INS Vikrant Aircraft Carrier (IAC)

[Payeng]

The just in time strategy for Indian Ship Building Industries do not seems to be productive in all while earning another brand name of late makers as associated with Indian defence industries. I wonder if all the hardware would have been ordered right after design and specification have been fixed or it was the fastest way it can be done in procuring those hardware, just make me wonder that other required hardware like the arresting wires, optical landing system and CIWS etc are yet to be ordered to reduce the cost of inventory but in fact increase the cost to nation.

 

[Sridhar]

India to build second aircraft carrier
New Delhi, June 25, 2012, DHNS:

India plans to build its second indigenous aircraft carrier after the first one becomes operational by 2015 -16.

The first one – 40,000 tonnes Indigenous Aircraft Carrier 1 (IAC-1) – is being constructed at Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) since 2009 and is expected to be inducted by 2017.

Subsequently, CSL will undertake construction of the second carrier, which will be bigger than the first one.

"The indigenous aircraft carrier programme is planned to be a continuing process over the next decade as Indian Navy aims to have at least two fully operational and combat worthy carriers available at any given time," Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma said in his talk at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London on Monday.

With India's lone carrier INS Viraat at the fag end of its career, Navy is set to receive Russian-origin INS Vikramaditya in December to boost its capability.

The IAC-1 will be launched in water by 2013 and may start sea-trials by 2016. The programme is almost two and half years behind schedule as the target launch date was 2010. As the Navy's long-term perspective plan envisages having three carrier battle groups, the CSL will start building IAC-2 once the work on the first one is over. A must to have in the repository to be projected as a powerful maritime nation, a carrier battle group is a small flotilla of warships at the core of which lie an aircraft carrier.

Verma said Navy's induction programme was structured in such a way that every year over the next 5 years, as many as five ships and submarines would be inducted if shipyards deliver the platforms on contract schedule.

India to build second aircraft carrier

 

[LTE-TDD]

India to build second aircraft carrier
New Delhi, June 25, 2012, DHNS:

India plans to build its second indigenous aircraft carrier after the first one becomes operational by 2015 -16.

The first one – 40,000 tonnes Indigenous Aircraft Carrier 1 (IAC-1) – is being constructed at Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) since 2009 and is expected to be inducted by 2017.

Subsequently, CSL will undertake construction of the second carrier, which will be bigger than the first one.

"The indigenous aircraft carrier programme is planned to be a continuing process over the next decade as Indian Navy aims to have at least two fully operational and combat worthy carriers available at any given time," Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma said in his talk at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London on Monday.

With India's lone carrier INS Viraat at the fag end of its career, Navy is set to receive Russian-origin INS Vikramaditya in December to boost its capability.

The IAC-1 will be launched in water by 2013 and may start sea-trials by 2016. The programme is almost two and half years behind schedule as the target launch date was 2010. As the Navy's long-term perspective plan envisages having three carrier battle groups, the CSL will start building IAC-2 once the work on the first one is over. A must to have in the repository to be projected as a powerful maritime nation, a carrier battle group is a small flotilla of warships at the core of which lie an aircraft carrier.

Verma said Navy's induction programme was structured in such a way that every year over the next 5 years, as many as five ships and submarines would be inducted if shipyards deliver the platforms on contract schedule.

India to build second aircraft carrier

What a great plan! India is the world greatest planner, hope it can keep in schedule if not delay by some 10 years.

 

[LTE-TDD]

Aircraft carrier project delay to hit naval preparedness, Project runs two years behind schedule due to gearbox incompatibility

New Delhi, June 19
India's project to build a seaborne aircraft carrier of its own has been delayed by two years, raising questions on the Indian Navy's ambition to emerge as a dominant player in the Indian Ocean region. China is also keen to establish itself in this area.

About two weeks ago, the US had announced its new military policy to station more naval assets, including six aircraft carriers, in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC), being built at Cochin Shipyard Limited, is facing delay in the installation of gearboxes for the four powerful engines of the 40,000-tonne warship. As per estimates arrived at by the apex committee of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) last month, the warship can now be launched by the end of this year. This will be almost two years behind its original launch deadline of October 2010.

Once the hull of the warship is launched at the sea, the outfitting is likely to take another four years, hence the warship is expected to be delivered to the Navy only by 2016, which is two years behind its original schedule. Defence Minister AK Antony had laid its keel in February 2009.

In January this year, the under-construction ship was taken out of the dry dock and stationed in the waters without some of the equipment that should have been in place.

Sources said one of the gearboxes had been fitted while another one arrived at the yard a few weeks ago. To get it fitted, the ship will have to be taken back to the dry dock. An Indo-German collaboration that supplied gearboxes for the 5,000-tonne stealth warship, INS Shivalik, was chosen in this case also. The aircraft carrier is almost 10 times bigger. The first lot of gearboxes provided by the company was unacceptable and had to be designed afresh.

