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U.S. military sale hit by cost overrun

Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI: The problem of cost and time overruns has also affected an American ship, INS Jalashwa (formerly USS Trenton), being sold to India.

The cost of the ship has increased by over 10 per cent and its delivery schedule extended because there was “more work than anticipated,” said senior U.S. military officers here on Saturday. They were here to “understand” Indian requirements for military hardware over the next five years.

The same problem is believed to have affected Russian aircraft Admiral Gorshkov (INS Vikramaditya) which would take two extra years to complete.

The cost of the ship had increased from $ 48.3 million to $ 53.5 million partly because “we did not know each other’s standards” and some work that was not in the original contract document.

Nevertheless, the giant 30-year-old amphibious ship has been refurbished to ensure several years of operation, said Rear Admiral Jeffrey Wiering, in-charge of international relationships of the US Navy,who is due to take over from Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kohler as the chief of the Pentagon’s Defence Security Cooperation Agency.

The two U.S. military officers also revealed that Washington wanted to sell USS Nashwill, another ship of the same class and design to India, the offer for which would be put to the US Congress for approval next year provided a positive response is forthcoming from the Indian Navy.

The officers did not foresee time and cost overruns in the transfer of this ship due to the better understanding of each other’s processes.

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