The Gorshkov Scam

[aimarraul]

The Gorshkov Scam
April 14, 2010: India is investigating the senior naval officer in charge of the aircraft carrier Gorshkov procurement project. India recently agreed, after five years of haggling, to pay Russia an additional $1.3 billion to have the Russian aircraft carrier Gorshkov refurbished to Indian specifications. The original deal was the for about a billion dollars. But once the Russians got to work, things got complicated, and out of control. Indians are not happy with the cost increase. The Indian naval officer under investigation, commodore (equivalent to U.S. rear admiral) Sukhjinder Singh, was a key part of the negotiations with Russia, and there are accusations that he was paid off by the Russians to insure that Russia got the best of the deal.

In the last decade, the Indian government has conducted more and more investigations of this type. Not because there is more corruption in military procurement, but because the ancient practice has been getting more publicity. The Internet, in particular, made it easier for whistleblowers to be heard.

Other Indian naval officers have already admitted that they were partially to blame for the Gorshkov fiasco. They admit that, when they signed the deal in 2004, Indian engineers had not closely inspected the Gorshkov, and agreed, after a cursory inspection, that many electrical and mechanical components, buried within the ship's hull, were serviceable. It turned out that many of those components were not good-to-go, and had to be replaced, at great expense. Shortly after the contract was signed, the Russians discovered that the shipyard had misplaced the blueprints for the Gorshkov, and things went downhill from there. Now there is growing suspicion, and some evidence, that this procurement disaster was helped along by some well placed bribes.

Indian efforts to curb corruption in defense procurement don't always work out. Sometimes, the target of the investigation turns out of be innocent, often just the victim of circumstance (being told to pay the bribe, or see the contract go to someone who will). Sometimes, anti-corruption efforts backfire. An example is an attempt to black list firms that have been caught paying bribes to Indian officials, or otherwise misbehaving. These companies were to be blocked from doing any more business with India. It soon became apparent that this was not going to work in some cases. Spare parts and replacement munitions were needed for many systems manufactured by firms on the black list. And sometimes the weapons in question were badly needed. Take, for example, the Israeli Barak anti-missile systems for ships.

Over the last seven years, Israel has sold over five billion dollars worth of arms to India. The biggest single item, with sales of nearly half a billion dollars, has been the Barak anti-missile systems for ships. The Barak system uses small missiles to shoot down incoming anti-ship missiles. Israeli weapons have a solid reputation for reliability and effectiveness. Israeli success in several wars adds to the appeal of their armaments. U.S. and Israeli arms manufacturers often work together, which also gives Israel an edge when selling their equipment.

An Indian corruption investigation revealed that large bribes were paid to Indian officials, to make those Barak sales happen. Those naughty Israelis joined naughty Swedes and naughty people from several other nations that had made major weapons sales to India. It's not like India is the only nation that has corruption problems in the military procurement area. All nations do, but the extent of the corruption varies quite a lot, and India would like to move away from the top of the list. This will please Indian taxpayers, as well as those concerned about defense matters, especially people in the military. When military suppliers are selected mainly on the basis of how large a bribe they will pay, you often do not get the best stuff available.

But once you've made a major purchase via a tainted process, you have to keep buying material to keep the system (assuming it meets your needs) operational. Despite the bribes, the Barak missiles have performed as advertised. So did the Swedish artillery, and many other items bought only after the procurement officials got their gratuity. Thus the Indians are concentrating more on the corruption among Indian officials. That way, the military won't be cut off from needed weapons, and at least one side of the corruption problem can be vigorously attacked.

 

[sudhir007]

The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Nation | Speedy probe into navy ‘honey trap’

New Delhi, April 15: Investigators in the navy today submitted their report on a commodore after a compact disc with photographs showing him in intimate situations with women was delivered to the headquarters here last week.

The investigation, led by an admiral, was started after an anonymous complaint with the disc reached the naval headquarters. It alleged that the commodore was blackmailed into compromising in the negotiations over the price of the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, which is supposed to be India’s single biggest weapons platform.

The navy chief, Admiral Nirmal Verma, had assured defence minister A.K. Antony that the investigation would be concluded speedily.

The Indian Navy had last month agreed to a final price of $2.33 billion (Rs 10,500 crore) for the carrier after contracting it for about a third of that amount in 2004. One officer said the commodore could be asked to resign. He is now posted with the Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA) after a three-year stint in Russia, during which the photographs allegedly showing his “immoral conduct unbecoming of an officer” were taken.

All the reasons that have contributed to the massive hike in the price of the outdated carrier could now be buried under the salacious details of a sex scandal that looks set to override concerns over the navy’s operational requirements and tardy procurement rules.

These rules were drafted, amended and executed not only by a commodore but — in the two decades since the negotiations for the warship first began — by successive defence ministers, governments and admirals.