The contract was to have around 18,000 tonne of the warship ready at the time of the launch, but it is still short by around 4,000 tonne, sources said. The MoD and the Navy have conveyed their displeasure to the shipyard and asked it to get the warship back to the dry dock and simultaneously continue with other works till the gearbox issue is sorted out.

The MoD had allocated Rs 230 crore for the modernisation of the shipyard. Since a modular-style construction has been adopted, it is possible to work on other equipment at another site.

The primary reason for the delay is the highly complex nature of the warship that India is attempting along with its simultaneous efforts to localise production. India is the fifth country attempting to make such a warship, which will have fighter aircraft stationed at its deck. So far, only the USA, Russia, the UK and France have produced such warships. China is re-fitting the one that it purchased from Ukraine after the USSR broke up.

Strategically, this delay will affect the Indian ambition to have two aircraft carriers in its Naval fleet. At present, India has only one, the INS Viraat, which after a life extension, is slated to retire in 2015. It is 50-year-old and the fighter aircraft on its deck, the Sea Harriers, are no more produced now. The second aircraft carrier, the Russian-origin Admiral Gorshkov, is undergoing sea-trials in Russia and is set to join the Indian fleet early next year under its new name, the INS Vikramaditya. In case the IAC is not delivered till 2015 - which is unlikely as per the present status - the Navy will be left with only one aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya

The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Nation

It is like what we expected, no surprise at all.

 

[Armand2REP]

What a great plan! India is the world greatest planner, hope it can keep in schedule if not delay by some 10 years.

So IAC is a train wreck and Gorky is the front line carrier for a decade?

 

[arkem8]

So IAC is a train wreck and Gorky is the front line carrier for a decade?

Why is it a "train wreck"?? And so what if the Vikramaditya is the front line carrier?? And why do you think the IAC won't be operational in 10 years??

Apart from the Americans can anyone change the status-quo in the Indian ocean in 10 years time?? No...

To many assumptions...

What a great plan! India is the world greatest planner, hope it can keep in schedule if not delay by some 10 years.

Go slurp on some noodles, lets see your Made in China carrier before spouting such lofty comments..

 

[Payeng]

When is the Vayrag launching aeroplanes , I though it was launched earlier the the Ghosky to lead in the dick measurement contest

 

[Shaitan]

India's aircraft carrier ambitions take a dive

NEW DELHI: Just when the US is seeking to "rebalance'' 60% of its formidable naval fleet towards the Asia-Pacific region, and China steams ahead to commission its first aircraft carrier this year, India's long-standing aim to operate two full-blown carrier battle groups (CBGs) by 2015 has taken a huge hit.

Construction schedule of the 40,000-tonne indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC), being built at Cochin Shipyard in defence minister AK Antony's home state, has "slipped another three years'' behind the already-revised timelines.

"The fact is IAC will not be ready anytime before 2017. In a recent high-level meeting, the Cochin Shipyard was sharply pulled up for this huge delay,'' said a defence ministry source.

The barely one-third finished IAC, to be christened INS Vikrant after the country's first carrier decommissioned in 1997, currently stands forlornly next to the bridge connecting Cochin Shipyard to the naval base there.

"IAC, whose keel was laid in February 2009, was to be 'launched' with a weight of around 25,000 tonnes by October 2010. But that is yet to happen. Prematurely floated out of the dry dock last December due to delays in gear boxes and other systems, IAC is just about 14,000 tonnes at present,'' he said.

The first contract for IAC till its "launch'', sanctioned in 2002-2003, was pegged at Rs 3,261 crore. But there has been a huge cost escalation since then, with the second contract from "launch to completion'' yet to be even inked.

This effectively torpedoes Navy's plan to have two potent CBGs by 2015. CBGs or carrier strike groups, capable of travelling 600 nautical miles a day with accompanying destroyers, frigates, submarines, tankers, fighters and other aircraft, project raw offensive power like nothing else around the globe.

As per plans, India's first CBG is to be centered on the 44,570-tonne INS Vikramaditya, or the refitted Admiral Gorshkov, which will be inducted by early-2013 under the revised $2.33 billion deal inked with Russia.

The second CBG was to revolve around the IAC. But Navy will now have to further stretch the operational life of its present solitary carrier, the 28,000-tonne INS Viraat, beyond 2014. Already over 50 years old, Viraat is also relatively toothless with just 11 Sea Harrier jump-jets left to operate from its deck. The 45 MiG-29K naval fighters, being procured from Russia for $2 billion, can operate only from Vikramaditya and IAC.

