The emerald of the Indian Ocean, the aircraft carrier USS Vikramaditya

Emeralds in the Indian Ocean

- USS Vikramaditya

INS Vikramaditya (transliteration as Super Sun King) was an aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy. King Chaori was the third monarch of the Gupta Dynasty of India, reigning from 375 to 415 AD. During the reign of King Chaori, India was unified, the Gupta Dynasty reached its peak and its national strength reached its peak, which is also considered the golden age of India. Naming this aircraft carrier after the Super Sun King shows India's ambitions and dreams for this aircraft carrier, hoping that India can once again reach the peak like its predecessors.

First, the overall background

After 1997, the Indian Navy had only one aircraft carrier, the Virat, which will be retired around 2010 as it ages. India, which had tasted the sweetness of aircraft carriers in the Third Indo-Pakistani War, was determined to continue to own aircraft carriers and actively seek the next generation of aircraft carriers. Originally, India had hoped to get the British Navy's Invincible aircraft carrier or the French Navy's Aircraft Carrier Fuxi, but in the end it chose Russia, which was more favorable.

When the Russian Prime Minister visited India in 1998, he expressed Russia's intention to give the hull of the Gorshkov to India free of charge, but the cost of refurbishment, refitting, and the equipment and fleet formation of the ship were borne by India itself. For India, it is almost equivalent to sending an aircraft carrier for free, and the tonnage is larger than the Invincible and Fuxi, and the combat effectiveness is stronger. In the face of the luxurious gifts sent by Russia, India did not hesitate and directly carried the aircraft carrier home. After several rounds of negotiations, on January 20, 2004, India and Russia finally signed a contract to finalize the deal, with Russia's Severodvinsk Shipyard in charge of the refit project for a total amount of $1.5 billion, of which the renovation and reconstruction of the hull part will cost $970 million, and the remaining $530 million will be used for the purchase of carrier-based aircraft, with a hull construction period of 52 months.

II. The past life of the Vikramaditya

Originally the Russian aircraft carrier Gorshkov, the last Kiev-class aircraft carrier of the Soviet Union, the Vikramadya was originally named Baku during the Soviet era.

Baku was laid with keels at the Nikolaev Shipyard on the Black Sea in December 1978, launched on 17 April 1982 and commissioned into service with the Soviet Navy in June 1988. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Baku, which was in service with the Russian Navy, was renamed Admiral Gorshkov, but was re-launched in 1995 after a cabin explosion in February 1994, was towed back to the Northern Fleet Shipyard in Murmansk for renovation, but due to Russia's economic scarcity and inability to operate, it was finally declared decommissioned on August 1, 1995.

Third, the arduous process of transformation

Influenced by the Backward Aircraft Carrier Design Ideas of the Soviet Union, the original design of the Gorshkov only operated vertical take-off and landing fighters, and India was naturally reluctant to continue to use vertical take-off and landing fighters such as The Sea Harrier on such an aircraft carrier, but at that time India had no other choice. Russia directly engaged in bundling sales, you do not buy my aircraft, will not give you aircraft carriers, but Russia's Current Service Su-33 is too large for this aircraft carrier, the number of aircraft will drop to an unacceptable level. Russia has been very thoughtful and has launched a shipboard version based on the MiG-29 , the MiG-29K. The MiG-29K would have been a failed Su-33 rival, but it was more suitable here in India. The new MiG-29K is not the same as the MiG-29K that failed to compete in the past, but at that time there was only a paper concept, India was naturally not a fool, and there were reasonable doubts about this new model, but the aircraft carrier sent in vain had no choice, and finally had to accept the MiG-29K solution.

The MiG-29K uses a Beetle-ME phased array radar with a maximum search range of more than 150 km, capable of tracking 20 targets simultaneously and attacking 4 of them. The MiG-29K has good versatility, in addition to the most basic anti-air combat capabilities, it can also perform ground-to-sea strike missions. MiG-29K maximum take-off weight of more than 24 tons, the maximum payload of 5.5 tons, coupled with the increase in fuel capacity of the aircraft to 5.2 tons, the maximum range of the MiG-29K is 3000 kilometers, basically up to the current standard of mainstream carrier-based aircraft, in the face of Su-33, Rafale, J-15, F18E Although not dominant, there is also a world war force, is a barely qualified medium-sized carrier-based aircraft.

