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发帖数: 10330 | 1 http://en.ria.ru/military_news/20140207/187307197/First-Indian-
First Indian MiG-29 Fighter Jet Lands on Vikramaditya
MOSCOW, February 7 (RIA Novosti) – An Indian MiG-29 naval jet landed on a
refitted former Soviet aircraft carrier Friday, marking the first such
operation since the ship was delivered by Russia to the south Asian nation
earlier this year.
“An exciting event took place today – the first landing of an [Indian] MiG
-29 piloted by an Indian pilot on the Vikramaditya,” Russia’s United
Shipbuilding Corporation vice president Igor Ponomarev told reporters at the
ongoing DEFEXPO-2014 exhibition in New Delhi.
The Vikramaditya, formerly known as the Admiral Gorshkov, was handed over to
the Indian navy on November 16 at the Semvash shipbuilder and arrived at a
naval base in Kanwar in the beginning of January.
The process of the ship’s official commissioning will take between three
and four months, according to the Indian navy. A team of Russian specialists
arrived onboard the ship and will stay in India for a year to fix any
possible glitches if needed.
The Indian Navy commissioned its first squadron of MiG-29K/KUB carrier-based
fighters in 2013.
Mikoyan MiG-29K
The squadron, dubbed the “Black Panthers,” comprises 12 single-seat MiG-
29Ks and four two-seat MiG-29KUBs, which Russia supplied under a 2004
contract with the Indian Defense Ministry.
The aircraft have until now been stationed at an airbase in Dabolim, in the
state of Goa on India's west coast.
In January 2010, New Delhi and Moscow signed a deal worth $1.2 billion for
the delivery of an additional 29 MiG-29Ks to the Indian navy.
The Vikramaditya is expected to carry up to 24 MiG-29K/KUB fighter jets.
India has built with Russia’s assistance a training facility for naval
pilots to practice aircraft carrier operations.
The facility, known as NITKA, features a takeoff ramp and arrestor cables to
enable naval aviators to practice high-precision and high-acceleration
takeoffs and landings. |
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