The compact disc with photographs was also leaked to newspapers here, damaging the reputation of the officer who is a family man. The investigators were asked to find out if the commodore had abused his authority while being posted in Russia to leak information from the Indian Navy that agreed to re-negotiate the price of the Gorshkov (now rechristened the INS Vikramaditya) and finally agreed to a tag that is nearly three times the amount first contracted in 2004.

The commodore either walked into a honey trap or he is being made a scapegoat. But the investigations are likely to ignore the colossal waste of time and funds that the Gorshkov has come to represent.

Indeed, the navy’s record in negotiating its huge and costly acquisitions — not only from Russia — is far from spotless. In a scandal of strategic dimensions that has been conveniently forgotten, the navy even contracted a de-commissioned US warship, the erstwhile USS Trenton (now the INS Jalashwa), on the condition that it will not be used in offensive operations without an explicit nod from the Pentagon. There is little to explain why India has bought a warship if it cannot be used in war.

This was disclosed in a damning report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in 2007. The same authority came out with another report in July last year that said India was buying the Gorshkov — a used, gutted carrier whose refit is more than the price of a new carrier — after its cost doubled in the four years since it was contracted in January 2004 to more than $1.82 billion (Rs 7,207 crore).

Even more absurd, in January, the navy began receiving the first of the MiG 29K aircraft that is to be based on the carrier, even though the actual acquisition of the ship is probably another two years away.

Since the ship is not available, the navy is fashioning a ski-jump — the inclined runway on the deck of the carrier — on the ground at its base in INS Hansa, Goa, to train its aviators on the MiG 29K.

The Gorshkov was to be originally delivered in 2008. It is unlikely to be in India before 2013.

The commodore was posted in Severodvinsk, near the Sevmash Shipyard in North Russia, from 2005 to 2007.

He was commanding a detachment of 25 naval officers and sailors that was posted in the town to oversee the refit of the carrier. Most of the crew, including the commodore, were with their families for all or some of the time. He is said to have attended a few meetings of the Gorshkov price re-negotiating committee.

 

[sudhir007]

The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Frontpage | Proof of liaison, not influence

New Delhi, April 16: An investigation by naval headquarters into the role of one of its officers in Russia has found evidence that his conduct “was unbecoming of an officer” because of his relations with a woman.

But the investigation is yet to establish whether his conduct influenced the re-negotiation of the contract for the aged Russian aircraft carrier, Admiral Gorshkov, for which India has agreed to pay $2.33 billion.

“That particular man had some relations with the other side, a lady. That part is established,” defence minister A.K. Antony said here this morning.

“Nothing beyond that has been proved so far. As the investigation is not complete, I do not want to jump the gun. I asked the navy to speed up the investigation. The navy is doing its job. They are at it. So, prematurely I do not want to draw any conclusions. Once the navy completes the inquiry, we will take a decision,” Antony added.

An official source said personnel of the armed forces and the defence establishment are required to inform their superiors of their encounters with foreigners, and continue with a relationship only with explicit authorisation.

Besides, this particular officer is a married man with a family and was commanding a detachment in Russia from 2005 to 2007, and his conduct would have set a bad example.

The source said the investigation “is in two parts, of which one part is complete”. The second part is looking into whether the commodore was influenced by the Russians through the woman to use his position and shape the re-negotiation of the Gorshkov contract.

The carrier, re-christened the INS Vikramaditya, was first contracted in 2004 at nearly a third of the cost now. It is expected to be delivered from the Sevmash shipyard in north Russia, where the officer was posted, only in 2013, five years behind schedule.

The investigation was ordered after a CD with photographs of the commodore with women — one woman occurs repeatedly in the photographs — and a complaint was delivered to the naval headquarters anonymously. The officer is now posted in the headquarters’ directorate-general of quality assurance.

 

[lhuang]

Wait so some Russian lady seduced the Commodore

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

A russkie women for 2 bills lol man u can get one for a few hundred dollars.

 

[EjazR]

Senior Naval officer indicted for 'affair' with Russian woman - India - The Times of India

NEW DELHI: The inquiry against Commodore Sukhjinder Singh has established his `amorous relationship' with a Russian woman while he was posted in Russia as head of the Indian team overseeing the refit of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov.

With the top brass led by Admiral Nirmal Verma now "finalising'' the "suitable punishment'' to be imposed on Commodore Singh in the embarrassing case, the Navy on Friday "attached'' the indicted officer to his parent wing, the material branch, which handles logistics and technical aspects of the force.

The Navy, however, still maintains Commodore Singh's "loose moral conduct'' and indiscretions did not "adversely impact'' India's position during the long-drawn wrangling with Russia over the 44,570-tonne carrier's refit, which even led to a distinct chill in the bilateral defence relationship.

