sep 4 defence news

Russia to hand over INS Vikramaditya on Nov.
15

INS Vikramaditya will be handed over to the Indian
Navy on November 15 at a formal ceremony in the
Russian northern seaport of Severodvinsk on the
White Sea. The delivery date was confirmed at talks Defence
Secretary R.K. Mathur held in Moscow on Monday,
according to informed sources. A high-level Indian defence delegation paid a one-
day visit to Moscow to prepare an annual session of
the Indo-Russian Intergovernmental Commission
on Military-Technical Cooperation that will meet in
Russia next month under the chair of the two
Defence Ministers. The upgraded and retrofitted aircraft carrier is now
completing sea trials and is expected to return to
the Sevmash Shipyard in Severodvinsk in the next
few weeks. The ship was to be delivered last December, but
failed the sea trials after its boilers and some other
systems malfunctioned. This time, all systems
performed flawlessly, including daytime and night
takeoff and landings by MiG-29K deck fighter
planes, the sources said. The sides were tight-lipped on the issue of India
acquiring a second nuclear submarine from Russia,
but the sources confirmed that Moscow was willing
to lease another Akula class submarine if India paid
for completing its construction. The submarine has
been lying half-built at the Amur Shipyard in the Russian Far East since it was mothballed in the
1990s for lack of funds. On the recent accident in which INS Sindhurakshak
sank after rocked by explosions, the Russian side
agreed to provide expert assistance for raising the
submarine and carrying out its technical inspection. Russia will also beef up its team of 100 engineers,
now deployed in Vishakhapatnam in order to
speed up midterm repairs to INS Sindhudhvaj and
INS Sindhushashtra. The Russian side also offered
to have two more Indian Navy Kilo class
submarines undergo midterm repairs in Russia, the sources said. In reviewing progress of the Fifth Generation
Fighter Aircraft, the sides noted with satisfaction the
completion of preliminary design phase earlier this
year. It is hoped that a contract for detailed design