India Would Love to Return this Aircraft Carrier It Bought from Russia

从俄罗斯购买的航母，印度很想退货

Here's What You Need to Remember: In the early 2000s, India went shop for a new aircraft carrier. What followed was a military-industrial nightmare.

21世纪初，印度购买了一艘新航母，但随之而来的是一场军工噩梦。

Like a lot of countries, India wants the best weapons it can afford. But ideological and financial concerns mean there are a lot of things it won’t buy from the United States or Europe. That pretty much leaves, well, Russia.

像许多国家一样，印度希望购买到财力范围内能买得起的最好武器。但出于意识形态和财力方面的担忧，有很多东西印度不会从美国或欧洲购买，剩下的就是俄罗斯了。

India has been a big buyer of Russian weapons for 50 years. Those haven’t been easy years for New Delhi. India’s defense contracts with Russia have consistently suffered delays and cost overruns. And the resulting hardware doesn’t always work.

50年来，印度一直是俄罗斯武器的大买家。对新德里来说，这几年并不容易。印度与俄罗斯的防务合同总是出行延期和成本超支问题，而且最终的成品还老出问题。

Of all India’s Russian procurement woes, none speak more to the dysfunctional relationship between the two countries than the saga of INS Vikramaditya. In the early 2000s, India went shop for a new aircraft carrier. What followed was a military-industrial nightmare.

在印度与俄罗斯的采购问题中，维克拉玛蒂亚号航母最能说明两国关系的失调。21世纪初，印度购买了一艘新航母。随之而来的却是一场军工噩梦。

Wanted—one new(ish) carrier

印度的需求：一艘新航母

In 1988, the Soviet Union commissioned the aircraft carrier Baku. She and her four sisters of the Kiev class represented a unique Soviet design. The front third resembled a heavy cruiser, with 12 giant SS-N-12 anti-ship missiles, up to 192 surface-to-air missiles and two 100-millimeter deck guns. The remaining two-thirds of the ship was basically an aircraft carrier, with an angled flight deck and a hangar.

1988年，苏 联“巴库”号航母服役，该航母和另外四艘基辅级航母代表了一种独特的苏联设计。前面三分之一类似于重型巡洋舰，配备12枚巨型SS-N-12反舰导弹，192枚地对空导弹和两门100毫米甲板炮。剩下的三分之二基本算一艘航母，有一个倾斜的飞行甲板和一个机库。

Baku briefly served in the Soviet navy until the USSR dissolved in 1991. Russia inherited the vessel, renamed her Admiral Gorshkov and kept her on the rolls of the new Russian navy until 1996. After a boiler room explosion, likely due to a lack of maintenance, Admiral Gorshkov went into mothballs.

“巴库”曾在苏 联海军短暂服役，直到1991年苏联解体。俄罗斯继承了这艘航母，并将其重新命名为“戈尔什科夫海军上将”号，直到1996年一直在新俄罗斯海军服役。或许是由于缺乏维护，锅炉房爆炸后，“戈尔什科夫海军上将”号被封存。

In the early 2000s, India faced a dilemma. The Indian navy’s only carrier INS Viraat was set to retire in 2007. Carriers help India assert influence over the Indian Ocean—not to mention, they’re status symbols. New Delhi needed to replace Viraat, and fast.

21世纪初，印度面临着困境。印度海军唯一的航母“维拉特”号将于2007年退役。航母帮助印度在印度洋上发挥影响力，更不用说，航母是地位的象征。新德里需要用新航母来取代“维拉特”号。

India’s options were limited. The only countries building carriers at the time—the United States, France and Italy—were building ships too big for India’s checkbook. In 2004, India and Russia struck a deal in which India would receive Admiral Gorshkov. The ship herself would be free, but India would pay $974 million dollars to Russia to upgrade her.

印度的选择有限。当时能建造航母的国家只有美国、法国和意大利，这些国家建造的航母对印度来说太大了。2004年，印度和俄罗斯达成协议，印度将接收“戈尔什科夫海军上将”号。舰体本身是免费的，但印度将支付9.74亿美元给俄罗斯，用于升级该航母。

It was an ambitious project. At 44,500 tons, Admiral Gorshkov was a huge ship. Already more than a decade old, she had spent eight years languishing in mothballs. Indifference and Russia’s harsh winters are unkind to idle ships.

这是一个雄心勃勃的工程。“戈尔什科夫海军上将”号是一艘巨轮，吨位为44500吨，该航母已经十多年了，而且封存了八年。俄罗斯严酷的冬天对闲置的航母是不利的。

Russia would transform the vessel from a helicopter carrier with a partial flight deck to an aircraft carrier with a launch ramp and a flight deck just over 900 feet long. She would be capable of supporting 24 MiG-29K fighters and up to 10 Kamov helicopters.

