Indian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.
- Thread starter bd popeye
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INS Vikramaditya enters Indian Navy's area of operationIt was a sight to behold. As India’s newest aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya entered the Indian Navy’s area of operation in north western Arabian Sea, accompanied by three other vessels, it was rendezvoused -- in Naval parlance RVed -- with the Western Fleet that had gone all the way from Mumbai to receive it.
INS Vikramaditya, which was accompanied by INS Trikand, which is a Talwar class frigate, INS Delhi which is a Delhi class destroyer and INS Deepak, the fleet tanker, fired ceremonial guns to salute the flag of the fleet commander Rear Admiral Anand Chawla, who was leading the flotilla of the Western Fleet, that also comprised aircraft carrier INS Viraat.
The other ships besides INS Viraat which had gone to receive INS Vikramaditya included two Delhi class destroyers, three Trishul class stealth frigates, a Godavari class frigate and a couple of offshore vessels.
All this happened about 1200 nautical miles from the country's shores on New Year’s eve and thereafter all the aircraft carriers, frigates and destroyers together set sail for India.
INS Vikramaditya, which was commissioned into the Indian Navy on November 16 last at the North Russian shipyard of Sevmash at Severodvinsk, is now headed for its home port at Karwar in Karnataka where it is scheduled to reach in a week’s time.
Commanded by Captain Suraj Berry, INS Vikramaditya -- which took eight years to refurbish at the Russian yard -- would reach Karwar on completing a near 8500 nautical mile journey.
On reaching Karwar, the aircraft carrier would re-equip and prepare and get ready for the next phase which would be its integration with the air wing, comprising about 30 Mig 29K aircraft and six Kamov Ka-31 “Helix” reconnaissance and anti-submarine helicopters.
It would take around four to six months for the full integration of the aircraft carrier after which it will become the spearhead of the carrier battle group. During this period, the aircraft carrier would also be equipped with surface-to-air missile (SAM) and close-in weapon system (CIWS) to safeguard it from aerial attack.
At the time of commissioning of INS Vikramaditya Indian Navy Chief Admiral D.K. Joshi had indicated that Indian naval fighter pilots would be certified to carry out flying operations from the carrier deck within weeks of the carrier’s arrival in India.
While a batch of combat fliers from ‘Black Panther’ squadron has undertaken simulator training in Moscow, before the flying operations from the carrier deck, they are also scheduled to perfect take-off and landing on the shore-based test facility (SBTF) at INS Hansa in Goa.
INS Vikramaditya, which was accompanied by INS Trikand, which is a Talwar class frigate, INS Delhi which is a Delhi class destroyer and INS Deepak, the fleet tanker, fired ceremonial guns to salute the flag of the fleet commander Rear Admiral Anand Chawla, who was leading the flotilla of the Western Fleet, that also comprised aircraft carrier INS Viraat.
The other ships besides INS Viraat which had gone to receive INS Vikramaditya included two Delhi class destroyers, three Trishul class stealth frigates, a Godavari class frigate and a couple of offshore vessels.
All this happened about 1200 nautical miles from the country's shores on New Year’s eve and thereafter all the aircraft carriers, frigates and destroyers together set sail for India.
INS Vikramaditya, which was commissioned into the Indian Navy on November 16 last at the North Russian shipyard of Sevmash at Severodvinsk, is now headed for its home port at Karwar in Karnataka where it is scheduled to reach in a week’s time.
Commanded by Captain Suraj Berry, INS Vikramaditya -- which took eight years to refurbish at the Russian yard -- would reach Karwar on completing a near 8500 nautical mile journey.
On reaching Karwar, the aircraft carrier would re-equip and prepare and get ready for the next phase which would be its integration with the air wing, comprising about 30 Mig 29K aircraft and six Kamov Ka-31 “Helix” reconnaissance and anti-submarine helicopters.
It would take around four to six months for the full integration of the aircraft carrier after which it will become the spearhead of the carrier battle group. During this period, the aircraft carrier would also be equipped with surface-to-air missile (SAM) and close-in weapon system (CIWS) to safeguard it from aerial attack.
At the time of commissioning of INS Vikramaditya Indian Navy Chief Admiral D.K. Joshi had indicated that Indian naval fighter pilots would be certified to carry out flying operations from the carrier deck within weeks of the carrier’s arrival in India.
While a batch of combat fliers from ‘Black Panther’ squadron has undertaken simulator training in Moscow, before the flying operations from the carrier deck, they are also scheduled to perfect take-off and landing on the shore-based test facility (SBTF) at INS Hansa in Goa.
My views on the INS Vikramaditya has changed over time as more information comes to light. It has mainly to do with the elevators on the deck.
The forward elevator doesn't lap the runway at all and chances for accidents are very small, there is enough space for planes to come up from the hangar deck on the forward elevator even when there are planes landing and taking off from the runway. But from a safety point of view its not advisable.
