INS Vikramaditya is the
Indian Navy's largest short take-off, but assisted recovery (
STOBAR) aircraft carrier and warship converted from the
Russian Navy's decommissioned
Admiral Gorshkov vertical take-off and landing (
VTOL) missile cruiser carrier. INS Vikramaditya was commissioned into service in
November 2013.
The warship has been extensively refurbished with new propulsion systems, hull sections, sensors and flight deck. It was operationally deployed with full complement of MiG-29 aircraft in May 2014.
The vessel can carry more than 30 long-range multi-role fighters with anti-ship missiles, air-to-air missiles, guided bombs and rockets. The aircraft aboard the carrier include MiG
29K /
Sea Harrier combat aircraft, Kamov 31 radar picket
Airborne Early Warning (
AEW) helicopter, Kamov 28 naval helicopter,
Sea King helicopter, ALH-Dhruv, and Chetak helicopter.
INS Vikramaditya project background and details
India entered into negotiations with
Russia for the acquisition of
Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier in
1994 and signed a memorandum of understanding in
December 1998.
The Union Government of India and the
Federation of Russia signed an inter-governmental agreement for the acquisition in
October 2000.
In
January 2004, India signed a $1.5bn deal with Russia for the modernisation of Admiral Gorshkov and delivery of 12 single-seat MiG-29K and four two-seat MiG-29KUB aircraft. The refurbishment works were commenced at the
FSUE Sevmash shipyard in
Severodvinsk, Russia, in
April 2004. The cost for repair and refit of the carrier, spares, infrastructure augmentation and documentation was estimated to be $974m. The modernised warship was initially scheduled to be delivered by
August 2008 but was delayed due to cost overruns.
The two countries reached an agreement on the final delivery and entire cost of the upgraded warship in
December 2009. The deal was finalised in
March 2010, the cost was fixed at $2.33bn and delivery was scheduled for
December 2012.
The overhaul was completed by
March 2012 and the first sea trials began in June
2012. The delivery was however delayed again due to defects encountered in boilers and the need for replacement of additional electrical cables.
The modernised carrier completed final sea trials in the
White Sea in July
2013 and aviation trials in November 2013. The INS Vikramaditya will be integrated with close in weapon system (
CIWS) and
Barak 8 long-range air-defence system (LR-SAM) between
2015 and 2017.
INS Vikramaditya design and features
The refurbished aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya is equipped with 234 new hull sections constructed using 2,500t of steel. It has an overall length of 284m, a maximum beam of 60m, height of about 60m and a displacement of 44,500t.
The warship features 22 decks and 2,
500 compartments, of which 1,750 were completely re-built. It can carry more than 1,600 personnel including crew. Sponsons are installed to increase the breadth at the flight deck.
The modernised ship is also equipped with flight deck lighting systems, new AC plants, refrigeration plants, 14° sky jump, 30m wide arrester gears, three restraining gears, and two reverse osmosis plants for producing 400t of fresh water per day.
The modifications also included replacement of 2,300km of old electrical cables with new cables, upgrades to bulbous bow, and replacement of distilling plants. The aft aircraft lift and ammunition lifts were also upgraded.
Sensors onboard the
Indian aircraft carrier
The re-equipped superstructure of the
Vikramaditya houses state-of-the-art launch and recovery systems, long-range air surveillance radars and advanced electronic warfare suite.
Propulsion and performance
The INS Vikramaditya is powered by eight new generation boilers, which produce a total power of
180,000shp driving four huge propellers. Each boiler generates 100tph of steam at a very high pressure of 64bar. The ship also employs six turbo alternators and six diesel alternators, which produce a total power of 18MW.
The warship can carry more than 8,000t of low sulphur high speed diesel. It has a maximum speed of over 30kt and can attain a maximum range of 7,000nmi. It can endure at sea up to 45 days.
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- published: 15 Jun 2015
- views: 194603
