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| INS Vikramaditya (File Photo) |
By Vivek Raghuvanshi
NEW DELHI — India will be without an operational aircraft carrier at least until December as it awaits the delayed delivery of the Russian-made carrier Admiral Gorshkov, and the Navy’s sole carrier, INS Viraat, is still undergoing refit.
Viraat is doing trials after a refit at the state-owned Cochin Shipyard, after which the carrier will be docked at the naval dockyard for repairs to propulsion, boilers and air conditioning systems. Indian Navy sources say the Viraat refit could take another year.
The refit aims to put Viraat into operation for another three to four years by which time the Gorshkov, renamed by India as the Vikramaditya, and the state-owned Indigenous Aircraft Carrier, would be in operation.
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