India launches its new aircraft carrier
As part of its efforts to counter China’s much larger and growing fleet, India commissioned its first indigenous aircraft carrier Friday. INS Vikrant, which means “powerful” or “courageous,” was purchased from Russia in 2004 to guard the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal and is India’s second operational aircraft carrier.
In celebration of 75 years of independence from British rule, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a 262-meter (860-foot) carrier designed by the Indian navy and built at the Cochin shipyard in southern India. Modi noted that India is now one of only a handful of countries with an indigenous carrier program in addition to enhancing its naval capabilities.
“This is a landmark achievement and a historic day,” Modi said.
Navy officials said the carrier is the country’s largest warship, capable of carrying around 1,600 crew members and launching 30 aircraft, including fighter jets and helicopters. India’s new aircraft carrier is made up of more than 75% indigenous parts, including equipment and machinery provided by half a dozen major industrial firms and more than 100 smaller companies.
According to defense experts, the project has grown six-fold in price over the last six years, reaching 200 billion rupees ($2.5 billion) now. India’s MiG-29K fighter aircraft will perform landing trials with the 47,400-ton warship in 2023 before the ship becomes fully operational.
A total of 20 fighter aircraft are set to be installed on the carrier, including the French Rafale-M and Boeing’s F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet. Rahul Bedi, a defense expert, said the carrier will use Russian aircraft until then.
India’s growing security concern
The Chinese have expanded their presence in the Indian Ocean, the Western Pacific, and beyond in recent years. New Delhi raised concerns about the safety of such a port call off its own coast when it sent a navy vessel to a Chinese-built port in Sri Lanka in August. While Beijing referred to the ship as a research vessel, India feared it could be used as a spy vessel to spy on the region.
The Indian navy sent four warships last year to Southeast Asia, the South China Sea, and the Indo-Pacific in response to concerns over China’s assertiveness. According to India’s Defense Ministry, they will take part in exercises with the United States, Japan, and Australia, which are part of the other “Quad” group of nations.
The Indian Ocean and Indo-Pacific regions have been ignored for too long, Modi said on Friday. In spite of this, we are working in every direction to increase the navy’s budget and its capacity as a top defense priority for the country,” he said.
In recent years, China’s dispute with its neighbors has led to tensions in the vast maritime region, including Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, and South Korea. Several claims are being made for the strategically important waterway that holds significant oil and gas deposits under the sea.
For more than a decade, the People’s Liberation Army Navy, or PLAN, has been modernizing to become a “blue water” force able to operate globally rather than being restricted to operating only near the Chinese mainland, which is why carriers are so vital.
According to the U.S. Defense Department, the PLAN currently has around 355 ships, including submarines, and it is expected to grow to 420 by 2025 and 460 by 2030.
It possessed two aircraft carriers and launched its third in June, which was equipped with electromagnetic systems similar to those used by the United States. Indian carriers launch their aircraft using the traditional “ski jump” method.
According to its navy, India’s fleet now consists of two aircraft carriers, ten destroyers, 12 frigates and 20 corvettes. In 1987, the Soviet Union built India’s older aircraft carrier, the INS Vikramaditya. Before being decommissioned in 1996, it served in the Soviet navy as Admiral Gorshkov, and later in the Russian navy. A $2.35 billion purchase was made by India in 2004.
