By ILYA KRAMNIK UPI Outside View Commentator MOSCOW, March 27 (UPI) -- For months now, a Soviet-era warship has been making waves -- and filling countless column inches -- in both Russia and India.
The ship at the center of the storm is an aircraft carrier called the Admiral Gorshkov -- or, if you are Indian, the Vikramaditya -- which Russia has been refitting for sale to the Indian navy. Last year the Gorshkov was the subject of controversy after the Russians announced that they could not complete the refit within budget or on schedule.
The deal to refit and convert the Gorshkov is one of the most ambitious projects Russia has embarked on in recent years. It involves not only its shipbuilding industry but also a contract to supply MiG-29K aircraft for the ship, and hundreds of jobs at Russian defense plants.
Rumors about the possible sale of the ship to India first appeared in the late 1990s. Plans were also mooted to convert it to a classical-type aircraft carrier basing 20 to 25 MiG-29 aircraft. A contract was finally concluded in 2004, under which Russia pledged to hand over the ship and a complement of deck fighters to India and to train its crew for an inclusive price of $1.5 billion.
The project hit the headlines in 2007, when it was announced the contract had fallen behind schedule and the dockyard would be unable to meet the 2008 delivery deadline.
The date of completion was pushed back to 2010.
No one knows exactly what went wrong. The official story is that the original contract drastically underestimated both the time needed to modernize the ship's systems and the cost of upgrading the ship as a whole.
If true, that would neatly explain away the cause of the delay and the extra cost. But it does not explain why it took so long for anyone to realize that the original terms were so hopelessly unrealistic.
Some experts say the contract was at risk as early as 2004, and most of the blame was laid on the Sevmash director general, who mysteriously retired -- reportedly over the Gorshkov -- in 2007. Adding to the intrigue, rumors started to circulate that the Russian Defense Ministry intended to buy back the ship and aircraft and induct them into the Russian navy.
In early March Russia and India were reported to have reached agreement on completing the ship's modernization. Talks are currently under way between the two countries on final deadlines and an ultimate contract price, and Adm. Suresh Mehta, commander of the Indian navy, recently visited Russia to negotiate terms. In another hopeful sign, the admiral said that the first of the deck-based MiG-29K fighters for the Vikramaditya is expected to arrive in India in May of this year. But Mehta's visit has cast no fresh light on the affair.
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Next: Refitting the Admiral Gorshkov
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(Ilya Kramnik is a military commentator for RIA Novosti. This article is reprinted by permission of RIA Novosti. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.)
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(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)