俄罗斯将把这艘航母从一艘有部分飞行甲板的直升机航母改造为一艘有发射坡道和飞行甲板超过900英尺长的航空母舰。她将能够停放24架米格- 29k战斗机和多达10架卡莫夫直升机。

A real aircraft carrier for less than a billion dollars sounds almost too good to be true. And it was.

一艘真正的航母花费不到10亿美元，这听起来好得令人难以置信。

Shakedown

敲诈

In 2007, just a year before delivery, it became clear that Russia’s Sevmash shipyard couldn’t meet the ambitious deadline. Even worse, the yard demanded more than twice as much money—$2.9 billion in total—to complete the job.

在2007年，即交付期限的前一年，显然可以看出俄罗斯的谢夫马什造船厂无法完成按时交付的目标。更糟糕的是，该造船厂要求两倍多的资金——总共29亿美元——才能完成这个升级工程。

The cost of sea trials alone, originally $27 million, ballooned to a fantastic $550 million.

仅海上试航的成本就从最初的2700万美元飙升到惊人的5.5亿美元。

A year later, with the project still in disarray, Sevmash estimated the carrier to be only 49-percent complete. Even more galling, one Sevmash executive suggested that India should pay an additional $2 billion, citing a “market price” of a brand-new carrier at “between $3 billion and $4 billion.”

一年后，该项目仍处于混乱状态，谢夫马什造船厂估计该航母只完成了49%。更令人难堪的是，谢夫马什船厂的一位高管建议，印度应该再支付20亿美元，理由是一艘新航母的“市场价格”在“30亿到40亿美元之间”。

Like many contractors, defense or otherwise, Sevmash had its unhappy employer over a barrel. With the job halfway done, and having already dropped $974 million, India could not afford to walk away from the deal. Russia knew it, and was blunt about India’s options. “If India does not pay up, we will keep the aircraft carrier,” one defense ministry official told RIA-Novosti.

和许多承包商一样，国防承包商或其他承包商，谢夫马什造船厂把它那不满的雇主逼得够受了。这项工程已经完成了一半，而且已经花了9.74亿美元，印度不能放弃这项交易。俄罗斯知道这一点，并且对印度的选择直言不讳。一位国防部官员告诉俄新社：“如果印度不掏钱，我们将保留这艘航母。”

‘There will be grave consequences’

“后果将会很严重。”

By 2009, the project was deadlocked and word was starting to get around the defense industry. Russian arms exports for 2009 totaled $8 billion, and Sevmash’s delays and extortionary tactics weren’t good for the Russian defense industry as a whole.

到2009年，这个项目陷入了僵局，有关这个项目的消息开始在国防工业中传开。俄罗斯2009年的武器出口总额为80亿美元，谢夫马什造船厂的拖延和敲诈战术对俄罗斯国防工业整体不利。

In July 2009, Russia’s then-president Dmitri Medvedev made a high-profile visit to the Sevmash shipyard. Indian news reported that the carrier was still half-done, meaning that the yard had done virtually no work on the ship for two years as it held out for more money.

2009年7月，俄罗斯时任总统梅德韦杰夫高调访问了谢夫马什造船厂。据《印度新闻》报道，这艘航母尚未完工一半，这意味着造船厂已经两年没有对航母动工了，因为一直在等印度掏钱。

Medvedev publicly scolded Sevmash officials. “You need to complete [Vikramaditya] and hand it over our partners,” the visibly irritated president told Sevmash general director Nikolai Kalistratov.

梅德韦杰夫公开斥责了7名官员。这位明显恼怒的总统对谢夫马什造船厂董事长Nikolai Kalistratov说：“你要完成“维克拉玛蒂亚”号，然后把它交给我们的合作伙伴。”

In 2010, the Indian government agreed to more than double the budget for the carrier to $2.2 billion. This was less than the $2.9 billion Sevmash demanded, and much less than Sevmash’s suggested “market price” of $4 billion.

2010年，印度政府同意将航空母舰的预算增加一倍多，至22亿美元。这低于谢夫马什造船厂要求的29亿美元，也远低于谢夫马什造船厂建议的40亿美元的“市场价格”。

Suddenly, Sevmash magically started working harder—actually, twice as hard—and finished the other half of the upgrades in only three years. Vikramaditya finally entered sea trials in August 2012 and commissioned into the Indian navy in November 2013.

突然间，谢夫马什造船厂神奇地开始加倍努力，只用了三年就完成了另一半的升级工作。“维克拉玛蒂亚”号最终于2012年8月进入海试，并于2013年11月进入印度海军服役。

At the commissioning ceremony, Indian Defense Minister AK Anthony expressed relief that the ordeal was over, telling the press that there was a time “when we thought we would never get her.”

