Russia to deliver Admiral Gorshkov carrier to India after 2011

Moscow, Sep 5 (UNI) Russia will deliver the modernised heavy aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov to India after 2011, a high-level official of the Russian state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexprot said today.

''We are planning to deliver the aircraft carrier to India after 2011, but an addendum to the origianl contract must be signed,'' Mr Mikhail Zavaliy told RIA Novosti at an air show in Russia's Krasnodar region.

The original 750 million dollar contract to deliver the carrier to India, which Rosoboronexport signed with the Indian Navy in 2004, projected the work would be completed this year.

However, Russia later claimed it underestimated the scale and cost of the modernisation of the carrier and demanded an additional 1.2 billion dollars, which India said was ''exorbitant''.

After long-running delays and disputes, Russia and India agreed in February to raise refit costs for the carrier, berthed at the the Sevmash shipyard in Northern Russia, by at least 800 million dollars.

The current contract covers a complete overhaul of the carrier and equipping it with modern weaponry, including MiG-29K Fulcrum aircraft and Ka-27 and Ka-31 anti-submarine helicopters.

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