In the wake of the last delay report about completion of work on the Russian aircraft cruiser-turned-carrier Admiral Gorshkov or INS Vikramaditya, Indian Navy seems to have decided to send out the message that it is slowly gravitating towards the US.
In a conversation with a senior level navy officer, a picture emerged of a Russia that is falling behind in terms of latest technology and critical personnel, where the top scientists and technologists are no longer joining its military technology industries.
The officer who joined the navy in the 1970s still recalls that in the days of the former USSR, the prized place at the head of the negotiating table of techno-commercial discussions with the India, used to be adorned by the ‘chief designer,’ and the head of the industrial unit would not speak a single word without the nod of the top technological designer.
Now the situation has changed, he says. Despite best efforts of the Russia’s Czar-like President, Vladimir Putin, military technology institutions are languishing for lack of financial and human resources. This is getting reflected in conditions of the material Russia continues to supply.
On the other hand, the navy officer pointed out, that the US with its ‘clear technological edge’ is slowly catching the attention of at least two of the services – navy and army. The officer indicated that navy is not so worried about the invasive US arms export legislations or intrusive Congressional attention.’Only the (Indian) air force has stated that they are not in favour of too many US products because of those reasons,’ he pointed out.
It did not go down well with the Indian Navy the way the Russian side escalated the price of the refitting of Admiral Gorshkov, at the Sevmash shipyard. Nor did the continuous delay in delivering the carrier – a much needed force multiplier in the Indian Navy’s plans.
The latest delay can be called catastrophic as the ship was under sea trials when the crucial boilers of the ship failed to function. Defence minister, AK Antony told Parliament earlier that during trials of the warship in 2012, tests on the main propulsion plant could not be completed ‘due to defects encountered on boiler section and its rectification is likely to take six months.’ So the delivery date that was scheduled to be about now this year has now been pushed back to the last quarter of 2013.
Keeping that fact in mind, when asked what the US could provide the navy, the senior official said, ‘Aegis-like ballistic missile defence systems, catapults for the launch of aircrafts from the indigenously built aircraft carriers, Unmanned Aerial Systems, nuclear propulsion technology for both aircraft carriers and submarines, and materials that can keep the ships stay afloat for longer periods of time.’
In a conversation with a senior level navy officer, a picture emerged of a Russia that is falling behind in terms of latest technology and critical personnel, where the top scientists and technologists are no longer joining its military technology industries.
The officer who joined the navy in the 1970s still recalls that in the days of the former USSR, the prized place at the head of the negotiating table of techno-commercial discussions with the India, used to be adorned by the ‘chief designer,’ and the head of the industrial unit would not speak a single word without the nod of the top technological designer.
Now the situation has changed, he says. Despite best efforts of the Russia’s Czar-like President, Vladimir Putin, military technology institutions are languishing for lack of financial and human resources. This is getting reflected in conditions of the material Russia continues to supply.
On the other hand, the navy officer pointed out, that the US with its ‘clear technological edge’ is slowly catching the attention of at least two of the services – navy and army. The officer indicated that navy is not so worried about the invasive US arms export legislations or intrusive Congressional attention.’Only the (Indian) air force has stated that they are not in favour of too many US products because of those reasons,’ he pointed out.
It did not go down well with the Indian Navy the way the Russian side escalated the price of the refitting of Admiral Gorshkov, at the Sevmash shipyard. Nor did the continuous delay in delivering the carrier – a much needed force multiplier in the Indian Navy’s plans.
The latest delay can be called catastrophic as the ship was under sea trials when the crucial boilers of the ship failed to function. Defence minister, AK Antony told Parliament earlier that during trials of the warship in 2012, tests on the main propulsion plant could not be completed ‘due to defects encountered on boiler section and its rectification is likely to take six months.’ So the delivery date that was scheduled to be about now this year has now been pushed back to the last quarter of 2013.
Keeping that fact in mind, when asked what the US could provide the navy, the senior official said, ‘Aegis-like ballistic missile defence systems, catapults for the launch of aircrafts from the indigenously built aircraft carriers, Unmanned Aerial Systems, nuclear propulsion technology for both aircraft carriers and submarines, and materials that can keep the ships stay afloat for longer periods of time.’