Russia can do without French-built Mistral-class helicopter carriers whose delivery has been suspended over Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in Sunday Evening with Vladimir Solovyov TV programme.“Last year, on November 16 we transferred to our Indian colleagues the Vikramaditya light aircraft carrier, which war formerly our Admiral Gorshkov missile cruiser. Thus, having implemented that contract and earning big money, we proved inside Russia and showed to the country’s leadership that Russia can now assemble ships of that kind,” Rogozin said.
A state-of-the-art aircraft carrier is the peak of shipbuilding, he said. “As for a landing ship - it has a much simpler design. Of course we can do this,” the deputy prime minister said.
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'“Last year, on November 16 we transferred to our Indian colleagues the Vikramaditya light aircraft carrier, which war formerly our Admiral Gorshkov missile cruiser. Thus, having implemented that contract and earning big money, we proved inside Russia and showed to the country’s leadership that Russia can now assemble ships of that kind,” Rogozin said.
ReplyDeleteA state-of-the-art aircraft carrier is the peak of shipbuilding, he said. “As for a landing ship - it has a much simpler design. Of course we can do this,” the deputy prime minister said.'
Is this guy serious,they didn't assemble a carrier as he states. they carried out a refit on a rusting hulk This vessel was first commissioned the the USSR's navy in 1987. It was then decommissioned in 1996 and left to fall into disrepair until in 2014 the Indians for whatever reason decided to buy it.
Talk about a rip off, the vessel was said to be given free of charge, but with refit costs of $800m. After work started it was realised that the task was far harder than had been stated, the Russians demanded another $1.2bn to carry on with the work. To cut a long sad story short, the Indians ended up paying through the nose for this vessel. A total cost of $2.35bn for a 27yr old cobbled together ex Soviet era bucket. No wonder the Russians say they earned 'big money' on the deal.
Calling it a 'state of the art aircraft carrier' is laughable in the extreme, claiming that they have regained their expertise, is even more so.