposition of a penalty upon Russia for delayed delivery of aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya was not in question at the Russian-Indian intergovernmental commission for military technical cooperation convened on Oct 10, said Russian defense minister's spokeswoman Irina Kovalchuk.
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India Not Claimed for Aircraft Carrier Delivery Penalty
10/11/2012 |
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"Indian party applied with request to complete all required works as soon as possible and deliver the ship to Indian Navy", reports ITAR-TASS citing Mrs. Kovalchuk.
As was reported by Vzglyad newspaper, when summarizing results of the intergovernmental commission, Russian defense minister Anatoly Serdiukov said the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (former Admiral Gorshkov) would be handed over to the client in the fourth quarter of 2013.
"It is expected to fix all defects at Sevmash shipyard by the next summer, start sea trials in the summer, finish them and deliver the ship in the fourth quarter of 2013", Serdiukov said.
As for him, considerable part of the trials has been performed successfully. "The ship's air wing tests are almost completed; airplanes and helicopters carried out dozens of deck takeoffs and landings", added the minister.
Meanwhile, Serdiukov admitted there were "problems with boilers during trials in the White and the Barents seas". In his turn, Indian defense minister A.K. Antony said the key issue for both parties was fastest delivery of the ship to India.
The contract for revamping of Russian aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Gorshkov was tied with India in 2004. Initially, Indian Navy was supposed to receive the carrier in 2008. However, the deadline was postponed due to increased volume of works. The contract value grew considerably as well. Today, this contract is unofficially evaluated as $2.3 bln.
While expecting Vikramaditya, India accepts Russian-built frigates. "First out of three frigates built in Russia for India arrived at Mumbai port in June. We plan to hand over the second ship late in this year, and the third one in 2013", Serdiukov told the press.