The aircraft carrier! Hearing Andre's words, the visiting Indians were immediately delighted.

Although India is not strong at present, in the hearts of Indians, they have always believed that they are the strongest! They have ambitions! At the same time, since both sides of India are seas, India has always attached great importance to the construction of the navy!

At the same time, the Indian Navy was also one of the earliest countries to obtain aircraft carriers. As early as the late 1950s, India had just been independent for a while. With its economy still lagging behind, India purchased the fifth "Hercules" light aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy's "dignity" class, and renamed it to "Vicrant", which is a transliteration, meaning "completely defeating those who dare to fight against me", and became the first country in Asia to own an aircraft carrier after the war.

This aircraft carrier was a new aircraft carrier. It started construction in 1944, and was prepared for World War II. However, after the end of World War II, the status of the British Empire plummeted. The economic downturn caused them to continuously reduce their naval forces. The aircraft carrier was interrupted. This was not until 1957 that India purchased it and carried out modernization. It was completed in 1961 and equipped with the Indian Navy.

However, this aircraft carrier looks too small now! Its standard displacement is 15,700 tons, full load displacement is 19,500 tons, the total length of the ship is 213.3 meters, 24.4 meters wide, the flight deck is 210 meters long, 39 meters wide, and the draft is 7.3 meters. It uses 2 steam turbines, with a total power of 40,000 horsepower, dual-axis, and a maximum speed of 23 knots. At such a speed, even a frigate cannot catch up!

At the same time, this aircraft carrier can only carry British Seahawk fighter bombers and French Trade Wind anti-submarine aircraft, which is barely enough to meet the second-generation aircraft at most. Compared with the current advanced fighter jets, its combat effectiveness is too poor!

So, so far, the Indian Navy has been quite unaware of its aircraft carrier. Although it is an old ship with outstanding military achievements, in the Third India-Pakistan War that broke out in 1971, the USS Vikrant aircraft carrier was continuously sunk, injured several Pakistani warships, completely cutting off the traffic between East Pakistan and West Pakistan and the delivery of maritime military forces. Unfortunately, that was more than ten years ago!

The Indian Navy needs a new aircraft carrier! This has been demonstrated many times in the Indian military.

However, India does not have the ability to manufacture aircraft carriers, so India’s only choice is to purchase from abroad! However, how to purchase from abroad is their most troublesome problem!

They turned their attention to Britain, and at this time, Britain was about to sell their old ship, the Athletics God.

This warship is also an old ship that was difficult to produce during World War II. It is the British "Centaur" class. It started construction in June 1944, was launched in February 1953, and was suspended and reworked several times. It was not until November 1959 that it joined the Navy to be active. The standard displacement of this warship is 23,900 tons and full load displacement of 28,700 tons; the power unit is 2 gas turbines, with a maximum speed of 28 knots.

Historically, until April 1986, the Indian Navy purchased the ship from the UK for a low price of 25 million pounds. After modification and overhaul, it was renamed "Verat"; at the same time, it also purchased 12 Sea Harrier vertical/short-range take-off and landing fighters used on the ship.

The Indian Navy has two aircraft carriers at the same time, and in Asia, it can show off its power at any time.

But now, the situation has changed a lot. The Athletic God has experienced the Battle of the Falklands. During the war, he was attacked several times. The last time, he almost fell into the attack of Sun Chi with the US aircraft carrier! Although it did not sink in the end, he only barely drove back to Britain!

The condition of this warship is already quite bad! Although the British offered a lower price of only 20 million pounds, the Indian Navy has been evaluating it and feels that if they bought this junk, they may not have much operation and will fall into the sea!

But now, the Soviet Union is asking the Indians if they are interested in the Kiev, so of course they are interested!

The Kiev is still the flagship of the Pacific Fleet. This warship has been in service for less than eight years, which is the most robust period! At the same time, this warship has made great achievements and has repeatedly beaten the US Navy to the ground for teeth!

With a displacement of 40,000 tons, it can carry more than 20 advanced fighter jets. The combat effectiveness of this aircraft carrier is far stronger than that of the Athletic God and even more than that of the Vikrant. If India obtains this warship, the combat effectiveness of the Indian Navy will be able to reach a new level!

However, the Soviets would never give it to their side for free. What price would the Soviets offer for this warship? If there were too many, they would not be able to afford it!

Rajiv glanced at General Kumaramangalam, and Rajiv also knew the needs of the navy, but Rajiv didn't know much about the details after all, so now he has to listen to the general's views.

General Kumaramangalam understood and said to Andre: "My old friend, Marshal Andre, our navy intends to buy new aircraft carriers, but if the price is too expensive, we can't afford it. You also know that our country's GDP is less than a fraction of the Soviets."

If you want it, you just have no money. General Kumaramangalam expressed his meaning quite clearly!

Andrei turned his head and asked Gorshkov on the side, "Comrade Gorshkov, how much did we spend in total when we built the Kiev?"

Gorshkov said: "Our Soviets have a planned economy and many of them cannot be calculated. It is estimated that this aircraft carrier also cost us about 2 billion rubles."

2 billion rubles! Hearing this, the Indians were embarrassed. Even if the Soviets did not increase the price and sold it to their own side, they would not be able to afford it!

Now, with the continuous expansion of the Soviet Union, rubles have begun to enter the international market. India also has rubles’ foreign exchange reserves, but it is only 300 million rubles!

Everyone looked at Andre. If Andre said the original price to sell it to India, India would really not be able to afford it! However, it is unlikely to let the Soviets sell it to their own side at a low price.

Why? This aircraft carrier is not a retired aircraft carrier. It is the main aircraft carrier and the flagship of the Soviet Pacific Fleet! People use it well and sell it to their own side. The original price is already a favor.

"Considering the affordability of our Indian friends, I think we will sell it to India at a discount, 10% off, 200 million rubles," Andre said: "Do you think you can afford this price?"

200 million rubles! Suddenly, everyone was overjoyed!
Chapter completed!