Aircraft Carriers II (Closed to posting)
- Thread starter Jeff Head
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thunderchief
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I have no doubt that Indian admiral made the statement, but I doubt that INS Vikramaditya is completely operationally deployed. Ship spent whole April docked according to Indian forums :
excuse me, i study in karwar and and when i was returning to my state goa last sunday morning,she's left port,she's visible from quite a far off from the port. as proof the first report that emerged the same day in alocal newpaper, and she didn't spend all april in port,this is her third depoyementafter she reached indiaI have no doubt that Indian admiral made the statement, but I doubt that INS Vikramaditya is completely operationally deployed. Ship spent whole April docked according to Indian forums :
i had posted in indian defence news thread the captain telling the media that viki spent most off her time at sea and six pilots were qualified to land and take off and she spend more than 90 days at sea,2 deployements of 40-45 days at sea each,and that news i had posted somewhere in early april
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thunderchief
Senior Member
Last Sunday morning was 4th of May, and your article is also from May 4th, and I'm talking about April
.6 pilots qualified to land and take-off is not a enough for a ship to be completely operationally qualified. I remind you that Vikramaditya carries at least 12 Mig-29K (if not more) . Also, it is not enough to be able to land and take-off, pilots must be qualified to use weapons, to handle emergency situations etc ...
Therefore, it will take at least year or two for INS Vikramaditya to be fully ready for combat.
Jura The idiot
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Posted on InsideDefense.com: May 9, 2014
The House Armed Services Committee in its markup of the fiscal year 2015 defense authorization act rejected the Navy's proposal to save money by placing 11 of the 22 Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers, along with three amphibious ships, in reduced status while they are modernized.
The committee last week agreed to an amendment by House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee chairman Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA) to prohibit the Navy from "laying up" these warships. Forbes' amendment also requires the Navy to begin hull, mechanical and electrical (HM&E) upgrades, as well as combat systems modernizations, on two cruisers in FY-15.
The Republican members of the committee shot down a separate amendment by Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA.) aimed at blocking Forbes' plan. Smith's amendment would have allowed the Navy to move forward with its phased modernization proposal that would include reducing manning on the 11 cruisers to minimal levels.
Under the Navy's proposal, the ships would go into reduced operating status at around the same time starting in FY-15. The vessels would first receive HM&E upgrades, then systems upgrades. Completion of each vessel's modernization would be aligned with the retirement of the 11 cruisers still at sea -- in other words, as each fully modernized ship comes out of the shipyard, one operational vessel will be retired.
The Navy planned to fund the phased modernization through the Ship Modernization, Operations and Sustainment Fund (SMOSF) -- which was established by congressional appropriators specifically to provide for costs associated with the continued operations of seven cruisers and two dock landing ships previously scheduled for decommissioning -- as well as the realization of savings from the reduced operations and maintenance costs afforded by placing all 11 ships in reduced operating status at the same time.
Top Navy officials have said recently that these savings are expected to be in excess of $6 billion. The Navy has already begun putting money from the SMOSF toward modernizing the Gettysburg (CG-64), Inside the Navy previously reported.
During the hearing, Smith argued that Navy and Pentagon officials had examined their needs, as well as current and future budget realities, and decided the phased modernization plan was the best option. The plan frees up money for the rest of the Navy's shipbuilding account, he said.
Smith argued that a larger force is not necessarily a more ready force.
"A smaller, ready force will always beat a larger, unready force," he said.
But Smith's amendment sparked heated responses from several Republican members, including Forbes and Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA.).
Wittman panned the amendment, saying that the Navy's "ridiculous" proposal will "save a few dollars now," but cost more in the long-run.
Compromising readiness to "meet an immediate need" has a negative impact on the safety and well-being of the Navy's sailors, Wittman noted. Fewer ships will mean longer deployments and more unhappy sailors, he said.
Wittman also expressed skepticism of the Navy's repeated assurances that the phased modernization plan is not the first step toward decommissioning half the fleet.
"It takes years to get these ships back to sea once you mothball them," he said.
A Navy spokesman declined to comment on the ongoing legislation efforts.
"We will continue to work with Congress to find solutions that enable us to sustain readiness while building an affordable but relevant future force," said Navy spokesman Capt. Danny Hernandez in a statement emailed to ITN on May 8. "Like [Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert] said during his testimony, we have to balance readiness and force structure. It is innovative and cost-saving approaches like the phased cruiser modernization plan that allow us to do just that."
Some more recent photos of the INS Vikramaditya, R33. Had not seen most of these before:
I know you're shy, but this is just as you have reminded us so many times, the Indians are coming up to speed quickly, because the have a history and the expertise and dogma of Indian carrier ops are already written and trained to a standard???? very Kool and thanks Jeff
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"Fully operational" for the Vikramaditya at this point means that her air wing of 16 MiG-29K Fulcrum-D's are deployed and she has an escort fleet. She is also taking part in exercises with other ships in the IN. But like the Liaoning it will take years before she is combat capable. But the Indians are moving at light speed with their carrier program compared to the Chinese. While the Vikramaditya is doing all of that the Liaoning is struck in the drydock.
Well, "combat capable," is a relative term.
The Indians have conducted combat operations with their carriers in the past, and have developed the strategies, policies, and planning for it. They have also stood up an entire wing of production Mig-29Ks since last year, so you know they have been working those aircraft into strike and air defense capable aircraft...it's why they exist.
They are now melding the Vikramaditya with its new and improved air wing and capabilities into that, and yes it will take them some time to get all of those issues honed down to a well working mechanism.
However, I believe that if necessary, the Virkamaditya would be able to go to battle very quickly if called upon at this stage. Depending on who she was fighting against, she may do very well...or not so well, and depending on who the adversary might be, the Indian war planners would take all of that into consideration and not send her into a situation where she had little chance for success.
The Chinese need to get their air wing onboard the Liaoning. Once that is accomplished and they are working those flight personnel up, then they too would be ready, to whatever degree they had trained, to also go in harm's way. but without an air wing aboard, then she does not have her principle weapon and would simply be a target without it.
That's the next bug milestone we can look for with the Lioaning...her exercising with multiple production level J-15s aboard, and seeing that number grow.
I would still like to see a picture of the Vikramaditya embarking sixteen Mig-29Ks.
We know they have the air wing operational. They have had it in service for over a year now. But nonetheless, I would like to see them onboard the Vikramaditya.
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