Article Posted on : - Dec 03, 2010

A file photo of INS Vikramaditya at the dock of Cochin Shipyard.

NEW DELHI (PTI): Admitting "hiccups" in India's Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) project, Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma Thursday said the 40,000-tonne warship could not be launched this year because of delays in supply of equipment, but it would be ready for sea trials by 2014.

"The IAC was to be launched this year and because of some indigenous equipment that could not be supplied on time the launch has been delayed. We are expecting it (launch) by the middle of next year, as things stand," he said at the annual press conference ahead of Navy Day on December 4.

"But at the same time, efforts are on to compress the time frames by ensuring that the amount of outfitting on the warship is much more than earlier envisaged, so we cut down on time. We expect to put it out at sea by 2014," he said.

The Navy Chief said since India was building an aircraft carrier for the first time, a lot of trial and error took place during construction.

"We should graduate to sea trial stage where one can say ...the target is 2014," he added.

On the Navy's future acquisition and capability enhancement programmes, Verma said there were 36 ships and submarines on order in various Indian shipyards and that these programmes were largely on track.

Among the major projects were the IAC in Kochi and the refurbishment of INS Vikramaditya (erstwhile Russian Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier), both of which were "progressing satisfactorily and going well."

"Vikramaditya's induction has been delayed due to increase in the scope of work, which consequently led to unavoidable upward revision in price. But, there has been progress in the past few months. All efforts are being made to ensure 'Vikramaditya' will be delivered to us by December 2012," he added.

Verma pointed out that India's first stealth frigate INS Shivalik had been commissioned and two more ships of this class would be commissioned soon.

"Other projects in pipeline are Kolkata class destroyers, four advanced anti-submarine Corvettes and six Scorpene class submarines, four modern fast patrol vessels and a sail training ship are at various stages of construction," he added.

In the Shivalik class, MDL will be delivering the second ship in the line to the Navy in a few months from now.

He said orders for five Offshore Patrol Vessels and two cadet training ships had been placed at private shipyards.

"We had smaller ships being constructed, but in terms of size, this is a first as far as Indian Navy is concerned (to be built at a private yard) and we have told them to deliver on time and within costs," he noted.

Pointing out that the government had recently approved plans for building four Landing Pontoon Docks (LPDs) on the lines of INS Jalashva bought by India from the US a couple of years ago, Verma said this would be built under the "Buy and Make Indian' category of the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) in force at present.

These apart, the government also approved the 75I project for indigenously building six second line submarines.

Among the inductions coming from abroad apart from INS Vikramaditya, he said there were three follow-on warships of the 'Talwar' class frigates from Russia and two tankers from Italy.

"The first of the tankers is likely to be delivered to India by 2011," he noted.

Meanwhile, he said, the midlife upgrades (MLUs) for 13 warships were approved by the government and among the ships to be upgraded would be the Rajput class and Godavari class of Destroyers, to make them modern, 21st century combatants.

To enhance Navy's surveillance capabilities, 12 maritime patrol aircraft Boeing's P8Is have been ordered for induction and the first of these aircraft would be delivered by 2013, Verma said.

"It is an extremely advanced aircraft, and it will enhance our surveillance and anti-ship preparedness significantly," he said.

The process to acquire new medium-range reconnaissance aircraft to further augment the surveillance capabilities too was under way, he added.

On naval fighter aircraft, the Navy Chief said the fighter arm got "a further impetus" with the induction of the first batch of MiG-29K Russian aircraft early this year.

"Our air crews are already flying the aircraft and we have set up an intensive flight training unit to complete the task in a time-bound manner. An additional contract for 29 MIG-29 K has already been signed recently," he added.

On the indigenous naval variant of the Light Combat Aircraft, Verma said the programme marked "a significant milestone" this year with the roll out of the prototype on July 6 at Bangalore. "We expect the first flight to take place this month," he added.

The Navy, Verma said, was also in the process of procuring 16 multi-role helicopters to augment the surveillance and attack capabilities of ships.

It has also initiated the process to procure utility helicopter as replacement for the 'Chetak' fleet. The existing fleet of Seaking and Kamov choppers will also go through a MLU to provide sophisticated sensors.

"All these steps will provide the requisite fillip for the naval aviation arm," he added.