In 2013, India vowed to build 4 amphibious assault ships within 20 years,
However, they have been preparing for nine whole years and have not seen the shadow of the attack ship,
What's even more ridiculous is that the shipyard that was once set is also facing the end of being auctioned.
Well, the shipyard was auctioned, and what about this project?
And why did India have to build amphibious ships?
The amphibious assault ship program was officially finalized
On a summer afternoon in 2013, inside a military base outside New Delhi, India,
An important meeting on the future of the Indian Navy is in full swing.
In the conference room, India's defense minister, commander-in-chief of the navy, and other high-ranking generals discussed a virtual 3D model.
This is a giant amphibious assault ship with a displacement of up to 20,000 tons, a sleek hull, and complete armament.
The multifunctional support carrier can carry up to 1,500 troops, dozens of helicopters, as well as main battle tanks and amphibious assault vehicles.
It also has well-developed medical facilities to carry out humanitarian rescue missions at sea.
According to the plan, in the next 20 years, India will successively build four such amphibious assault ships.
And this scheme came from the hands of a young designer of the Indian Navy.
It is said that he has been working on this project for 5 years.
At the moment, he is explaining his design concept in a loud voice.
And all the participating generals also listened very attentively,
For a navy that has long been plagued by budget shortages and outdated equipment, having such a modern ocean-going fleet is undoubtedly a shot in the arm.
In reality, however, the project has narrowly missed a death on several occasions.
The project is on the verge of death
The global financial crisis of 2008 swept and the Indian economy was devastated.
The government's finances are stretched thin, and military spending has to be drastically reduced.
The first amphibious assault ship, originally scheduled to begin construction by the end of 2009, has also been shelved due to budget constraints.
The Navy had to hope that the economy would improve before restarting the project.
However, the bad news is not over.
In 2015, when India's economy had just stabilized,
China abruptly announced the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and has rapidly invested in infrastructure such as ports and railways in the countries bordering the Indian Ocean.
These measures, which were originally commonplace, have aroused a high degree of vigilance in India.
Mr. Modi's government fears that China is quietly encircling India and thereby weakening its influence in the Indian Ocean.
So they decided to immediately restore the budget for the construction of amphibious assault ships to their original scale and make every effort to accelerate the modernization process of the Navy!
However, just as they were confidently looking forward to their work, the shipyard that undertook the project faced bankruptcy.
Hit hard
Reliance Shipyard is a long-established shipyard in the eastern Indian city of Durgapur, which was once a pillar industry in the region.
In 2016, Reliance Shipyard became one of India's partners in the Multi-Purpose Support Mothership program.
He is mainly responsible for the development of advanced carrier-based helicopter platforms for amphibious assault ships.
With years of experience in shipbuilding, Reliance soon launched a helicopter platform design with an automatic anti-roll system.
This scheme has greatly improved the safety of helicopters landing and landing at sea, and has also won the favor of the Indian Navy.
In 2017, Reliance officially received an order worth Rs 35 crore.
Two such helicopter platforms need to be created for the first amphibious assault ship "Vikramaditya".
For a time, the streets and alleys of Visakhapatnam were full of huge slogans with the slogan "Indian Navy, come on".
There is a lot of anticipation for the coming amphibious era.
However, just when everyone was full of anticipation, a sudden environmental pollution incident made it pay a heavy price.
In May 2018, it was discovered that the Hull River, a tributary of the Ganges River, near the Reliance shipyard, had been stained with oil and the water had turned jet black.
After investigation, it was found that the shipyard was negligent in its management and discharged waste oil and chemical pollutants from the production process directly into the river.
The Indian government immediately punished Reliance severely.
In addition to paying a hefty fine, Reliance was also ordered to pay 1 billion rupees for the restoration of the Ganges River basin ecosystem.
Faced with such a heavy financial burden, Reliance could not afford to pay workers' wages, so it had to stop work and lay off employees to save itself.
But in the end, it was too late, and in 2020, Reliance Shipyard officially declared bankruptcy.
Along with the collapse of Reliance, the Indian amphibious assault ship project also came to a standstill.
Due to the lack of a helicopter platform supplier, the launch of the Vikramaditya had to be postponed.
Seeing that the construction of the main fleet is blocked, the Indian Ministry of Defense also has to seek new partners internationally.
Find new partners
Soon, an offer from the Russian United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) attracted the attention of the Indian side.
The company, which claims to have the world's most advanced technology for building carrier-based helicopter platforms, has a strong willingness to invest in the acquisition of local shipyards at a low price to continue to fulfill orders.
After several rounds of intensive negotiations, the two parties finally signed a definitive agreement in July 2021:
The Russian side took over all the assets of the Reliance shipyard at a price of 200 million rupees and reorganized it into a Russian-Indian joint venture.
And give priority to undertaking the task of manufacturing the helicopter platform "Vikramaditya".
In return, the Indian government exempted the Russian side from all charges and fines for environmental pollution.
The deal was an immediate solution to the pressing needs of both India and Russia.
