NEW DELHI. Jan 13 (Interfax-AVN) - The contract on the transfer of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrying cruiser may be signed during the Indian defense minister's official visit to Russia, a source in the Indian Defense Ministry told Interfax- Military News Agency Monday on condition of anonymity.
Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes is to visit Russia January 14 to 20.
He recalled that Russia and India had signed a protocol on all the issues related to the upgrade of the Admiral Gorshkov in October 2002. The Sevmashpredpriyatiye state unitary enterprise headquartered in Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk region, is preparing for overhaul and upgrade of the ship. Her hull is supposed to be transferred to India for free, but India will have to pay for the work required to turn the aircraft carrying cruiser into a full- scale aircraft carrier. In addition, India will procure a batch of MIG-29K Fulcrum deck-based fighters.
The value of the contract was initially assessed at USD2bn.
The Admiral Gorshkov of Project 1143.4 was laid down at the Ukrainian Mykolayiv shipyard on December 26, 1978 and was commissioned to the Russian Navy in December 1987 under the name of Baku. Its displacement is 44,570t, length 273m, width 49m, drought 10.2m, speed 30.7 knots and endurance 30 days.