All this when US is going to deploy at least six of its 11 CBGs - each carrier is over 94,000 tonnes and can operate 80-90 fighters -- in the Asia-Pacific region. China, too, is moving fast ahead, holding aircraft carriers are "symbols of a great nation''.

China will take a few years to master CBG operations after it commissions its first carrier, the 67,500-tonne Varyag, undergoing sea trials at present. But it has an ongoing robust programme to build "multiple carriers'' in the decade ahead.

India also has a 65,000-tonne IAC-II on the drawing board but the delay in IAC-I has derailed it. The 260-metre-long IAC-I is supposed to carry 12 MiG-29Ks, eight Tejas Light Combat Aircraft and 10 anti-submarine and reconnaissance helicopters on its 2.5-acre flight deck and hangars.

With a crew of 160 officers and 1,400 sailors, IAC will have an endurance of around 7,500 nautical miles at 18 knots, powered by four American LM2500 gas turbines. It will be capable of a maximum speed of 28 knots.

India’s aircraft carrier ambitions take a dive - The Times of India

 

[satish007]

Re: India's aircraft carrier ambitions take a dive

I know India, if China have two, India will have soon. while Chinese are struggling years to have one, why India need two now, just waste money.

 

[pmaitra]

Re: India's aircraft carrier ambitions take a dive

Delays and cost-escalation - looks like another Gorshkov fiasco in the making!

 

[drkrn]

Re: India's aircraft carrier ambitions take a dive

come on this is our first time.even Russia is struggling to deliver ac on time

 

[ant80]

India's aircraft carrier ambitions take a dive

NEW DELHI: Just when the US is seeking to "rebalance'' 60% of its formidable naval fleet towards the Asia-Pacific region, and China steams ahead to commission its first aircraft carrier this year, India's long-standing aim to operate two full-blown carrier battle groups (CBGs) by 2015 has taken a huge hit.

Construction schedule of the 40,000-tonne indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC), being built at Cochin Shipyard in defence minister AK Antony's home state, has "slipped another three years'' behind the already-revised timelines.

"The fact is IAC will not be ready anytime before 2017. In a recent high-level meeting, the Cochin Shipyard was sharply pulled up for this huge delay,'' said a defence ministry source.

The barely one-third finished IAC, to be christened INS Vikrant after the country's first carrier decommissioned in 1997, currently stands forlornly next to the bridge connecting Cochin Shipyard to the naval base there.

"IAC, whose keel was laid in February 2009, was to be 'launched' with a weight of around 25,000 tonnes by October 2010. But that is yet to happen. Prematurely floated out of the dry dock last December due to delays in gear boxes and other systems, IAC is just about 14,000 tonnes at present,'' he said.

The first contract for IAC till its "launch'', sanctioned in 2002-2003, was pegged at Rs 3,261 crore. But there has been a huge cost escalation since then, with the second contract from "launch to completion'' yet to be even inked.

This effectively torpedoes Navy's plan to have two potent CBGs by 2015. CBGs or carrier strike groups, capable of travelling 600 nautical miles a day with accompanying destroyers, frigates, submarines, tankers, fighters and other aircraft, project raw offensive power like nothing else around the globe.

As per plans, India's first CBG is to be centered on the 44,570-tonne INS Vikramaditya, or the refitted Admiral Gorshkov, which will be inducted by early-2013 under the revised $2.33 billion deal inked with Russia.

The second CBG was to revolve around the IAC. But Navy will now have to further stretch the operational life of its present solitary carrier, the 28,000-tonne INS Viraat, beyond 2014. Already over 50 years old, Viraat is also relatively toothless with just 11 Sea Harrier jump-jets left to operate from its deck. The 45 MiG-29K naval fighters, being procured from Russia for $2 billion, can operate only from Vikramaditya and IAC.

All this when US is going to deploy at least six of its 11 CBGs - each carrier is over 94,000 tonnes and can operate 80-90 fighters -- in the Asia-Pacific region. China, too, is moving fast ahead, holding aircraft carriers are "symbols of a great nation''.

China will take a few years to master CBG operations after it commissions its first carrier, the 67,500-tonne Varyag, undergoing sea trials at present. But it has an ongoing robust programme to build "multiple carriers'' in the decade ahead.

India also has a 65,000-tonne IAC-II on the drawing board but the delay in IAC-I has derailed it. The 260-metre-long IAC-I is supposed to carry 12 MiG-29Ks, eight Tejas Light Combat Aircraft and 10 anti-submarine and reconnaissance helicopters on its 2.5-acre flight deck and hangars.

With a crew of 160 officers and 1,400 sailors, IAC will have an endurance of around 7,500 nautical miles at 18 knots, powered by four American LM2500 gas turbines. It will be capable of a maximum speed of 28 knots.