The back elevator can fit a Fulcrum. This is significant because this means that planes can come up from the back elevator when planes are taking off. And when there is no flight ops planes can come up from the hangar deck simultaneously from both elevators. Which i didn't thought was possible before.
The space behind the island structure can be used as a bomb farm and could allow people and equipment move back and fourth on the ship while air ops are on going. The bomb farm is something it has over the Liaoning ! But i'm not sure of the Indians are going to use that space this way. Because that space might be used to place the CIWS systems like the AK-630 and the Barak 8 missile's. I don't see anywhere else they can place it on the ship.
The ship is still flawed, but not as flawed as i originally thought. The lack of space between the island structure and the lack of jet blast deflectors on the deck means that when planes are landing or taking off virtually all activity has to come to a halt on the flight deck. People, equipment and planes can't move and has to stay where they are. However they can move people and equipment from the back to the front of the ship and vice versa from that huge space behind the island structure if needed.
Air ops on the Vikramaditya will look more like what we see on the Admiral Kuznetsov rather then any of the Nimitz carriers. The Liaoning will be somewhere in between the Kuznetsov and the Nimitz. There is room on the starboard side for people to work and for planes to move but its much tighter then on a Nimitz class carrier. And planes can't take off from the angled deck as they will still have to use the same ski ramp to take off even starting from the back position on the angled deck.
But i also ask wheter the Indians can get the Vikramaditya ready for operations in just four to six months after her arrival in India. Don't they need more time to practise everything from emergency procedures to the deck crew and pilots working out a procedure for air ops on the unique deck layout ?
The forward elevator doesn't lap the runway at all and chances for accidents are very small, there is enough space for planes to come up from the hangar deck on the forward elevator even when there are planes landing and taking off from the runway. But from a safety point of view its not advisable.
The back elevator can fit a Fulcrum. This is significant because this means that planes can come up from the back elevator when planes are taking off. And when there is no flight ops planes can come up from the hangar deck simultaneously from both elevators. Which i didn't thought was possible before.
The space behind the island structure can be used as a bomb farm and could allow people and equipment move back and fourth on the ship while air ops are on going. The bomb farm is something it has over the Liaoning ! But i'm not sure of the Indians are going to use that space this way. Because that space might be used to place the CIWS systems like the AK-630 and the Barak 8 missile's. I don't see anywhere else they can place it on the ship.
The ship is still flawed, but not as flawed as i originally thought. The lack of space between the island structure and the lack of jet blast deflectors on the deck means that when planes are landing or taking off virtually all activity has to come to a halt on the flight deck. People, equipment and planes can't move and has to stay where they are. However they can move people and equipment from the back to the front of the ship and vice versa from that huge space behind the island structure if needed.
Air ops on the Vikramaditya will look more like what we see on the Admiral Kuznetsov rather then any of the Nimitz carriers. The Liaoning will be somewhere in between the Kuznetsov and the Nimitz. There is room on the starboard side for people to work and for planes to move but its much tighter then on a Nimitz class carrier. And planes can't take off from the angled deck as they will still have to use the same ski ramp to take off even starting from the back position on the angled deck.
But i also ask wheter the Indians can get the Vikramaditya ready for operations in just four to six months after her arrival in India. Don't they need more time to practise everything from emergency procedures to the deck crew and pilots working out a procedure for air ops on the unique deck layout ?
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The escort group for the two carriers, as it turns out is quite impressive.INS Vikramaditya side by side with INS Viraat in the Arabian Sea.
And though the Kolkatas are not a part yet, with their ultimate longer range Barak 8 missiles, right now, the SA-N-12 (shtil) is what the Indians have for what we would call mid-range (45km) defense. It's actually not a bad missile, but launching from single arm launchers is the current INS weakness. But nine of those launchers altogether...as they have in this group...could still put up a lot of defensive missiles if necessary. And they are backed up by 32 VLS Barak I missiles on each Delhi, 16 Barak-1 missiles on the Viraat itself, and SA-16s on the Talwars.
So, that being said, all that being said, the Indians have a pretty decent escort group for these two carriers. From friends in India I have learned that the escort group for the two carriers consists of the following vessels and will be exercising together for several days:
Vikramaditya Group:
1 x CV INS Vikramaditya R33
1 x DDG INS Delhi D61 (Delhi Class)
1 x FFG INS Trikand F51 (Talwar Class)
1 X AOR INS Deepak A50 (Deepack Class)
Viraat Group:
1 X CVL INS Viraat R22
1 x DDG INS Mumbai D62 (Delhi Class)
1 x DDG INS Mysore D60 (Delhi Class)
1 x FFG INS Trishul F43 (Talwar Class)
1 X FFG INS Tig F45 (Talwar Class)
That's two carriers, three destroyers, three frigates, and one AOR vessel. Nine Indian naval vessels altogether. I would not be surprised to learn later that the INS Chakra is there too...that's the Akula II Class SSN that the Indians got from the Russians in 2011.
I do hope they publish pictures of the entire combined fleet together.
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