In order to operate the MiG-29K, the take-off and landing mode of the Vikramaditya was changed to short take-off/intercept cable recovery, and all the anti-aircraft missiles and anti-ship missiles that originally symbolized the glory of the Soviet Union were removed, and the bow was equipped with a skid deck. The structure and layout of the flight deck have also been greatly changed, with the addition of an angled deck on the starboard side as a landing line for aircraft and the expansion of the flight deck area, the starboard deck also extending outwards, and three sets of interceptor cables at the rear of the flight deck, both of which are long enough for the MiG-29K to take off on a heavy load.

After the transformation, the original right-hand ship island was changed to a center-right position, the shape is very strange, considering that it is a halfway home, it is also acceptable. The length of the Hull of the Vikramaditya was increased to 283 m, the full width was also increased to 51 m due to the addition of an angled deck, the take-off deck moving line was 195 m long, the starboard inclined deck was 198 m long, and the full load displacement reached 45500 tons. The ship's original power system was replaced by a new boiler built by the Baltic Shipyard, with a maximum speed of 29 knots.

The electronic system of the Vikramaditya was completely reconfigured with the self-defense forces, and in terms of electronic equipment, the Vikramaditya dismantled the original sky sentry phased array radar, retained the three-dimensional anti-aircraft radar on the top of the main mast, and added a large three-dimensional anti-air scanning radar. The air defense weapon system is the Israeli-made Barak-1 air defense missile system and the Russian-made AK-630 close-in anti-aircraft gun, etc., which is still India's traditional international brand, and the performance is not advanced, but it can be used.

Vikramaditya also introduced Ka-29 anti-submarine helicopters and Ka-31 airborne early warning helicopters, and India's own LCA Tejas light fighter and ALH advanced light helicopters, although they have been launched, are not yet the main force. The Vikramaditya can carry up to 24 MiG-29Ks and up to 13 MiG-29Ks on the flight deck.

During the sea trials, there was a serious boiler accident, and after repairs, the speed reached 29 knots, but it also cast a shadow on the future of the aircraft carrier. Finally, after an endless process of extending the construction period and increasing costs, India paid more than $2.9 billion for the carrier, and the completion time was extended from the original 2008 to 2013. Finally, in November 2013, Russia officially delivered the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya to India.

Fourth, whether it is worth it in the end

After nearly 20 years of development, the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier finally entered the service of the Indian Navy, which can be described as 20 years of grinding a sword, some people say that India has been wronged, constantly being slaughtered, spending 2.9 billion US dollars to buy back a semi-crippled, which is the legend of people stupid money.

After the official commissioning of the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, although there were many accidents, it was generally operating normally. Compared with the Larger Tonnage and more effective Kuznetsov aircraft carrier in Russia, although the division is out of the same door, the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier runs more smoothly than the Kuznetsov aircraft carrier. In any case, the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier is an aircraft carrier with a displacement of more than 40,000 tons, carrying MiG-29K fighter jets is unbearable for an imaginary enemy without an aircraft carrier, and the ninety fleet of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force still cannot touch the porcelain Vikramaditya on the front.

India is already a regional power, dominating in South Asia, the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier is the most important part of its maritime strategy, especially in the case of India's nuclear submarine production, with this aircraft carrier, the Indian Navy is a strategic navy that can affect the regional situation. India is not satisfied with its current status, but the weak military industry has dragged down its hind legs, and it is impossible to buy a truly powerful navy, nor can it buy a world power, and recently India's domestic aircraft carrier Vikrant is about to enter service, and what role vikramaditya and Vikrant can play in a possible war, we will wait and see.

Some countries have money to buy this strategic weapon, some countries have money and no technology, and some countries lack money but will not sell it. As for whether $2.9 billion to buy an aircraft carrier is worth it, where to find such a good thing when india has to start with $1 billion for a destroyer?