INDIA WANTS TO BUY RUSSIAN AIRCRAFT CARRIER.

The Kiev-class aircraft carrier "Admiral Gorshkov" will be sold to India once the two sides agree on a price, an "informed source" in Moscow said last week. The ship, once part of the Northern Fleet, was taken out of service in 1993 and rumors of its sale to India have circulated repeatedly since then. The source said that the Indians had expressed their readiness to buy the aircraft carrier, but that the sum they would pay had "not been finally coordinated yet." The price, he suggested, would be based on three factors: the residual value of the vessel itself, the cost of making it sea-worthy again, and the cost of the armaments the Indians would like to have aboard. (Interfax, March 27)

The Gorshkov is attractive to the Indians because it once operated Yak-38 Forger jump-jets very similar to the Harriers of the Indian Navy. India’s two aircraft carriers are much older and must be replaced soon, and the Indians cannot afford to build a new ship. But the deal must be concluded relatively quickly if the Gorshkov is to be restored. Two of the other three Kiev-class ships have already been sold for scrap.

Some New, Some Old Faces to Head CIS Bodies.