Sunday, June 10, 2012
India to buy 8 warships from South Korea for Rs 6,000 crore
In tune with a growing 'strategic partnership' with South Korea, India is now getting all set to ink a major defence contract with the north-east Asian country for acquisition of eight advanced minesweeping and hunting warships.
Under the programme, which will be worth well over Rs 6,000 crore, India will get two of the mine counter-measures vessels (MCMVs) directly from South Korean firm Kangnam Corporation, while the other six will be manufactured by Goa Shipyard after transfer of technology. "The contract is now being finalized after the conclusion of the commercial negotiations," said a source.
India's need for advanced MCMVs that combine the role of traditional minesweepers and active mine-hunters to detect and destroy underwater mines is critical. Despite intelligence inputs holding that Indian harbours face the clear and present danger of underwater mines being planted by both state as well as non-state actors, the Navy's MCMV project has been hanging fire for several years now.
"Underwater mines are cheap weapons that can be used for high-impact incidents. It's relatively easy for someone to lay mines at the harbour approach or departure routes. There is need to step-up the protection of our harbours and offshore installations," said an official.
Made of composite material and high-grade steel to ensure 'minimal magnetivity', the new MCMVs will have high-definition sonars and acoustic and magnetic sweeps to first detect all kinds of marooned and drifting mines and then use remote-controlled systems like small underwater vehicles to then detonate them at safe distances.
Under the programme, which will be worth well over Rs 6,000 crore, India will get two of the mine counter-measures vessels (MCMVs) directly from South Korean firm Kangnam Corporation, while the other six will be manufactured by Goa Shipyard after transfer of technology. "The contract is now being finalized after the conclusion of the commercial negotiations," said a source.
India's need for advanced MCMVs that combine the role of traditional minesweepers and active mine-hunters to detect and destroy underwater mines is critical. Despite intelligence inputs holding that Indian harbours face the clear and present danger of underwater mines being planted by both state as well as non-state actors, the Navy's MCMV project has been hanging fire for several years now.
"Underwater mines are cheap weapons that can be used for high-impact incidents. It's relatively easy for someone to lay mines at the harbour approach or departure routes. There is need to step-up the protection of our harbours and offshore installations," said an official.
Made of composite material and high-grade steel to ensure 'minimal magnetivity', the new MCMVs will have high-definition sonars and acoustic and magnetic sweeps to first detect all kinds of marooned and drifting mines and then use remote-controlled systems like small underwater vehicles to then detonate them at safe distances.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
INS 'Vikramaditya' sea finally
The Indian aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (formerly Admiral Goshkov ) set sail this morning on the White Sea, sea trials for 120 days. The ship was retired in the Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia.
Aboard the ship, a joint Russian-Indian crew was formed to pass the knowledge of operation of the ship the sailors Indians. After initial sea trials in the White Sea, the ship will sail in the Barents Sea for exercises with military aircraft.
India and Russia signed a 947 million U.S. dollars in 2005 to purchase the ship, but delivery has been postponed twice, raising the cost of renovation to $ 2.3 billion. The director of the Sevmash shipyard, Vladimir Pastukhov, was fired in 2007 for his mismanagement of the project.
The Vikramaditya was originally built as the Soviet Project 1143.4 class "Admiral Gorshkov". The ship had hit the keel in 1978 the Nikolayev South shipyard in Ukraine was launched in 1982 and commissioned in the Soviet Navy in 1987.
It was renamed after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. In 1994, the Admiral Gorshkov repairs remained for a year for repairs after a boiler explosion. In 1995, he returned briefly to the service, but was finally removed and put on sale in 1996.
The ship has a displacement of 45,000 tons, a maximum speed of 32 knots and range of 13,500 nautical miles (25,000 km) at a cruising speed of 18 knots.
India has already started to receive the MiG-29K naval jets for the Vikramaditya , who will operate the system STOBAR (short take-off but assisted recovery), which consists of short takeoff ramp with the aid of "ski-jump" with cables and landing retention.
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