Major Shaitan Singh
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India's first indigenous aircraft carrier, the new Vikrant, won't be commissioned before 2017, Indian Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma said yesterday, indicating a further two year delay from the previously known time-frame. The Admiral explained that over and above existing delays, there had been serious problems in the installation of gearboxes, coupled with an unfortunate road accident from Pune to Kochi where a truck transporting generators for the ship turned turtle, forcing the shipbuilders to send the equipment back to the OEM for inspection and repair.
When the chief was asked about IAC-2, likely to be named Vishal, the Navy chief said, "It's too soon to talk about that. I've got more pressing priorities now." It is known that Vishal will be a much larger ship than the Vikrant, and therefore in a class of its own. While the Navy chief was circumspect about specifications and configuration, it is also near certain that the second carrier will be a CATOBAR flat-top -- at least that's what the Indian Navy is gunning for.