http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080924/117080763.html
Russia may sell more MiG-29K carrier fighters to India
MOSCOW, September 24 (RIA Novosti) - Talks on additional deliveries of MiG-29K
Fulcrum-D carrier fighters to India will start in the near future, the
president of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation said Wednesday.
Russia and India signed a contract on January 20, 2004, stipulating the
delivery of 12 single-seat MiG-29K and four two-seat MiG-29KUB by 2009, to be
deployed on the Admiral Gorshkov, currently being retrofitted in Russia for the
Indian Navy.
There is an option in the contract to supply an additional 30 fighters by 2015.
"The negotiations on the Admiral Gorshkov delivery will end sooner or later,
and we hope in the near future to start talks on additional delivery of MiG-29K
fighters to India," Alexey Fyodorov said.
However, the head of Russia's state technology corporation, Sergei Chemezov,
said that it was premature to talk about a deadline for the Admiral Gorshkov
delivery.
"The evaluation of additional work on Admiral Gorshkov modernization has not
been done yet and it is too early to hold talks on the completion," he said.
India, one of the biggest buyers of Russian weaponry, has been upset by a
series of delays in Russia's reconfiguration of the Admiral Gorshkov from a
vertical-takeoff platform into a classic aircraft carrier.
After long-running delays and disputes, Russia and India agreed in February to
raise refit costs for the aircraft carrier, berthed at the Sevmash shipyard in
north Russia for the past 12 years.
The carrier, renamed the Vikramaditya, is to replace India's INS Viraat
carrier, which although still operational is 50 years old.
India agreed the $1.5 billion deal for the Admiral Gorshkov in 2004. Moscow has
since demanded an additional $1.2 billion, which New Delhi replied was
"exorbitant."
The contract to deliver the Admiral Gorshkov to India, signed by state-run arms
exporter Rosoboronexport with the Indian Navy, covers the modernization of the
ship and equipping it with modern weaponry, including MiG-29K Fulcrum aircraft
and Ka-27 Helix-A and Ka-31 Helix-B anti-submarine helicopters.
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