A high level team, headed by Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, will leave for Russia later this month to inspect the Gorshkov aircraft carrier at the Sevmarsh shipyard and find a way to break the deadlock over its delivery and price escalation. The delegation, which will include Secretary, Defence Production, will reach Russia on February 19 to carry out a “physical inspection” of the warship and review the progress of work and likely delivery schedule. India seems to have reconciled to the fact that it will need to pay more for the carrier — Russia demanded $ 1.2 billion extra for repair works on the carrier last year — and the team will negotiate to bring down the scale of escalation. “The original contract was sketchy and details were not worked out. Once the work started, it was found that the ship needed much more work than anticipated,” said a senior official of the Defence Ministry. Officials say that the reworked price agreement will need to be cleared by the Cabinet. “The original contract to purchase the ship was passed by the Cabinet and any significant change to the pact will also need its approval,” the official said. The carrier, which was scheduled for delivery by August this year, is not likely to be delivered before 2012 with Russia conveying that refitting and sea trials will take at least four more years for completion. “It was found during the refitting work that the carrier will also need to go through extensive sea trials lasting one year. This will add to its cost,” the official said. Meanwhile, another high-level IAF team will also be visiting Moscow shortly to firm up details for the “joint development” of a fifth generation fighter aircraft.