 

[pmaitra]

Re: India's aircraft carrier ambitions take a dive

There are so many shipbuilding yards with so much foreign collaboration, and decades of experience, and we still cannot make a gearbox in time? Is this the first time we are making a gearbox?

 

[sayareakd]

may be they need E Sreedharan type of no nonsense type of person to complete project in time.

 

[ant80]

Why was this thread moved here? I was searching for this over at the Indian Navy forums. Makes better sense there than it does here.

 

[pmaitra]

Why was this thread moved here? I was searching for this over at the Indian Navy forums. Makes better sense there than it does here.

It was moved here because it makes no sense to have two threads discussing the same topic.

This is the correct place.

 

[Ganesh2691]

IAC-I: Will be delayed by 3 yrs

IAC-1 will be delayed by 3 yrs

Just when the US is seeking to "rebalance" 60% of its formidable naval fleet towards the Asia-Pacific region, and China steams ahead to commission its first aircraft carrier this year, India's long-standing aim to operate two full-blown carrier battle groups (CBGs) by 2015 has taken a huge hit.

Construction schedule of the 40,000-tonneindigenous aircraft carrier (IAC), being built at Cochin Shipyard in defence minister AK Antony's home state, has "slipped another three years" behind the already-revised timelines.

"The fact is IAC will not be ready anytime before 2017. In a recent high-level meeting, the Cochin Shipyard was sharply pulled up for this huge delay," said a defence ministry source.

The barely one-third finished IAC, to be christened INS Vikrant after the country's first carrier decommissioned in 1997, currently stands forlornly next to the bridge connecting Cochin Shipyard to the naval base there.

"IAC, whose keel was laid in February 2009, was to be 'launched' with a weight of around 25,000 tonnes by October 2010. But that is yet to happen. Prematurely floated out of the dry dock last December due to delays in gear boxes and other systems, IAC is just about 14,000 tonnes at present," he said.

The first contract for IAC till its "launch", sanctioned in 2002-2003, was pegged at Rs 3,261 crore. But there has been a huge cost escalation since then, with the second contract from "launch to completion" yet to be even inked.

This effectively torpedoes Navy's plan to have two potent CBGs by 2015. CBGs or carrier strike groups, capable of travelling 600 nautical miles a day with accompanying destroyers, frigates, submarines, tankers, fighters and other aircraft, project raw offensive power like nothing else around the globe.

As per plans, India's first CBG is to be centered on the 44,570-tonne INS Vikramaditya, or the refitted Admiral Gorshkov, which will be inducted by early-2013 under the revised $2.33 billion deal inked with Russia.

The second CBG was to revolve around the IAC. But Navy will now have to further stretch the operational life of its present solitary carrier, the 28,000-tonne INS Viraat, beyond 2014. Already over 50 years old, Viraat is also relatively toothless with just 11 Sea Harrier jump-jets left to operate from its deck. The 45 MiG-29K naval fighters, being procured from Russia for $2 billion, can operate only from Vikramaditya and IAC.

All this when US is going to deploy at least six of its 11 CBGs – each carrier is over 94,000 tonnes and can operate 80-90 fighters — in the Asia-Pacific region. China, too, is moving fast ahead, holding aircraft carriers are "symbols of a great nation".

China will take a few years to master CBG operations after it commissions its first carrier, the 67,500-tonne Varyag, undergoing sea trials at present. But it has an ongoing robust programme to build "multiple carriers" in the decade ahead.

India also has a 65,000-tonne IAC-II on the drawing board but the delay in IAC-I has derailed it. The 260-metre-long IAC-I is supposed to carry 12 MiG-29Ks, eight Tejas Light Combat Aircraft and 10 anti-submarine and reconnaissance helicopters on its 2.5-acre flight deck and hangars.

With a crew of 160 officers and 1,400 sailors, IAC will have an endurance of around 7,500 nautical miles at 18 knots, powered by four American LM2500 gas turbines. It will be capable of a maximum speed of 28 knots.

IAC-1 will be delayed by 3 yrs | idrw.org

 

[p2prada]

re: IAC-I: Will be delayed by 3 yrs

Ah! Well. We don't have magic elves to make the boots in India.

 

[Payeng]

Re: India's aircraft carrier ambitions take a dive

There are so many shipbuilding yards with so much foreign collaboration, and decades of experience, and we still cannot make a gearbox in time? Is this the first time we are making a gearbox?

It is the first time India is making such kind of a gearbox that can steer a ship like an aircraft carrier.

 

[Bhadra]

Re: India's aircraft carrier ambitions take a dive

It is the first time India is making such kind of a gearbox that can steer a ship like an aircraft carrier.

But it is around sixty thousand tons, however Nehruvian Jahaj Rani Nigam (shipping Corporation of India) has been in existence for 60 years ? I agree with you .