Originally built as the modified Kiev (Krechyet) Class (Type
1143.4) carrier Baku, she is the last in the series of four Project
1143 air defence ships, officially known as aviation cruisers. The
vessel was designed by St. Petersburg's Nevskoye Design Bureau, led
by Vassily Anikeyev as a VSTOL (Vertical Short Take-Off and
Landing) carrier. She was laid down at the Chernomorsky Shipyard,
Nikolayev in December 1978 and was launched on 31 March 1982. Some
reports indicate the ship was launched on 17 April 1982. The ship
was commissioned in December 1987 (some reports indicate January
1987), nine years after its building started, following sea trials
which began in June 1986. 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 Admiral Gorshkov was originally designed to carry twelve VSTOL
Yak-38 [NATO: Forger] fighters, twelve Ka-27 [NATO: Helix-A]
helicopters in the SAR & ASW role and a pair of Ka-31 RLD
[NATO: Helix] AEW helicopters. 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 [NATO: SS-N-12
Sandbox] cruise missile launchers and four Antey Kinzhal [NATO:
SA-N-9 Gauntlet] surface-to-air missile launchers. When the Yak-38s
were phased out of Russian Naval service in 1992, the carrier
adopted a new role as a helicopter carrier. The ship suffered
extensive damage in 1994 due to a boiler room explosion and a
subsequent fire and as a result she was docked at Severodvinsk on
02 February 1994. After extensive repairs she was finally put back
to sea in 1995. However, she was withdrawn from service in 1996 and
has remained docked at Severodvinsk since. Her sister ships were
withdrawn by 1993.
The vessel was offered for sale to India and negotiations over
acquiring the 44,570-tonne aviation cruiser for the Indian Navy
have reportedly been on since 1994. The two countries signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in December 1998, during a visit
by Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, by which India agreed
to acquire the carrier and fund a refit & refurbishing program.
This program was developed by the Nevskoye Design Bureau and will
be carried out at the Severnoye shipyard at Severodvinsk.
Preparatory work for the proposed conversion is being carried out
at the Northern Machine Building Enterprise at Severodvinsk. In
October 2000, during a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin,
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, during the visit of Russian Deputy Prime Minister
Ilya Klebanov, acquisition of the aircraft carrier was again
discussed, but still a fixed price could not be reached at. Finally
on 20 January 2004 in New Delhi, the deal to acquire the aircraft
carrier, was signed between Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov
and his counterpart, Defence Minister George Fernandes. The deal
also consists of nearly 20 separate contracts for new shipboard
weapons and technology. The conversion is expected to be completed
within five years of contract signature, which results in the
Indian Navy receiving the carrier only by 2009, which is around the
time the Indian Navy's other aircraft carrier, INS Viraat is
expected to retire. However a MoD Press Release, dated 21 July
2004, stated that the vessel is expected to be handed over to the
Indian Navy in August 2008. Reports indicate that the vessel will
be renamed as INS Vikramaditya, however that is yet to confirmed
from official sources.
While the aircraft carrier itself is coming for free, a substantial
refit will be undertaken to bring the vessel up to modern naval
standards. The cost for this refit is estimated to be in the region
of $675 to $700 million. A related $740 million contract for 16
carrier-based MiG-29 aircraft has also been signed. The price of
the MiG-29 contract was confirmed in an MoD press release, dated 22
December 2004. The contract also includes the full hardware for
training maintenance and flying personnel, including simulators and
interactive ground and sea based training systems. Delivery of the
first aircraft are expected in June 2007 and is expected to
commence before the upgrade of the carrier has been completed and
before the carrier is transferred to India. An option to acquire 30
additional aircraft by 2015, is also included in the contract. The
vessel will also carry a mix of Ka-28 ASW helicopters and Ka-31 AEW
helicopters.
The conversion plans for the aircraft carrier would see all the
armament, including the P-500 Bazalt cruise missile launchers and
the four Antey Kinzhal surface-to-air missile launchers fitted on
the front of the carrier, removed to make way for a 14.3ยบ 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. The ability to launch only one
aircraft at a time, might prove to be a hindrance. 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.