Article Posted on : - Nov 25, 2011

Aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. Photo: Indian Navy.

NEW DELHI (PTI): Ahead of proposed induction of Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier by end of next year, the Navy will be sending a team of 10 pilots to Russia for training in operations of MiG-29K fighter aircraft from the warship.

India had signed a deal with Russia in 2004 for purchasing the carrier along with 16 MiG-29Ks.

As per the understanding between the two countries, a team of 10 pilots will be in Russia around three months before the scheduled induction of battleship in December next year, Navy officials told PTI here.

Russia has given the assurance to train Indian pilots for arrested carrier landings and deck take-offs, they said.

The training is likely to be done at the NITKA facility in Ukraine, which was built during the erstwhile Soviet era for training pilots for ship-borne operations.

In India, such training will take place later at the naval air base, Hansa, in Goa. Naval pilots are already flying the MiG-29Ks, several which have already been commissioned at its base in Goa.

The aircraft are carrying out shore-based operations and will continue to do so till the arrival of the carrier.

India has also signed a contract with Russia for providing another 29 MiG-29K planes for its future requirements. All these aircraft would be deployed on the Russian-made warship.