Indian Aircraft Carrier Heads For Second Sea Trials - Russia-India partnership

The Indian Navy's newest aircraft carrier, the Vikramaditya, has headed into the Barents Sea for second-stage sea trials, as part of its refit by Russia's Sevmash shipyard, Captain Vadim Serga of Russia's Northern Fleet information service said on Monday.

The Vikramaditya, formerly the Soviet Union's Admiral Gorshkov, has finished a long-delayed refit for the Indian Navy at Sevmash on the Kola peninsula. The ship was extensively modified to undertake STOBAR (short takeoff but assisted recovery) operations with MiG-29K naval fighter aircraft, as well as receiving new air defense, communications and navigations systems.

The Vikramaditya is currently successfully undertaking the second round of shipyard sea trials, during which the ship will test its main systems, main and secondary power systems, communications and navigation systems," Serga said.

The ship is being operated by a Northern Fleet crew, many of whom have experience with carrier operations on the Russian Navy's Admiral of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov. Also on board are Sevmash shipyard specialists and Indian Navy officers.

The crew includes Northern Fleet aviation personnel, who test the carrier’s radar systems, air defenses, communications and air direction systems.

India and Russia signed a $947 million dollar deal in 2005 for the purchase of the carrier, but delivery has already been delayed twice, pushing up the cost of refurbishing the carrier to $2.3 billion.

The Vikramaditya - as the Admiral Gorshkov - was originally laid down in 1978 at the Nikolayev South shipyard in Ukraine, launched in 1982, and commissioned with the Soviet Navy in 1987.

China's aircraft carrier sets off on longest sea trials

China's aircraft carrier has set out from Dalian in the northeastern province of Liaoning on sea trials that will last 25 days, the longest yet, and experts say domestic J-15 fighters may be involved in landing and takeoff exercises.

An area on the north Bohai Sea region is out of bounds to civilian boats until the end of the month.

"The longest sea trials indicate the aircraft carrier has finished the first step of tests on the ship itself and is beginning tests of aircraft landing and takeoff," military analyst Yin Zhuo, a retired major general, said yesterday.

The nation's first carrier, refitted from former Ukraine vessel Varyag, left port on August 10 last year for its first sea trials and returned four days later for further refurbishment.

The vessel's longest sea trials to date have lasted 16 days.

Military experts believe the carrier will be commissioned next month on China's Army Day, August 1, but say there still seems much to be done.

It will take a long time for Chinese fighter pilots to train to land on the aircraft carrier, which is the most difficult step during training, said Hu Siyuan, a professor with the National Defense University PLA China.

"The pilots have to use the best direction, height and speed to land on the 60-meter-wide aircraft carrier and also need to prepare to abort the landing and ascend again for any emergency, which are great challenges mentally and physically," Hu said.

Warship Heads for ‘Test’ as Navy Denies Syria Role

A Russian amphibious landing ship, the Caesar Kunikov left the Black Sea port of Sevastopol on Tuesday for what a a Black Sea Fleet officer said was a routine exercise at a training base, after media reports earlier this week said it could be heading for Syria.

The Fleet command on Monday dismissed media reports that a large Russian amphibious ship carrying weapons and troops was en route to Syria.

Some Ukrainian media sources reported on Sunday, referring to CNN and other western media, that another large amphibious ship from the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Nikolai Filchenkov, was heading for the Syrian port of Tartus carrying weapons and marines to defend Russia’s naval facility.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice lashed out at Russia over its alleged arms supplies to Syria. Moscow strongly rejected the claims, saying that Russia was not “delivering to Syria, or anywhere else, items that could be used against peaceful demonstrators.”

According to UN estimates, about 12,000 people have been killed in Syria since the beginning of a popular uprising against President Assad in March 2011, which started with peaceful protests but has since grown into a low-level civil war.