India will join the United States, Russia and China by building a land based landing field in the same shape as an aircraft carrier.
The SBTF (shore-based training facility) will be built outside the east coast port city of Goa.
This will be used to train pilots to land on carriers. India is getting its first four MiG-29K fighters soon. These aircraft are modified to operate from
carriers. The remaining twelve MiG-29Ks will arrive by the end of 2009.
India will receive the refurbished Russian aircraft carrier Gorshkov in 2012. This deal will cost $2.5 billion. This includes the purchase of the poorly maintained Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, and Russian shipyards performing repairs, modifications and upgrades. Then there was the $800 million cost of aircraft, weapons and equipment. Building a Gorshkov type carrier today would cost about $4 billion, and take several years more.
The Admiral Gorshkov entered service in 1987, but was inactivated in 1996, as too expensive to operate on a post Cold War budget. The Indian deal was made in 2004, and the carrier was to be ready by 2008. But a year ago reports began coming out of Russia that the shipyard doing the work, Sevmash, had seriously miscalculated the cost of the project.
Once refurbished, the Gorshkov, renamed INS Vikramaditya, should be good for about 30 years of service. That's because, after the refit, 70 percent of the ships equipment will be new, and the rest refurbished. It will operate sixteen navalized MiG-29 fighters, plus some helicopters.
India wants the Gorshkov in service before 2012, because that's when it's existing carrier (the 29,000 ton INS Viraat) is to be retired. If the MiG-29K is successful on the Vikramaditya, these aircraft will be used on other carriers India is building.
The heads of Oklahoma's state colleges and universities are vowing to oppose any legislative efforts to allow concealed weapons on campus.
Legislation that would have allowed concealed weapons on college campuses was defeated earlier this year after college presidents and law enforcement officers said it would create chaos and even more violence on campus.
But the issue likely will resurface when the Legislature convenes next year, state Higher Education Chancellor Glen Johnson said Monday.
Johnson spoke to a group of college officials and law enforcement officers that make up the Campus Life and Safety and Security Task Force, formed after the 2007 shooting deaths at Virginia Tech.
House Bill 2513, which was defeated, would have allowed military veterans and others with firearms training to carry concealed weapons on campus.
Task force member Phil Berkenbile, leader of the state's CareerTech system, said guns have no place at schools. He noted recent controversy when a small Texas school district decided to let some teachers and staff carry guns.
"I don't think that's something we want to start in Oklahoma," Berkenbile said. "That's got to be a high priority."
Johnson said the task force will make clear in its upcoming report to the Legislature that it opposes weapons on college campuses.
The group also is planning to ask for about $16 million to improve safety and offer more mental health services on college and CareerTech campuses. The group may ask that the money be distributed through the state Department of Homeland Security.
Rep. Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie, who introduced a measure to allow students to carry concealed weapons on campus, said Monday he would try again next year to give that right to at least some on campus.
His original bill was watered down so only military veterans and others with firearms training would have been allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus.
"I'm really committed to doing something to break up the gun-free bubble," Murphey said. "There's got to be a way to have an application of concealed-carry to a campus that at least makes it so that a criminal can't go into that environment knowing that the only people that are going to have guns are going to have uniforms."
With the election less than one month away, Gun Owners of America is doing its best to keep gun owners informed about who is protecting your rights in the Congress.
Many gun owners are familiar with the differences between the candidates at the presidential level, but how well do they know the views and actions of those who are running at the congressional level?
On the campaign trail, almost no candidates for Congress admit to being against gun rights, making the tasks of compiling the Gun Owners of America congressional candidate rating both more difficult, and more important.
GOA determines grades for candidates first based on any past voting record. Then, all candidates receive a detailed questionnaire. But what about those with no record and who were not open enough to return a questionnaire that would reveal their true colors?
In past elections such candidates could be assigned grades by simply going to a campaign website. Learning what a candidate thought about issues like banning "assault weapons" and waiting periods for handgun purchases was lurking behind a button labeled "gun control."
Not any more. For one thing, it's virtually impossible to find a link that says "gun control" on any campaign website. If a candidate mentions gun rights at all (and most don't) it is usually in the context of "protecting Second Amendment rights."
A reader will find comments such as this one, referring to the recent Supreme Court decision striking down the gun ban in the nation's capital:
"I agree with the Supreme Court's interpretation last week that an absolute prohibition against gun ownership violates the Second Amendment right for citizens to bear arms."
That may sound good at first blush, but a careful reading will reveal that this statement -- made by a former mayor who had considered joining other cities in suing gun makers out of existence in 1999 -- is almost meaningless.
Facing this kind of doublespeak, it is especially important that voters take advantage of tools like the 2008 Gun Owners of America voter guide.
The stakes are high in this election, as they always are. The main focus is on the presidential race. If elected, Barak Obama would be the most anti-gun president this country has ever seen, and his vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden is just as bad. John McCain has been all over the map on the gun issue, but he did choose a stellar pro-gun running mate in Sarah Palin.
While the White House may be up for grabs, liberal Democrats are in firm control of both chambers of Congress. With all the media attention on the race at the top of the ticket, it is important to remember that it is in the Congress where most of the battles over gun rights occur.
India will join the United States, Russia and China by building a land based landing field in the same shape as an aircraft carrier.
carriers. The remaining twelve MiG-29Ks will arrive by the end of 2009.
