The final sea trial of Indian Navy's Russian-origin aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya is all set to begin from Thursday off Russian north coast.
Every component of the aircraft carrier and its fleet of MiG-29K fighter planes will be thoroughly checked by a team from Indian Navy headed by a two-star officer during the three-month-long trial.
Subject to the trial’s success, the aircraft carrier will be commissioned in the Navy by December 2013, ending decades of trials and tribulations, and a last minute hitch that delayed the project by a year.
The 45,000 tonne warship was to be handed over to the navy on December 9, 2012. But a last minute technical snag in the ship's boiler room further delayed the US $ 2.33 billion project by another year.
While undergoing trials at Barents Sea, seven out of eight engines in Vikramaditya's boiler room were unable to shield the massive heat emitted by the engines when the ship travels on its top speed of 30 knots. The problem does not seem to occur when the ship travels at a lower speed.
The Sevmash shipyard rectified those problems related to boiler insulation after which the carrier would go out once again for a short trial before it is handed over to India.
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