Strong as the Sun: Vikramaditya is like no other ship Indian Navy ever had.

In July this year, an old game played out in the Barents Sea — a new warship undergoing exhaustive trials by Russian shipbuilders prior to her induction, being shadowed by NATO ships keen to understand what it would be capable of. During the several weeks that the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier underwent trials, a Norwegian NATO intelligence vessel kept company, steadily building up an electronic dossier.

This was a follow-up to last year when a NATO maritime surveillance aircraft heavily buzzed the same ship, dropping buoys to pick up an acoustic profile. The game is not just old; it is one that Vikramaditya has played in an earlier avatar — as Soviet aircraft cruiser Baku, patrolling the Mediterranean in the late 1980s. 

However, the intense interest in Vikramaditya — whose name literally translates as Strong as the Sun — now comes from the extensive refit and modernisation it has gone through. 

For a Navy that is proud of its legacy of operating aircraft carriers, the Vikramaditya is like no other ship it has had in the fleet before. It is the Navy's biggest ship for one —surpassing INS Viraat by 10,000 tonnes — and one of the most potent aircraft carriers in this side of the world, in fact the first 'new' ship of its class to be based in the Indian Ocean in over two decades. While India had to acquire older technology often in the past due to non-willingness of nations to share strategic assets, the Vikramaditya with its MiG-29K fighters is top of its game. 

With the ship likely to reach its home base of Karwar in January, preparations have been made to ensure that it is operationalised at the earliest. As things stand, it is coming without any fighters on board, with only a small chopper complement for utility missions. The plan is to start the first landings and take-offs of the fighters on board within two-three weeks of Vikramaditya reaching India. 

At present, Indian pilots are training on simulators to operate from the confines of the small flight deck. A shore-based facility in Goa, where the fighter squadrons will be based, is set to start training MiG-29K pilots on landing and taking off from the carrier. 

Part of the training will be conducted during the journey of the carrier from Russia, which is expected to take four to five weeks. The 183 Russian personnel on duty will not only help operate the ship but also train the 1,600-odd Indian sailors on board. Strategies and operational tactics to exploit the platform are already being worked on and will be fine-tuned as the ship's characteristics are revealed in internal trials and war games. 

"The plan is to start operations as soon as possible. Certification of both pilots and air controllers has to be done before the ship can formally join the fleet," an aviation officer said. 

Manu Pubby

http://www.indianexpress.com/news

New Delhi

24 Nov 2013

INS Vikramaditya inducted into the Indian Navy

The long-delayed and much-awaited $ 2.3 billion aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya was on Saturday inducted into the Indian Navy here in a strategic boost to India's maritime warfare capabilities.

The mammoth 44,500-tonne warship was commissioned into the Indian Navy at the Sevmash Shipyard in this northern Arctic port at a handing over ceremony attended by Defence Minister A K Antony and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and senior government and naval officials of the two countries.

The Russian flag on the vessel was lowered and the flag of the Indian Navy was raised in its place. In a traditional Indian ritual, a coconut was broken against the ship's side.

                                       

      

 

The commissioning papers were signed by deputy director of Russia's arms exporter Rosoboronexport, Igor Sevastyanov and the ship's captain, Captain Suraj Berry, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency reported.

The warship with a length of 284 metres will have MiG-29K naval combat aircraft along with Kamov 31 and Kamov 28 anti-submarine warfare and maritime surveillance helicopters.

The MiG 29-Ks would provide a significant boost to Indian Navy with their range of over 700 nautical miles, extendable to over 1,900 nautical miles with mid-air refuelling, and an array of weapons like anti-ship missiles, beyond visual range air-to-air missiles and guided bombs and rockets.

The carrier will be escorted to India on a near two-month voyage by a group of warships to secure a safe sail to its base at Karwar on the Arabian Sea coast.

Indian Navy to have 200 warships in next 10 years

The Indian Navy currently operates 136 warships
and the force is targeting 200 in the next 10 years.

Indian Navy would have 200 warships in another 10 years, with three aircraft carriers in each of the three naval commands, for which orders have already been given to various docks in the country, a senior official said here on Wednesday. 

"Right now, we have 136 ships and we are targeting 200 in the next 10 years. All our docks in our country are full of orders," Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain, Flag officer commanding in chief, Eastern Naval Command told reporters here. 

The Navy was looking at making destroyers and frigates, he said. "Right now, we have only one landing platform dock (LPD) INS Jalashwa. We are going for four more LPDs." 

He said INS Vikramaditya, which India bought from Russia would be inducted into the Navy later this month. 

"Once it comes, INS Vikramaditya would be under the control of INS Karwar in Karnataka. Another aircraft carrier is in the making in Kochi now. Once it is commissioned, we will position it in Visakhapatnam," he said. 

Indian Navy would also engage with the Japanese coast guard for a joint military exercise next month off the eastern coast, he added. 

Earlier, he along with Puducherry Lt governor Virendra Khataria reviewed various demonstration activities by seven naval ships — INS Shivalik, INS Satpura, INS Ranvijay, INS Khukri, INS Kulish, INS Khanjar and INS Jalashwa, as part of Navy Day celebrations. 

Slithering by marine commandos on board Navy's Chetak helicopters and recently inducted surveillance aircraft P-81 were also part of the demonstration. 

Over 3,000 guests, mostly family members of defence personnel, senior bureaucrats and journalists, also witnessed the four-and-a-half hour long demonstration, which happened some 25 nautical miles off Chennai coast.

