Although
India has been buying Russian weapons for over half a century, the latest
problem with poorly built engines in the new carrier INS Vikramaditya is
destroying what little faith the Indians still have in Russian manufacturing
quality. It's not just Vikramaditya engines, but also unreliable engines in the
Su-30 and poorly built electronics in the T-90 tank and other Russian warships
India has purchased. The Russians have tried to improve the quality of their weapons
and support, but a shortage of qualified people to make it happen has made
improvements hard to come by. Even the Russian weapons the Russian military
buys suffer from these problems, which are largely caused by the free market
conditions that have existed in Russia since the communist government collapsed
in 1991. More qualified people prefer better paying and more interesting jobs
in non-military industries. The Russian government has been unable to come up
with a fix for this situation, which is causing problems with rebuilding their
own military, as well has holding onto export customers.
A
growing number of Indians want more Western weapons. These are more expensive,
but you get what you pay for and the Western stuff tends to be combat proven
and highly respected by users in many nations. The Russian stuff tends to be
used by losers.
The Russian shipyard managers admit that the
Vikramaditya engine problem was not the quality of the Chinese firebricks used
to insulate engine components from the intense heat of the steam boilers. The
problem was discovered when seven of eight steam boilers in the carrier power
plant failed during recent high-speed trials. The Russians initially blamed
India for this, as the Indians refused to allow the Russians to use asbestos to
insulate nearby engine components from the intense heat generated by the steam
boilers. Instead the Russians had to use firebrick which some engineers claimed
would not be adequate. But after Russian ship yard engineers examined the
engines they concluded it was poor workmanship and supervision, not poor design
or poor materials that was at the cause of the problem. The ship yard promises
to fix the faulty work within five months, and not tear the engine room apart
or have to open the hull to do it. To be on the safe side Russia is now telling
India that the Vikramaditya will be delivered in about a year. The ship yard
managers and workers know that if they screw this up, there is going to be a
lot less new business from India.
Aside from the engine failure (a major
problem) the months of sea trials off the north coast (Barents Sea) of Russia
did not reveal any other major problems. In all other respects the ship appears
to be in working order. The engine safety system, for example, detected the
overheating and shot down the engines before any damage could be done. Other
safety systems on the ship also worked well and the Russians pointed out that
there were problems with some Western equipment the Indians insisted on using.
Most importantly, two months ago the carrier experienced its first landing by a
MiG-29. Any other equipment problems noted during the sea trials will be fixed
while the engine insulation system is rebuilt.
The
Vikramaditya was originally the Russian Gorshkov, which served in the Russian
Navy from 1987 to 1995, but was then withdrawn from service because the navy could
not afford to keep the carrier operational. Gorshkov was put up for sale in
1996 and in 2005. India agreed to buy the Gorshkov if a few changes could be
made. India paid over $2 billion to refurbish the Gorshkov and turn it into the
Vikramaditya.
Some of
the Indian crew has been working with the Vikramaditya for over a year,
learning about all the ship's systems, and over 400 of them were aboard during
the sea trials. But now all but 40 of these will return to India while the
repairs take place. The best part of that is not having to spend another Winter
in Russia.
India
was supposed to take possession of the Vikramaditya by late 2012, but that was
delayed until early 2013, and is now delayed until late 2013. This project is
now five years behind schedule and $1.5 billion over the original budget. It is
a major cause of ill-will between Russia and India and has now worsened
relations between China and Russia.
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