Moscow has demanded that New Delhi pay $200 million to shore up a rapidly sinking aicraft carrier deal.

As the IT Examiner previously reported, the Indian Navy was originally scheduled to commission the refurbished and retrofitted Admiral Gorshkov by the end of 2008. However, delivery of the Gorshkov (or the eventual INS Vikramaditya) has been delayed until at least 2012.

India has expressed serious concern over slow progress in overhauling the carrier, which is currently being refurbished at Russia's blustery North Sea Sevmash shipyard. However, the country may have little choice but to comply with Russia's latest extortionist demands. Indeed, India's sole aircraft carrier, the INS Viraat, is quickly deteriorating and may no longer be seaworthy in the near future. 

It should be noted that Russia had demanded an additional $1.2 billion soon after the two sides agreed on a $750 million deal. Unsurprisingly, a number of high ranking officials have recently leveled damning charges against the defence establishment over poor negotiating tactics and a propensity towards over payment.

To be sure, New Delhi chose to purchase three AWACS (airborne warning and control systems) from IAI (Israel Aerospace Industries) for $1.1 billion, despite the fact that Israel planned to sell the same planes to Beijing for a mere $358 million. Unsurprisingly, delivery of the AWACS has been delayed until at least 2009.

Although the comission date of the Admiral Gorshkov is uncertain, an overly-optimistic MoD has decided to procure an additional 29 MiG (29 K/KUB) fighters from Moscow. 16 MiGs were originally ordered as part of the faltering 2004 $1.5 billion carrier deal. The lucrative new contract is expected to be worth approximately $2 billion.

Defence sources note that the Navy is eyeing the creation of three MiG ship borne squadrons. A number of the new planes are expected to be inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) by November 2008.

New Delhi has taken several notable steps to bolster its Naval forces, including the purchase of a 16,900-tonne Jalashwa transport ship from the US in 2007. The 173-metre-long Landing Pontoon Dock (LPD), currrently the second largest Indian warship in service, is capable of transporting four landing craft, six helicopters and a battalion of 900 soldiers. The Indian Army also maintains two dedicated amphibious brigades, with almost 12,000 soldiers each, on Thiruvananthapuram, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. X

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