在入列仪式上，时任印度国防部长安东尼表示，磨难已经结束，他松了一口气。他对媒体说，曾经有一段时间，“我们认为我们永远得不到她。”

Enduring woes

持久的痛苦

Now that Vikramaditya is finally in service, India’s problems are over, right? Not by a long shot. Incredibly, India has chosen Sevmash to do out-of-warranty work on the ship for the next 20 years.

“维克拉玛蒂亚”号终于服役了，印度的问题就解决了，对吧?绝对不是。令人难以置信的是，印度选择谢夫马什造船厂在接下来的20年里做保修期外的维护工作。

Kee Vikramaditya supplied with spare parts will be a major task in itself. Ten Indian contractors helped to build the carrier, but so did more than 200 other contractors in Russia, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Finland, France, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the U.K. Some countries, particularly Japan, were likely unaware they were exporting parts for a foreign weapons system.

维持“维克拉玛蒂亚”的备件供应本身就是一项主要任务。10名印度承包商协助建造了这艘航母，来自俄罗斯、克罗地亚、丹麦、德国、意大利、日本、芬兰、法国、挪威、波兰、瑞典和英国的200多家承包商也参与了建造。一些国家，特别是日本，可能不知道他们在为外国武器系统出口零部件。

The ship’s boilers, which provide Vikramaditya with power and propulsion, are a long-term concern. All eight boilers are new. But yard workers discovered defects in them. During her trip from Russia to India, the flattop suffered a boiler breakdown, which Sevmash chalked up to poor-quality firebricks.

为“维克拉玛蒂亚”号提供动力和推进的锅炉是一个长期问题。八个锅炉都是新的。但是造船厂工人发现了它们的缺陷。在从俄罗斯到印度的途中，航母的锅炉发生了故障，谢夫马什造船厂认为是劣质的耐火砖造成的。

denied ever exporting the firebricks.

否则这些耐火砖是出口的。

Finally, Vikramaditya lacks active air defenses. The ship has chaff and flare systems to lure away anti-ship missiles, but she doesn’t have any close-in weapons systems like the American Phalanx.

最后，“维克拉玛蒂亚”号缺乏主动的空中防御，虽然有箔条和火炬系统来引诱反舰导弹，但她没有任何像美国“密集阵”那样的近距离武器系统。

以下是美国雅虎读者的评论：译者：Jessica.Wu

None

Did they ever in a thousand years expect to get a good deal from Russia?

他们能指望和俄罗斯做一笔好交易吗?

Thomas

They didn’t get the ocean towing service and fleet tug at that price?!

以那个价格，都没有远洋拖轮和舰队拖船服务吗?!

itsmeinyukonok

Kind of like buying a cheap car, you get what you pay for.

就像买了一辆廉价的车，一分钱一分货。

robert

Maybe they can also by the Russian Towing Service that the Russians use for there own fleet.

也许他们也可以使用俄罗斯的拖船服务，俄国人也使用这种服务来拖自己的航母。

JMS

Russia puts screen doors on their submarines for ventilation.

俄罗斯在潜艇上安装了纱门以便通风。

teapartyvik

There was a no refund policy in the contract.

合同中没有退款规定。

Pablito

US Aircraft Carriers are seemingly the best and the most expensive. US Health System is also the best and most expensive. The "flattop" is $15 billion, all fitted. One day in hospital in the US (unfitted) is $10K. God bless America.

美国航母似乎是最好，也是最贵的。美国的医疗系统是最好的，也是最贵的。美国航母价格150亿美元，在美国，住院一天要1万美元，上帝保佑美国吧。

Ronald

They didn’t keep the receipt?

他们没有保留收据?

Make one up

You don't know what happens in the background. It is a learning lesson for India to build aircraft carriers.

不知道幕后发生了什么，这是印度建造航母的一个教训。

Jay

Let's sell a retired aircraft carrier to India, I am sure they are willing to pay for it.

我们卖一艘退役的航母给印度吧，我相信他们愿意掏钱。

GBW

OF COURSE WE GIVE WARRANTY

当然，我们提供保修

Windell

RussianTanks,small arms,artillery Ok. Navy ships no way.

俄罗斯的坦克、小型武器、火炮还Ok，海军舰艇不行。

Dave

Could have purchased two from for that money. Maybe one would work.

以这个价格，他们可以从买两艘航母，也许其中一艘可以用。

james p

Russian weapons system are more of a threat to the users than the enemy.

俄罗斯武器系统对使用者的威胁大于敌人。

zz

India should buy it from -- it will be built on time and for half the price I guess!

印度应该从买，会按时完工，而且价格只要一半!

MOPAR

I guess they didn't get the extended warranty

我想他们没有获得延保

Anthony

Trump = Greatest President of All Time

特朗普是美国有史以来最伟大的总统

Former Democrat

Good things are seldom cheap and cheap things are seldom good.

好货不便宜，便宜没好货

Fred

India needs to buy US equipment if they want to win against .

如果印度想打败，就要购买美国武器。