Russia to delay delivery of India's second aircraft carrier

NEW DELHI, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- In a major blow to India, Russia Wednesday announced that it would delay the delivery of aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya as the ship's power plant "malfunctioned during sea trials", prompting an angry response from New Delhi.

Announcing the delay, visiting Russian Defense Minister A.E. Serdyukou claimed the aircraft carrier had been sent back to the shipyard for thorough checks following a glitch in its power plant.

"We have conveyed to India the new delivery date and hopefully the next sea trials will be carried out in April 2013," he said at a joint media conference with his Indian counterpart in New Delhi.

Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony shot back, clearly expressing "concern" over the delay in the delivery of its second aircraft carrier by Moscow which was scheduled to hand over the ship to New Delhi this December.

"I have conveyed our concerns to Russia over the delay. The early delivery of INS Vikramaditya is the key concern of India. We have repeatedly conveyed this concern to Russia. All agencies involved in the trials and deliveries must work overtime to deliver the ship as early as possible," Antony said.

Experts say that the delay in delivery of the second aircraft carrier is a big blow to India's efforts to bolster its naval strength.

Originally built as Admiral Gorshkov in the erstwhile Soviet Union, the 2.3 billion worth U.S. dollars aircraft carrier -- a Kiev class warship -- is being reconditioned, after being renamed INS Vikramaditya, and was due to be ready for delivery to India this year.

The Indian Navy's first and only aircraft carrier is INS Viraat. India plans to acquire three more aircraft carriers for its Navy. Enditem