Indian Navy emerging as a major air force

The Indian Navy is on its way to becoming a major air force, with the fleet air arm having achieved several landmarks this year.

In May, the first MiG-29K squadron was commissioned at INS Hansa in Goa, with twenty world-class Russian fighters.

In August, the first indigenous aircraft carrier,
INS Vikrant was launched at Kochi.

Later this month, Russia will hand over the
INS Vikramaditya, formerly the Admiral Gorshkov, which will supplement the INS Viraat to become the navy’s second aircraft carrier.

Today the navy received its first Hawk-132 Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT), on which it will train the pilots that fly its MiG-29Ks and, when cleared to join the fleet, the indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) is building 17 Hawk AJTs for the navy.

The navy is on track to operate more than 300 fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft. These including 45 MiG-29K/KUBs; over 50Tejas LCAs; 8-12 Boeing P8 multi-mission aircraft; 36 Dornier 228utility aircraft; 36 medium range maritime reconnaissance (MRMR) aircraft; 5-10 long range maritime reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft; 90 medium helicopters; 59 naval utility helicopters; and more than 30 airborne early warning helicopters.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) currently gives naval pilots basic training on the Pilatus PC-7 Mark II, along with air force trainee pilots. After that, naval flyers branch off, doing Stage-2 training on the Kiran Mark I; and will now do Stage-3 training on the navy’s own Hawk fleet. Far-sighted naval planners say the day will come when the navy, emerging as a major operator of aircraft, will train all its pilots in-house.

“The induction of this highly capable (Hawk-132) aircraft will provide the much needed fillip to the training of combat pilots in the Navy by bridging the gap between basic flying training and advanced fighter flying,” said the navy today.

  

While Stage-1 and Stage-2 training mainly hone a pilot’s flying skills, Stage-3 training on the Hawk involves combat flying, which includes advanced navigation and the use of airborne weapons.

The Hawk 132 has an advanced navigation system and can carry air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground rockets, bombs and guns. The trainee pilot learns how to use a HOTAS (Hands on Throttle and Stick) systemthat allows him to select weapons without removing his hands from the flying controls.

Capable of carrying two extra fuel tanks under its wings to extend its operating range, the Hawk can even be used in a combat role as a light strike aircraft.

HAL will deliver five Hawks to the navy this fiscal year, with the remaining 12 delivered over three years.

While naval pilots train on these 17 AJTs, the IAF will fly 106 Hawk AJTs, making India the largest operator of Hawks in the world. Currently 18 countries operate almost 1000 Hawk trainers. The US Air Force could soon buy several hundred more under its so-called T-X trainer acquisition programme.

Meanwhile, BAE Systems, which is the original equipment manufacturer of the Hawk, has bid to supply 20 more Hawks for the IAF’s aerobatics team, Surya Kiran. This contract is being processed as a “follow on” procurement from the large earlier tenders, since the aerobatics aircraft is identical to the trainer, except for the fitment of smoke generators to increase the visibility of the aerobatics aircraft. The apex Defence Acquisition Council is believed to have cleared this.

A BAE Systems release on Wednesday quoted Guy Griffiths, group managing director-international, as saying, “We have also submitted our response to HAL’s Request for Proposal for a potential order to supply products and services for the manufacture of 20 additional Hawk aircraft to the IAF, and are now looking forward to partnering with HAL in providing the Indian Air Force's display team this fantastic aircraft.”

Ajai Shukla 

Business Standard

7th Nov 2013 

Naval pilots to train in Russia ahead of Gorshkov delivery

Around 10 top-notch combat pilots of the Navy will leave for Russia early next week to complete their training on Russian-origin MiG-29K fighter planes ahead of their deployment on-board the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier.

The pilots will form the first batch of fully-trained pilots to operate out of Gorshkov, which will be commissioned as INS Vikramaditya in Russia on November 16 by Defence Minister A K Antony.

The Indian crew, consisting of around 1,500 personnel, is already in Russia to take over the 45,000-tonne Kiev class aircraft carrier from the Russian Navy, which tested the warship extensively at sea, including with 500 on-board sorties of fighter planes.

India had bought Gorshkov, an unused aircraft carrier, from Russia in 2004 and sent it to the Sevmash shipyard there for a refit and refurbishment. After the shipyard haggled for a hike in payments from $974 million for the work being done on the warship, India agreed to pay $2.34 billion as the final payment in 2010.

The warship was to be handed over to India in December 2012, but got delayed by a year after the Russians identified trouble in the boilers of the warship during sea trial in mid-2012 and hence postponed the delivery by a year.

Now the warship is ready for getting operational after a second round of tests and will reach India by the end of December 2013. India had also bought 16 MiG-29Ks for operating from Gorshkov along with the warship for $526 million in 2004. The Navy also ordered for 29 more MiG-29Ks, of which five have been delivered by Russia so far.

The 10 pilots, who had extensive phase-I training, will undergo the phase-II and Phase-III final training in Russia when they will train on a simulator and later progress to flying the plane from the a shore-based training facility and graduate to flying off the deck of an aircraft carrier. 

The Navy has already raised the MiG-29K squadron for INS Vikramaditya at Goa, christened the INAS 303 squadron. A shore-based training facility too has come up at INS Hansa naval air base in Goa, where the pilots have been training for a couple of years now.

Source: The New Indian Express

Date: 01 Nov 2013