KIEV CLASS

Vessel Type: Aircraft Carrier, Project 1143.

Name with commission date: Baku (later Admiral Gorshkov); Laid Down - December 1978, Launched - 17 April 1982, Commissioned - January 1987, Decommissioned - 1996.

Future Commissioning: Vikramaditya; Re-launched - 04 December 2008, Re-commissioning - 2012.

Displacement: 44,570 tons.

Dimensions: Length (Overall) - 273.1 metres.
.................Beam - 31 metres.
.................Draught - 8.2 metres.

Main Machinery: Not Known.

Maximum Speed: Not Known.

Maximum Range: Not Known.

Complement: Not Known.

Air Group: Fleet Defense; MiG-29K/KUB
..............Airborne Early Warning; Ka-31 Helix-B
..............ASW/ASV; Sea King Mk.42B and Ka-28 Helix-A

Originally built as a modified Kiev Class aircraft carrier, she is the last in the series of four aviation cruisers built for the Russian Navy. The vessel was designed as a VSTOL (Vertical Short Take-Off and Landing) carrier and was laid down in December 1978 and was launched on 17 April 1982. Although some reports indicate the ship was launched on 31 March 1982. The ship was subsequently commissioned in December 1987, nine years after its building started, following sea trials which began in June 1986. Other reports indicate the vessel was commissioned in January 1987. The Baku was later renamed as the Admiral Flota Sovietskogo Sojuza Gorshkov (later changed to Admiral Gorshkov) to honour the Russian Navy's and arguably the modern world's greatest naval tactician, Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Sergei Georgievich Gorshkov who retired from Russian Naval service in 1985. The vessel was originally designed to carry twelve Yak-38 fighters, twelve Ka-27 helicopters in the search & rescue and anti-submarine warfare role and a pair of Ka-31 helicopters in the airborne early warning role. As the Yak-38 was a VSTOL aircraft, the need for a long deck was not required and thus the forward area of the deck was fitted with twelve P-500 Bazalt cruise missile launchers and four Antey Kinzhal surface-to-air missile launchers. When the Yak-38s were phased out of Russian naval service in 1992, the vessel adopted a new role as a helicopter carrier. She suffered extensive damage in 1994 due to a boiler room explosion and a subsequent fire and was docked at Severodvinsk on 02 February 1994 for refurbishing. After extensive repairs, she was finally put back to sea in 1995. However, she was withdrawn from service in 1996 and was put up for sale.

Images and models of Admiral Gorshkov prior to her refit

The vessel was offered for sale to India and negotiations over acquiring the aviation cruiser for the Indian Navy were reportedly on since 1994. The two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in December 1998, by which India agreed to acquire the vessel and fund a refit & refurbishing program. In October 2000, an inter-governmental agreement was signed confirming the acquisition of the vessel. The final contract of delivery was supposed to be signed in October/November 2001, but disagreements over the price of the conversion left the deal hanging. In February 2002, acquisition of the aircraft carrier was again discussed, but still a fixed price could not be reached at. Finally on 20 January 2004, the deal to acquire the aircraft carrier, was signed between Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov and his counterpart, Defence Minister George Fernandes in New Delhi. The deal also consists of separate contracts for new shipboard weapons and technology. The vessel will carry a mix of MiG-29K/KUB fighters and Ka-28 ASW & Ka-31 AEW helicopters. The refit & refurbishment program was expected to be completed within five years of contract signature, which would have resulted in the Indian Navy receiving the vessel in 2009, however ongoing delays have pushed back the delivery date to 2012 and conversion costs have spiraled out of control. In February 2009, the Russian Government demanded an additional US $700 million (on top of their earlier demand for US $1.2 billion which was approved by the Indian Government) to complete the vessel by 2012. With this latest price increase, the total cost of the vessel has shot up to an astronomical US $2.9 billion.

Conceptual drawings and models of the Vikramaditya (formerly Admiral Gorshkov) after refit

The conversion plans will see all the armament, including the P-500 Bazalt (SS-N-12 Sandbox) cruise missile launchers and the four Antey Kinzhal (SA-N-9 Gauntlet) surface-to-air missile launchers, removed to make way for a 14.3º bow ski-jump. Two restraining stands will also be fitted, allowing combat aircraft to reach full power before making a ski-jump-assisted short take-off. Under the modernization plan, the 20-ton capacity elevator beside the ship's island superstructure will remain unchanged, but the aft lift will be enlarged and its lift capacity increased to 30 tons. Three arresting gears would be fitted on the aft part of the angled deck, although the model (centre image) displayed above shows four. Navigation and carrier-landing aids would be refitted to support fixed-wing STOBAR (Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery) operations including the LAK optical-landing system.

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