New Delhi: Indian aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya is soon going to get a marine hydraulic system for the first time which will help to boost ship’s air operations.
The technology of Hydraulics uses fluid pressure to control and power machines of various sizes extending up to very large machines too.
The system will be installed in the Navy ship by May 2019 by Technodinamika, a Russia based company and a subsidiary of Rostec State Corporation. The deadline for the work is fixed to May 2019, the firm’s chief executive Igor Nasenkov said.
The technical terms for the marine hydraulic systems are given as “GS-1MF” and “GS-3” and they are used for various tasks like refueling, pressurization and cleaning works of hydraulic systems of aircraft and helicopters directly on board the INS Vikramaditya.
The difference between the two is that the GS-3 is used in aircraft and the GS-1MF hydraulic system is used in helicopters.
The procedure for upgrades and sea trials will be gone through in India itself.
“Installation supervision of marine hydraulic systems at Vikramaditya is an important step in the upgrade of what is currently the most powerful aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy,” Mr. Nasenkov said.
“The Vikramaditya project is extremely promising taking into account the long-term development programme of the Indian aircraft fleet, under which by 2027 it will acquire two more ships,” he said.
The Russian based Technodinamika specializes in the field of development, manufacturing and after-sale support and servicing for systems and equipment made for civil and military aircraft.
The INS Vikramaditya was brought to India from Russia in January 2014 at a cost of USD 2.3 billion and was commissioned into the Navy in November 2013.
The air wing of Indian Navy’s carrier consists of 30 MiG 29K fighter jets and six Kamov helicopters.
The length of INS Vikramaditya is 284 metres and height 60 metres — that would translate into a 20 storeyed building in height. The total weight of the ship is 40,000 tonnes and is the heaviest and biggest ship in the Indian Navy.
The carrier ship faced two accidents, one being during a scheduled major refitting service in which two people were killed due to a toxic gas leak while the maintenance work was going on in the Sewage Treatment Plant compartment of INS Vikramaditya at Karwar. Two more people escaped with minor injuries and were hospitalized.
Another was on 28 February 2017 when a Mig-29 aircraft safely took off from the carrier but had to make an emergency landing at Mangalore International Airport due to an issue with the hydraulic system.
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