TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
The reported water pressure and plumbing issues of the Kun probably don't help matters combined with the limited numbers of trained aviation fixed wing aviation sailors as the Russians only have the one carrier.
Aircraft Carriers II (Closed to posting)
- Thread starter Jeff Head
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Blackstone
Brigadier
I posted the following on the Indian Military News thread last week:
So, far we the Indians have announced that a Talwar frigate will escort her out of port, soon to be met by an AOR vessel. The Indians have announced that it will be the Deepak, A50, which was launched in 2010. Somewhere between Norway and the English channel, three more Indian vessels will join with them, but the Indians have not announced who they will be yet.
Perhaps one will be the Akula nuclear attack submarine, INS Chakra. I would expect two more of their modern indigenous Shivalik frigates, which are as big as most traditional destroyers.
Perhaps INS Trikand, F51 will be that first Talwar Frigate. She is their latest Talwar class and was also built in Russia. She was recently in Portsmouth, England.
We also know now, that once through the Suez canal, that India's other Carrier, INS Viraat, R22, will meet with the group and conduct exercises with the Virkamaditya in the Arabian Sea and then also escort her home.
Anyhow here is the group we are getting a picture of. The Akula and two Shivalik are my own guesses...we will know for sure later:
INS Virkamaditya Aircraft Carrier, 44,500 tons
INS Trikand, F51, Guided-missile Frigate, 4,050 tons
INS Deepak, A50, AOR Vessel, 27,000 tons
INS Satpura, F48, Guided-missile Frigate, 6,800 tons
INS Sahyadri, F49, Guided-missile Frigate, 6,800 tons
INS Chakra, Nuclear attack submarine,
INS Viraat, R22, Indian STOVL Carrier
I expect the Viraat will have a couple of her own escorts too. If the Indians end up with this group of six vessels in the Vikram group, and then another three or four in the Viraat group, when they combine, it will be an impressive dual Carrier Task Force in the Arabian Sea and send a powerful message..
Very nice ships, and they will extend India's already considerable naval power in the Indian Ocean. I still think India would have been better off taking the US deal of free USS Kitty Hawk for buying F-18s, even with the political strings.
The US never offered India Kitty Hawk. Never happened.
Firstly the USN is not in the habit of selling off or giving away super carriers.
This is a rumor that started after some Indian journalist visited the Kitty Hawk while operating in the Bay of Bengal and asked the CO what would happen to the ship when it is decommissioned in 2008..I will paraphrase his answer. "It would be nice if we could give it to an ally like India".
Go to 54 seconds on the video in this link. That's how the rumor got started about Kitty Hawk. The Hawk is presently resting at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton WA.
Read the illustrious history of CV-63. No where does this history state that the Hawk was up for sale or to be given to India.
Blackstone
Brigadier
Thanks for the clarification, Darth.
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
the USN has not sold off a major surface or submersible combatant for decades. And never a carrier. The only offer I know of was a option given to Australia for a Essex class in the 1960s. The Australian Navy turned it down because the cost to refit her would have been prohibitive.
Is it just me or do these Russian guys seems to be somewhat lack luster in spirit. That may have something to do with the poor living conditions on board the ship. The Kuznetsov air wing consist out of 14 SU-33 Flanker, 4 SU-25 Frogfoot and 17 helicopters of varius sorts. That makes me wonder if the PLAN can really cram 20 to 24 Flankers onto the Liaoning.
But then again we shouldn't be to judgemental here either since we haven't seen yet how the Chinese crew are going to handle all aspects of air ops since the Liaoning still doesn't have an air wing yet.
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Exactly. The US never did make any kind of offer whatsoever, just as you say Popeye. In fact the Department of the Navy itself squashed the claim that same year with a very direct and terse announcement:
US Navy Spokes person said:
I believe it was the Indians themselves who were playing up the rumor, and even after the announcement by the Department of the Navy, continued to imply the US was considering the deal and would negotiate when US Defense Secretary Gates visited the country. I believe they did this to try and get a better price on the Gorshkov price renegotiation that was going on at the same time.
Ultimately Russia and India agreed for India to pay an additional $1.2 billion (in addition to the initial $1.5 billion) with a fixed delivery of 2012. We all know that that ultimately slipped into this year, but now the Indians have their carrier. Still getting that carrier in a decent and fully operational state for $2.7 billion is a good deal for India.
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asif iqbal
Lieutenant General
Isn't Newport News the same place where those eight giants are based? I am talking about the Algol Class sea lift ships
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