The aircraft carrier Vikramaditya (formerly the cruiser Admiral Gorshkov), which India bought from Russia, will begin sea trials in the White Sea on July 3. As reported by ITAR-TASS with reference to a representative of the Sevmash plant, from August 3 to September 30, flight tests of airplanes and helicopters will be carried out on the aircraft carrier in the Barents Sea, and on November 15 the ship is planned to be handed over to the customer.

According to the agency's interlocutor, the ship will be sent to India via a short route - not around Africa, but through the Suez Canal. “After the aircraft carrier is delivered, Sevmash workers and engineers, according to the contract, will provide warranty service for a year, and then post-warranty technical support for the operation of the ship for 20 years,” said a representative of the plant.

Initially, India was supposed to receive the Vikramaditya back in 2008 - a contract for the supply of the ship worth $1.5 billion was signed in 2004. Subsequently, the value of the transaction increased to $2.3 billion, and the deadline for the transfer of the ship was moved to the end of 2012. However, during tests of the aircraft carrier in the summer-autumn of 2012 in the Barents Sea, Sevmash specialists identified problems with seven of the ship’s eight steam boilers due to partial destruction of the thermal insulation: at the request of the Indian side, the thermal insulation was made of brickwork, although Russia insisted on standard asbestos insulation .

During the renovation, which was completed at Sevmash in early 2013, asbestos thermal insulation for steam boilers was installed at Vikramaditya.

Along with the aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, the Indian Navy will receive Ka-27 and Ka-31 deck helicopters, as well as MiG-29K/KUB fighters from Russia.

Sevmash announced the timing of the transfer of Vikramaditya to India