Why India's Aircraft Carrier from Russia Was a Total Lemon

为什么俄罗斯卖给印度的航母是彻头彻尾的蹩脚货

Key point: Buyers can't be choosers when there are very few sellers to pick from.

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.

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.

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 shopping for a new aircraft carrier. What followed was a military-industrial nightmare.

要点：当可供选择的卖家很少的时候，买家就没办法挑三拣四了。

像许多国家一样，印度希望购买到能力范围内最好的武器。但意识形态和财力方面的担忧意味着，印度没法从美国或欧洲购买到很多东西。那么剩下可选的就是俄罗斯了。

50年来，印度一直是俄罗斯武器的大买家。这几年对新德里来说并不容易。印度与俄罗斯的防务合同一直受到拖延和成本超支的困扰。结果武器硬件常常出问题。

印度在俄罗斯采购方面遇到的所有麻烦中，尤以“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。可没想到随之而来的是一场军工噩梦。

Wanted—one new(ish) carrier

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.

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.

需求：一艘新航母

1988年，苏联建造了巴库号航空母舰。这艘航母和另外四艘基辅级航母代表着独特的苏联设计。其有三分之一类似重型巡洋舰，配备12枚巨型SS-N-12反舰导弹，多达192枚地对空导弹和两门100毫米甲板炮。还有三分之二基本而言是航空母舰，上有一个倾斜的飞行甲板和一个机库。

巴库曾在苏联海军短暂服役到1991年苏联。俄罗斯拿回了这艘航母，将其重新命名为“戈尔什科夫海军上将”号，并将其保留在俄罗斯新海军的名单上，直到1996年才退役。可能是由于缺乏维护，戈尔什科夫上将发生了锅炉房爆炸，后被封存。

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.

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.

21世纪初，印度面临着一个两难境地。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施加影响——更不用说，航母就是身份地位的象征。新德里需要尽快用新航母来取代“维拉特”号。

印度的选择十分有限。当时有能力建造航母的国家只有美国、法国和意大利，他们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。这艘航母本身是免费的，但印度需要支付9.74亿美元给俄罗斯，对航母进行升级。

美国雅虎网站读者评论：

译文来源：三泰虎          译者：Joyceliu

外文链接：https://news.yahoo.com/why-indias-aircraft-carrier-russia-020000698.html

Adam2 days ago

Russian Air Craft Carrier is a White Elephant ---------- looks good but does not work

俄罗斯航空母舰是个华而不实的负担——看起来不错，但一点也不实用

Alex

" The ship herself would be free, but India would pay $974 million dollars to Russia to upgrade her."

hahaha that's a deal that puts u at the mercy of Russia if ever I saw one..

“这艘航母本身是免费的，但印度必须支付9.74亿美元给俄罗斯，进行航母升级。”

哈哈，这样的交易，你就得听俄罗斯摆布了。

Joe

When India opened the repair manual all it had was a picture of duct tape.

当印度翻开维修手册，里面只有一张管道胶带的图片。

Al

I hope the ship yard gets more carriers to build, this way most will be in dry dock the majority of the time for repairs and no threat to anyone. You get what you pay for when it comes to things like this.

我希望这个造船厂能造更多的航母，这样大部分时间航母都会停靠在干船坞维修，不会对任何人造成威胁。一分钱一分货。

Christian

Who in their right mind buys a ship from a country that doesn't have a warm-water port?

那个脑子正常的人会从一个没有温水港的国家购买船只呢？

Everybodydancenow

Do you think when the Captain called tech support the call just routed to the guy sitting next to him?

你觉得船长打电话给技术支持时，电话会不会转接到坐在他旁边的人那里？

Rousslan

“熊爪”咖啡店火了！背后的故事更暖心……

中国当代美术作品展”国际巡展开幕式上的致辞