But with India last month finally agreeing to pay Russia as much as $2.33 billion for the refit, instead of the $974 million earmarked for it in the original contract inked in January 2004, doubts still persist that Commodore Singh could have been "honey-trapped'' to disclose India's negotiating positions beforehand.

The recent surfacing of Commodore Singh's explicit photographs with the Russian woman, which formed part of the "clinching evidence'' in the just-concluded naval Board of Inquiry (BoI), has fuelled this speculation.

Defence minister A K Antony, on his part, on Friday said, "Navy has completed one part of its investigations. The particular man (Commodore Singh) had some relations with the other side...a lady. That part has been established.''

"Nothing beyond that has been proved so far. I do not want to jump the gun. I have asked Navy to finish (the inquiry report) as quickly as possible. I do not want to draw any conclusions prematurely. Once the Navy completes everything, we will take a decision,'' added Antony.

As reported earlier, Commodore Singh was posted as the Indian warship production superintendent overseeing Gorshkov's refit in Russia from 2005 to 2007.

Even after returning to India, he continued to remain deeply connected with the programme as the principal director (aircraft carrier project) at Navy HQ till at least mid-2009.

On Friday, Commodore Singh, an engineer, was "relieved'' of his current posting in the defence ministry's directorate-general of quality assurance. Now, the question is whether he will be allowed to leave the force quietly or whether he will face a court martial, which could open another can of worms.

 

[gogbot]

The Gorshkov Scam
April 14, 2010: India is investigating the senior naval officer in charge of the aircraft carrier Gorshkov procurement project. India recently agreed, after five years of haggling, to pay Russia an additional $1.3 billion to have the Russian aircraft carrier Gorshkov refurbished to Indian specifications. The original deal was the for about a billion dollars. But once the Russians got to work, things got complicated, and out of control. Indians are not happy with the cost increase. The Indian naval officer under investigation, commodore (equivalent to U.S. rear admiral) Sukhjinder Singh, was a key part of the negotiations with Russia, and there are accusations that he was paid off by the Russians to insure that Russia got the best of the deal.

In the last decade, the Indian government has conducted more and more investigations of this type. Not because there is more corruption in military procurement, but because the ancient practice has been getting more publicity. The Internet, in particular, made it easier for whistleblowers to be heard.

Other Indian naval officers have already admitted that they were partially to blame for the Gorshkov fiasco. They admit that, when they signed the deal in 2004, Indian engineers had not closely inspected the Gorshkov, and agreed, after a cursory inspection, that many electrical and mechanical components, buried within the ship's hull, were serviceable. It turned out that many of those components were not good-to-go, and had to be replaced, at great expense. Shortly after the contract was signed, the Russians discovered that the shipyard had misplaced the blueprints for the Gorshkov, and things went downhill from there. Now there is growing suspicion, and some evidence, that this procurement disaster was helped along by some well placed bribes.

Indian efforts to curb corruption in defense procurement don't always work out. Sometimes, the target of the investigation turns out of be innocent, often just the victim of circumstance (being told to pay the bribe, or see the contract go to someone who will). Sometimes, anti-corruption efforts backfire. An example is an attempt to black list firms that have been caught paying bribes to Indian officials, or otherwise misbehaving. These companies were to be blocked from doing any more business with India. It soon became apparent that this was not going to work in some cases. Spare parts and replacement munitions were needed for many systems manufactured by firms on the black list. And sometimes the weapons in question were badly needed. Take, for example, the Israeli Barak anti-missile systems for ships.

Over the last seven years, Israel has sold over five billion dollars worth of arms to India. The biggest single item, with sales of nearly half a billion dollars, has been the Barak anti-missile systems for ships. The Barak system uses small missiles to shoot down incoming anti-ship missiles. Israeli weapons have a solid reputation for reliability and effectiveness. Israeli success in several wars adds to the appeal of their armaments. U.S. and Israeli arms manufacturers often work together, which also gives Israel an edge when selling their equipment.

An Indian corruption investigation revealed that large bribes were paid to Indian officials, to make those Barak sales happen. Those naughty Israelis joined naughty Swedes and naughty people from several other nations that had made major weapons sales to India. It's not like India is the only nation that has corruption problems in the military procurement area. All nations do, but the extent of the corruption varies quite a lot, and India would like to move away from the top of the list. This will please Indian taxpayers, as well as those concerned about defense matters, especially people in the military. When military suppliers are selected mainly on the basis of how large a bribe they will pay, you often do not get the best stuff available.

But once you've made a major purchase via a tainted process, you have to keep buying material to keep the system (assuming it meets your needs) operational. Despite the bribes, the Barak missiles have performed as advertised. So did the Swedish artillery, and many other items bought only after the procurement officials got their gratuity. Thus the Indians are concentrating more on the corruption among Indian officials. That way, the military won't be cut off from needed weapons, and at least one side of the corruption problem can be vigorously attacked.

strategypage article .