Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews Oct 10, 2012 The twelfth meeting of the India-Russia Inter-governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation was held in New Delhi today led by the Defense Minister AK Antony and AE Serdyukov, Defense Minister of the Russian Federation.  It may recalled the minister who was scheduled to visit India on Oct 4, deferred it by 6 days as the dates are reported by the media to have coincided with the visit of the Pakistan   Army chief General   to Moscow. This seems strange as official visits of dignitaries are generally planned in advance. "We have handed over the revised overhaul and transfer schedule to the Indian side and we believe that transfer of the ship will take place in the 4th quarter of the 2013," Serdyukov told reporters at the joint press conference after the meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation (IR-IGMTC). "The ship encountered big malfunction with the main power plan...

Neelam Mathews Oct 3, 2012 The meeting of the India-Russia Inter-governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC) which was to be held on Oct 4 has been deferred due to the “inability of the Russian Co-Chair of the Commission and the Defense Minister Serdyukov to travel to India as scheduled.  It has been conveyed by the Russian side that the Russian Defense Minister was required to stay in Russia for his urgent participation in a program of the Russian President,” says the MoD release  The meeting will now be held on Oct.10. It is believed Pakistan Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani will be in Moscow on Oct 5. India is expected to raise delivery schedule of the delayed 45,000- ton aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov (INS Vikramaditya) that encountered engine malfunctions during recent trials.

GOA, India — Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony has now confirmed that India will order an additional 29 MiG-29K combat jets for the Indian navy. This follows the chief of naval staff, Adm. Nirmal Verma, who in his first news conference after becoming chief last year told Aviation Week that more MiG-29Ks would be ordered in Phase Two. The news comes as the Indian navy prepares to induct four Mig-29Ks – part of an order for 16 signed in 2004, of which 12 will be single-seat MiG-29Ks and the rest double-seat trainers (MiG-29 KUBs) – by the end of the year. The order for the additional 29 would be a contract option of the 16 MiG-29Ks, bringing the total order to 45. The MiG-29Ks are to operate from the 44,570-ton Admiral Gorshkov carrier,to be renamed Vikramaditya, which got caught in a web of financial uncertainty and political wrangling between India and Russia. Now there is a belief that the deal for the additional aircraft will be signed and the price of the Gorshkov will be decided ...