According to the Indian "Tribune" reported on October 25, India's self-developed domestic aircraft carrier "Vikrant" has departed from Kochi Port on the 24th to begin the second round of sea tests. Compared with the "Vikrant", which was first set to sea two months ago, it does not seem to have changed much in appearance when it left the port again. The much-talked-about carrier-based radar remains missing, and "critical" accessories such as carrier-based aircraft cables have not been unveiled. It can be said that in the past two months, in terms of hardware updates, the "Vikrant" is completely "zero progress".
Of course, as long as you have understood the "difficult production" history of the entire project of the "Vikrant", such an assembly speed is not incomprehensible. Construction of the "Vikrant" began in 2009, and the outfitting work after launching began as early as 2015. However, a series of problems such as the size of the equipment produced and the design drawings were not matched, and the cables and wire standards laid inside the aircraft carrier were not uniform, which followed after the start of the "Vikrant", and dragged the entire construction cycle to a length of more than ten years. Of course, this is also the "old tradition" of the Indian military industry. After all, whether it is an Arjun tank or a Radiance fighter, "difficult childbirth" is the only way for them.
We often say that Indian weapons are the "universal brand", Russian-made fighters, US-made missiles, and weapons produced by countries around the world can be found in the Indian army. In fact, india on top of these self-developed military projects, it is difficult to fully achieve self-development and self-production. The "Vikrant" is also such a "Pinduoduo" product. Therefore, the "stuck neck" of key components is also a major factor in the slow progress of the "Vikrant" aircraft carrier project.
In terms of the power part of the core of the aircraft carrier alone, the LM2500 gas turbine that the "Vikrant" finally chose was actually the result of the compromise. After all, for an aircraft carrier such as the "Vikrant" designed to have a full load displacement of 40,000 tons, the LM2500, although technically mature enough, is already stretched in power is not the best choice. It's just that India's military industry is backward in development, and even products like LM2500 can't be made. In this way, the maximum speed of the "Vikrant" full load is most likely to reach the 28 knots in the design.
In addition, the Indian military industry does not have the ability to develop and produce phased array radar, and the radar system in the design of the "Vikrant" can only rely on The export of Israel, but until now, this high-profile radar has not appeared in our field of vision, hoping that this will not lay hidden dangers for the future delivery of "Vikrant".
Until now, the Indian military has not yet determined the type of carrier-based aircraft to be carried on the "Vikrant", and the entire project is still in the bidding process. Doesn't that sound magical?
At present, the Indian military still has many options for the carrier-based aircraft. These include the Rafale from France, the F-18 from the United States, the MiG-29K already in service with the Indian Navy, and even India's self-developed twin-engine carrier-based fighter (TEDBF) are all within the military's consideration. After all, these aircraft can basically meet the basic requirements of short take-off and landing on Indian aircraft carriers.
It is only hoped that the Indian military will not "internally operate" under the guise of India's priority to order India's self-developed fighters, after all, in terms of the current research and development level of the Indian military industry, if the single self-developed fighter is really issued, then the goal of the "Vikrant" aircraft carrier officially entering service in August 2022 may become a moon in the water, and it is difficult to achieve.