SEVERODVINSK. June 8 (Interfax) - The aircraft carrier, the Vikramaditya (formerly, the Admiral Gorshkov), being upgraded for India at the Sevmash shipyard at Severodvinsk in the Arkhangelsk region, has put out to sea for trials, a shipyard spokesman told Interfax on Friday.
"The aircraft carrier left the Sevmash shipyard at 3:50 a.m., Moscow time, and it will enter the White Sea through the Nikolskoye firth, where it will fill its tanks with fuel from a tanker several miles off the coast. The refueling will last about 24 hours and then the crew will spend a week in the White Sea testing all systems before sailing to the Barents Sea," he said.
The entire testing cycle will last 120 days, but if necessary the ship will return to the coast to get its systems fine-tuned, he also said.
However, the contract does not envision the ship's return to the Sevmash shipyard, he said, adding that flaws, if detected, will be fixed in Murmansk.
Under the contract the Vikramaditya is to be transferred to India on December 4.
The contract for refurbishing the heavy nuclear aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov was signed with India in 2004. The contract envisioned the provision of $974 million for the restoration and modernization of the aircraft carrier and $530 million for the supply of 16 MiG-29K fighters and marine anti-boat helicopters Kа-31 and Kа-27.
In January 2007, India suspended payments under the contract. In November 2007, Russia raised the question of additional funding for the work.
After the Russian president's visit to India in December 2008, the Indian government committee on security approved the start of negotiations on the new price of the cruiser's modernization. According to unofficial information, the value of the deal is estimated at some $2.3 billion.
Reports said earlier that India plans to have three aircraft carriers by 2017. The two other IAC aircraft carriers are to be built in India. The second will have a 50,000-tonne water displacement and have a CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take Off Barrier Arrested Recovery) system. Only the United States, France and Brazil have aircraft with a catapult system.
Aircraft carriers with a water displacement of more than 40,000 tonnes are only available to the U.S., Russia and Britain.