‘India’s Vikrant aircraft carrier could get Russian weaponry’

Kuala Lumpur- Russia could supply air defence systems and other equipment to the Indian Vikrant aircraft carrier currently under construction, the head of Russian conglomerate Rostec has said.

Viktor Kladov, head of the International Cooperation Department of Russia’s state technology corporation Rostec, said: “Guidance systems, air defence systems, as well as various systems of airborne weaponry, including anti-aircraft, could be supplied on board the aircraft carrier. An aircraft carrier is a vast platform and we have something to offer to our partners,” Kladov told RIA Novosti in an interview, Sputnik News reported.

The first of the Vikrant-class aircraft carriers, the INS Vikramaditya, is Russian-built.

The second vessel of the class, INS Vikrant, is set to become India’s first indigenous carrier. However, according to Kladov, India still needs Russia’s technical assistance in various aspects of the INS Vikrant project.

Russia will sign a joint manufacturing contract for 200 Ka-226T light utility multirole helicopters with India before the end of the year, a top official of Russian conglomerate Rostec has said.

“So far we have an intergovernmental agreement, but we hope to draft and sign a contract with India before the end of the year. Accordingly, practical work on site will start from the beginning of 2017,” Viktor Kladov, the head of the Russian state technology corporation Rostec’s international cooperation department, told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

He specified that the agreement, signed during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s December 24 visit to Russia, details the production of at least 200 helicopters, Sputnik News reported.

“We are ready to transfer to the Indian side all that India is able to manufacture domestically. The first batch of helicopters will be made in Russia, and the next will be assembled in India with a strong degree of localization,” Kladov added.

Introduced in 2002, the Ka-226 series of helicopters are designed by the Kamov Design Bureau, part of the Russian Helicopters company. The Ka-226T model is fitted with updated navigation and automatic control equipment, as well as an interchangeable mission pod, which allows for flexible equipment configurations.

Kladov noted that the helicopter’s design allows it perform a variety of functions, including reconnaissance and target designation, search and rescue, as well as medical missions.

Image- INS Vikrant File photo (IANS)