Under the guidance of Russian experts, the Russian-Indian joint venture company stepped up the construction of two 40,000-ton helicopter platforms for the "Vikramaditya".
However, the world is unpredictable.
In 2019, halfway through the construction of the first ship, a border standoff broke out between China and India in the Doklam area.
The armies of the two sides were tense for a time, and friction continued to escalate.
The Indian government urgently allocated funds from the amphibious assault ship project to strengthen the construction of land border defenses.
The Navy had to postpone the delivery date of the ship again.
Although the Doklam crisis was eventually resolved, the "China threat" caused unprecedented panic among the Indian people.
Many have called on the government to abandon amphibious ships altogether and focus limited resources on border security.
In 2021, India's economy, which has been hit hard by the pandemic and floods, has fallen into a downturn, and its military budget has fallen to its lowest point in recent years.
The long-awaited construction of the first ship project is facing the dilemma of giving up halfway.
Just when the future of the amphibious assault ship project was uncertain, a naval colonel named Manoy Mukherjee stepped forward.
In a 15-page report, he used detailed data and rigorous logic to
The significance of the development of ocean-going projection capability to India's maritime security and regional stability was demonstrated.
The report quickly caught the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which also made Modi firm in his desire to move forward with the amphibious assault ship project.
India's determination to build amphibious assault ships is also due to its strategic considerations for the Indian Ocean and its surrounding areas.
Sudden awakening
As a major power in South Asia, India has always regarded the Indian Ocean as its "back garden".
However, for a long time, the presence of external powers such as the United States and China in the region has been increasing, which has brought tremendous strategic pressure to India.
In particular, an incident in 2004 made them deeply aware that they had to equip their military with more advanced weapons.
On Christmas Eve in 2004, a sudden earthquake erupted at the bottom of the Indian Ocean.
When this catastrophic tsunami struck the countries bordering the Indian Ocean, hundreds of thousands of innocent lives were swallowed up overnight.
At the Indian Navy Command, several generals in white uniforms are urgently discussing how to deal with it.
As a responsible major country in South Asia, India must lend a helping hand to the people in the affected areas.
Soon, a rescue team composed of warships and aircraft began to assemble and headed for Sri Lanka, Indonesia and other hard-hit countries.
However, it is discouraging that the ships in the formation are mostly air defense destroyers and anti-submarine frigates,
They did not have enough deck space and hoisting equipment to receive large numbers of survivors.
The amphibious landing ship that the Navy had previously applied to the Ministry of Defense for purchase was still under negotiation, and the rescue operation had to rely on carrier-based helicopters and lifeboats to complete the rescue.
This greatly limits the number of people who can be rescued at one time.
Looking at the bodies of the victims who were constantly being salvaged from the sea, the hearts of every naval officer and soldier were dripping blood.
They felt that it would be nice to have a couple of well-performing amphibious assault ships in their hands!
They can not only quickly deliver emergency forces such as medical treatment and epidemic prevention in the event of a shipwreck, but also use aircraft and landing craft to evacuate a large number of victims.
More importantly, their powerful presence can greatly enhance India's influence in the Indian Ocean, so that those countries outside the region who are eyeing it will not act rashly.
In the aftermath of the disaster, Admiral Arun Prakash, then Chief of Staff of the Navy, also realized his shortcomings and was determined to make up for this shortcoming as soon as possible:
Build a powerful amphibious combat fleet to cope with the increasingly critical security situation in the Indian Ocean region.
And this idea was quickly supported by a large number of generals.
Soon, they developed a more than 100-page amphibious operations needs report and development plan:
In about 10 years, we will strive to build a team composed of 2-3 expeditionary strike groups.
A modern amphibious combat force with more than 20 medium and large amphibious ships,
Comprehensively enhance the ability to carry out three-dimensional infiltration of islands and reefs and carry out beachhead landing operations on beachheads.
The report was quickly approved by the Ministry of Defense.
The result is still good
Finally, in 2022, the first amphibious assault ship was finally successfully launched and named "Vikramaditya", which means "Goddess of Victory".
With the commissioning of the Vikramaditya, India has shaken off the dilemma of not having the capability of ocean-going landing operations and has become one of the world's advanced amphibious forces.
Today, when you drive past a tributary of the Ganges River on the edge of Durgapur, it's hard to imagine that it was once a polluted place.
Gone are the days when sewage flowed and factories were abandoned.
Instead, there are tall cranes and machine tools roaring.
Brand new docks are being erected in preparation for the launch of the Vikramaditya and her sister ships.
Bibliography:
1. Global Times: India's largest shipyard, the only one that can provide repairs for the US military, went bankrupt, and Russian giants appeared among the bidders.2020-07-06
2. Fiberhome Magazine: India's private shipyard went bankrupt because there was no ship to build, and Russia came to buy it, and then who will build a ship?.2020-11-28
3. Global Network: The Indian Navy seeks 4 new amphibious assault ships to carry anti-ship missiles, and the Indian media is surprised that it is "not Western".2021-08-27
4. Xinhua News Agency: India seeks an all-round amphibious assault ship and is criticized for being "greedy for perfection".2021-09-03