U.S. Navy (J. Lill)
In mid-February, Brazil reversed plans to modernize its aging aircraft carrier São Paulo and announced that the 50+ year-old ship would be readied instead for decommissioning. The 33,000-ton aircraft carrier was originally launched in Saint-Nazaire in July 1960 and entered service three years later as the French aircraft carrier Foch. Following nearly 40 years with the French Navy and several major refits, the 869-foot warship was purchased and renamed by Brazil in 2000. Although she was capable of carrying a maximum of 37 aircraft, her typical Brazilian loadout included an air wing of 14 A-4 Skyhawk fighter-bombers and five helicopters. The carrier remained fully operational for only a few years in the Brazilian Navy as rising costs made maintenance and additional modernization efforts untenable amid requirements to fund higher priority naval programs. While Brazil hopes to acquire a new aircraft carrier in the future, budget shortfalls will remain a major hurdle.
Deputy Chief of Indian Navy Staff
On 12 January, the Indian Navy submarine Khanderi was launched at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders in Mumbai. This new boat, built to the popular French Scorpène design, is the country’s second Kalvari-class submarine built under the ongoing P75 program. A total of six 218-foot, 1,600-ton Kalvari-class boats are planned for service by the early 2020s. While new submarines are being launched and prepared for delivery at nine-month intervals, the entire class will have to wait to receive their full armament fit because plans to order 98 Black Shark torpedoes from Italy were canceled in 2016 due to corruption allegations. The six new submarines are essential to revitalizing India’s underwater capabilities, and without the new torpedoes they will carry only Exocet antiship missiles in the near-term, lacking an antisubmarine weapon until replacement torpedoes are selected. Following launch, the Khanderi is scheduled to begin sea trials, including pressure-testing and equipment checks, prior to final delivery later this year.
Norwegian MoD
In early January, Russia’s sole aircraft carrier, the conventional steam-turbine-powered Admiral Flota Sovyetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov, ended its first combat deployment after only two months and set sail for her home waters of the Northern Fleet. The 25-year old carrier suffered a number of propulsion and aviation problems during its brief mission off the coast of Syria. During flight operations, the carrier lost one Su-33 and one MiG-29K to crashes. She deployed with an air wing consisting of ten Su-33 interceptors, five MiG-29K fighters, and an assortment of helicopters as she sailed through the Mediterranean to support Russian operations in Syria. Media reports indicated that, after arriving on scene, at least some of the carrier’s aircraft operated from Syrian land bases rather than from the 1,000-foot, 55,000-ton Kuznetsov. A major multi-year modernization and refit effort now is planned to extend the ship’s service life and bring her up to fighting shape for the future. Once she reenters service in the early 2020s, a new air wing of all MiG-29Ks will replace the older Su-33s onboard.
? Mr. Wertheim, a defense consultant in the Washington, D.C., area, is the author of the 16th edition of The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World, published by the Naval Institute Press (see www.usni.org).