India's aircraft carriers slowly getting there

INS Vikramaditya - awaiting December 2013 delivery.

From DNA http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_delays-in-gorshkov-deal-impeding-navys-modernisation-plans_1755166

Delays in Gorshkov deal impeding Navy’s modernisation plans

Published: Monday, Oct 22, 2012, 21:23 IST
By Ajay Vaishnav

Indian Navy will have to wait for another year (with fingers crossed) before the Gorshkov aircraft carrier, Indianised as INS Vikramaditya, gets delivered in last quarter of 2013.

If anything, it is a huge blow to the Indian Navy’s aircraft carrier programme which is facing dual crisis due to a two-year delay in the commissioning of INS Vikrant. Under construction at the Cochin Shipyard, the indigenously built aircraft carrier was originally slated to enter service in 2015 and will now be commissioned only in 2017 due to technical problems.

The delays deliver body blows to the Indian Navy’s plans to always have two functional aircraft carriers. At present, India’s lone aircraft carrier is INS Viraat centaur class, which too is on extension. It was suppose to retire in 2007 and replaced by INS Vikramaditya (formerly Gorshkov) in 2008, which is now delayed by five-years. In Vikramaditya’s case, the delays have resulted in massive cost escalations as well." MORE