Aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya which is retrofitted for Indian Navy started mooring trials on March 1. Sevmash shipyard's director general Nikolai Kalistratov signed an order to begin the trials. This is an essential milestone in the carrier's modernization particularly marked in the general schedule. Outfitting works have reached the final stage. The ship has been gradually filled with equipment, mechanisms, pipelines, cables; and now all those systems must be tested in different modes.
The trials will be conducted in accordance with special programs and techniques. Tests of main propulsion plant are considered the most complicated and important. The second large-scale goal is testing of radioelectronics, including Indian-made systems, and air-technical facilities. The main purpose of mooring trials is preparation of shipborne systems for further important stage – shipyard's sea trials. The aircraft carrier is planned to take the sea late in 2011.
