At a time when the world is moving towards multipolarity, India, located in South Asia, is eager to become one of them. And if you want to realize the ambition in your heart, you first need to have a strong military force as support. On May 14, foreign media revealed that India intends to build a third aircraft carrier to continue to strengthen its naval combat capability. According to the report, Indian Defense Minister Manmohan Singh disclosed that the Indian Navy intends to build another domestically produced aircraft carrier of the same size as the active "Vikrant" aircraft carrier. When it is completed, India will build a fifth and sixth ship in the future.
The Indian Navy has two aircraft carriers in active service, in addition to the domestically produced "Vikrant", the other is the "Vikramaditya" modified from the Russian "Kiev" class. The "Vikrant" has a full load displacement of 43,000 tons, and the "Vikramaditya" has a full load displacement of 45,000 tons, and the main carrier-based aircraft of both aircraft carriers are Russian-made MiG-29K carrier-based aircraft.
The Indian Navy's initial idea of building a second domestically built aircraft carrier with a displacement of about 65,000 tons and a catapult take-off and landing method was very bold. But later the Indian Navy was forced to abandon the original idea due to the high cost of aircraft carrier construction and the procurement of carrier-based aircraft.
Thanks to the help of the "former suzerain" Britain, India was one of the first countries in Asia to have aircraft carriers. However, although he started quickly, his pace was disordered, and he stood still for a long time. Taking India's first domestically built aircraft carrier "Vikrant" as an example, as early as 2005, India began to build it, but after 16 years, the aircraft carrier began its first sea trials and entered service in September 2022.
As the saying goes, good things are grinding, and although it took more than ten years, it was finally completed, which is also a good thing. However, a big problem has arisen, the "Vikrant" is nominally domestic, but its aircraft carrier drawings are designed by France and Italy, the engine is from the United States, the carrier-based aircraft is from Russia, and the four-sided phased array radar is from Israel. At present, India has good relations with the West and Russia, but it is difficult to say in the future, after all, the purpose of the United States is only to make India a supplier of cheap goods, and it does not want India to seize the middle and high-end industrial chains.
India itself did not want to be overly dependent on the West, so it developed the domestic LCA "Tejal" fighter and derived the carrier-based aircraft model. However, Indian-made weapons have never escaped a curse, and they have always taken a long time to complete, and there are always problems after completion, and it is impossible to achieve mass production on a large scale within the planned time. After the advent of the LCA "Tejour" carrier-based aircraft, the number of mass production was limited. In addition, the Indian Navy did not want it due to problems with performance.
The above situation shows that India has not yet completely eaten the "Vikrant", and in this case, if it directly builds a large-tonnage catapult aircraft carrier, it will obviously be very difficult, lacking both excellent technology and carrier-based aircraft suitable for catapult takeoff. Therefore, the Indian Navy can only choose to build a domestic aircraft carrier of the same size as the aircraft carrier "Vikrant".
Judging by the current economic situation in India, it is in the early stages of industrialization, and there are not many resources to invest in naval construction on a large scale. The economy is the foundation of everything, and since the economic foundation is not good, the Indian Navy cannot take too big a step. However, in the context of the United States shifting its strategic focus to the Asia-Pacific region, India is expected to obtain technical support for aircraft carriers and carrier-based aircraft from the United States, which will help India thoroughly understand aircraft carrier and carrier-based aircraft technology as soon as possible. Therefore, in the long run, the development potential of the Indian Navy should not be underestimated.
(Text/Woo Tsai)