The problems of the aircraft carrier "Vikramaditya" were to blame foreigners
The problems with the testing of the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, as it turned out, are not only guilty, and maybe not so much Russian shipbuilders. As stated by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, part of the quality claims are related to components supplied from abroad. India’s proposals related to the delayed delivery of the ship have already been formulated.
On Friday, the head of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, Andrei Dyachkov, met with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who reported on the situation with the aircraft-carrying cruiser Vikramaditya being modernized for India. During the tests in the White and Barents Seas, new problems were found in the ship's equipment. This time, according to the president of USC, the problems are related to the mechanisms set for the aircraft carrier by NATO countries on the recommendation of the Indian side.
“Boilers are the biggest nuisance in terms of equipment failure. In addition, there are a number of mechanisms that have failed, including those supplied from NATO countries, ”said Dyachkov. - These are three refrigerating machines, nitrogen generators and a whole range of equipment. These suppliers were offered by the Indian side. ”
Later, Rogozin wrote on his Facebook page that “during the tests of the aircraft carrier, defects were discovered in the aggregates supplied by Poland and Britain”.
According to the President of USC, the equipment failure is probably associated with the replacement of insulation from asbestos-containing materials with insulation from refractory bricks. The Indian side, referring to the negative impact of asbestos-containing materials on human health, insisted on it, reports RIA "News».
“The first conclusions - a constructive error was made when choosing a heat insulating substrate material. Asbestos-containing cardboard is used in Russian boiler plants, the Indian side at the time of reviewing the project put forward requirements to exclude asbestos-containing materials, ”said the president of USC.
Returning to the topic of failed boilers, Dyachkov said that when they were assembled for the Vikramaditya power plant, Chinese-made materials were used. “The boilers were made at the request of the Indian side. In Russian navy boilers are used that use fuel oil as fuel. The Indian side has made a request to use boilers that run on diesel fuel, ”said Dyachkov, Interfax reports.
He added that the fireclay bricks used for insulating masonry on an aircraft carrier were also supplied from China, since “unfortunately, the Russian production of these materials has been lost.”
According to Dyachkov, the boilers “were tested for maximum power in 40%”, because during the tests near the wall they could not technically develop full speed. At the same time, during the first exit to high capacities up to 100%, during the sea trials, partial destruction of the refractory brickwork in the boiler furnaces was detected. “During the tests at sea, by removing the boilers from the action one by one, we repaired this masonry, but nevertheless, at subsequent outputs to higher capacities, we received repeated partial destruction of the masonry,” he said.
During the meeting, Dmitry Rogozin demanded to prepare proposals for the completion of repairs on the aircraft carrier until the middle of next month. “October 15 will host a meeting of the Russian-Indian intergovernmental commission. I head the Russian side. I ask you to prepare all the necessary materials for this meeting so that both the manufacturers' arguments and proposals for completing the ship’s work are on the table of these negotiations, ”said Rogozin.
He added that in the near future there will also be a meeting of the Russian-Indian commission on military-technical cooperation, which should precede the “big” commission. “It is important to do everything necessary to ensure that this issue is fully settled in the relations of Russia and India towards a joint summit to be held in early November,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
In turn, the president of USC reported that the repair of aircraft-carrying cruisers will take from five to seven months and will be completed by May next year. All materials needed for the repair have already been purchased, orders for brick have also been made and experts have been selected for daily work on four boilers.
In addition, the Russian side has prepared a number of proposals for New Delhi, "which will compensate for the shift of the delivery of the ship by nine months." At the same time Dyachkov did not specify what exactly USC intends to offer India.
The fact that the situation with the transfer of India aircraft-carrying cruiser Vikramaditya in early October will be discussed at a meeting of the Russian-Indian intergovernmental commission on military-technical cooperation, said on Friday and Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.
“We plan to discuss our further cooperation with the Indian colleagues on this project at a meeting of the Russian-Indian intergovernmental commission on military-technical cooperation, which will be held in early October in Delhi,” he said, ITAR-TASS reports.
According to the head of the defense department, the damage assessment received by the aircraft carrier has not yet been assessed. “But the fact that our quality suffers is really a problem,” the minister added.
Recall that the meeting with the head of the United Shipbuilding Corporation Andrei Dyachkov Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Friday in his microblog on Twitter. “Today, the President of the United Shipbuilding Corporation A. Dyachkov will report to me who“ nakosyachil ”with“ Gorshkov ”, - wrote Rogozin.
17 September it became known that Russia will once again be forced to postpone the transfer of the Indian Navy to the light aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, built on the basis of the Soviet cruiser Admiral Gorshkov. The reason was the problem in the power plant of the ship. Meanwhile, at Sevmash, they asserted that the situation with the failed steam boilers was not as serious as the media had presented it: only three of the eight steam boilers would need repair and restoration work.
At the same time, the source said that the problems with the boilers had arisen at the end of July: “It did not happen a week ago, but at the end of July when the ship reached a maximum speed of more than 30 nodes in accordance with the technical specifications.”
To clarify the causes of problems on the cruiser created a special commission. It includes representatives of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, Rosoboronexport, as well as the Ministry of Defense and the shipbuilding industry of India.
Note that the light aircraft carrier "Vikramaditya" after completion should be the flagship of the Indian Navy. The ship was built on the basis of the heavy aircraft carrier “Admiral Gorshkov” through deep modernization. In June of this year, Vikramaditya was withdrawn from the Sevmash enterprise to conduct sea trials in the White Sea, and then in the Barents Sea.
The contract for the modernization of the heavy nuclear aircraft carrier “Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Gorshkov” was concluded with India in 2004.
The contract provided for the allocation of 974 million dollars for the restoration and modernization of the aircraft carrier, as well as 530 million dollars for the supply of 16 MiG-29K fighters and sea anti-submarine helicopters Ka-31 and Ka-27.
The ship should have been handed over to the customer in 2008 year. However, due to the increase in the volume of work, the deadlines for the delivery of the aircraft carrier were prolonged. Until recently, it was planned to hand over the cruiser to the customer 4 December - on the Day of the Navy of India.
Significantly increased the cost of work. At present, the price of this transaction, according to unofficial data, is approximately 2,3 billion dollars.
India plans to get three aircraft carriers by 2017 year - two more aircraft carriers IAC Delhi intends to build at its shipyards. Moreover, the second aircraft carrier IAC will have a displacement increased to 50 thousand tons, with CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Off Off Arrest Recovery) system, that is, an ejection system for launching aircraft. At present, only the United States, France and Brazil own “ejection carriers”.
Carriers with a displacement of more than 40 thousand tons have only the United States, Russia and the United Kingdom.
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