Sharp Blade\Dark
Modi's biggest chip in the face of the election is his "Made in India" plan, which was originally intended to free India from excessive dependence on foreign products and technology, especially in the manufacture of weapons and equipment, as far as possible to achieve localization. Naval equipment spared no expense to purchase property rights and technology to produce in China, the most famous of which was the "Vikrant" aircraft carrier. The ship has been built for more than 10 consecutive years and still has no signs of service, and from the latest photos, the aircraft carrier is still not equipped with any equipment, just an empty shell. Last July, India had to postpone the first sea trial of the Vikrant until 2020, and only enter service in 2025 at the latest.
USS Vikrant
According to Modi's vision, "Made in India" can create more than 100 million jobs by 2022, which is an effective solution to India's social problems. By 2016, however, the program had created nearly 640,000 jobs in the country. At this pitiful rate, the target of 100 million is probably not reachable by 2030. The reason for the lag in India's manufacturing plan is that the manufacturing industry has a very low proportion of its economy, even if there is cheap labor and there is no energy and production facilities that can match it, India's electricity demand far exceeds its power generation capacity, the industrial base is weak, the industrial system is not perfect, and it is far more difficult to achieve the grand goal of Indian manufacturing than to build an aircraft carrier! The ills of Indian industry have also had a negative impact on its shipbuilding work, with the lack of infrastructure in the shipbuilding sector being the most serious.
For example, the research and development of large gantry cranes is very difficult for India, and this equipment is the key to building large ships. Speaking of india' gantry crane, we have to start from 30 years ago. At that time, India favored a 250-ton gantry crane, which was Japanese goods or second-hand. Although India's economic benefits are not high, but in the high-end manufacturing industry under the slogan of marching, the shipbuilding industry investment is quite amazing, in order to build a domestic aircraft carrier, Cochin Shipyard carried out several infrastructure expansions, and the purchase of gantry crane equipment is the most expensive step, the United Kingdom even after the launch of the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier second-hand sold the gantry crane, in order to recover a part of the capital investment, it can be seen that the aircraft carrier project is really a money-burning business.
India lacks not only funds, but also technology and professionalism, the reason why the "Vikrant" can not be launched into the water, is because the construction technology can not keep up, and the lack of key technical personnel, everything rely on foreign support seriously affects the progress. India's lack of professionalism is also reflected in the construction of a frigate. The No. 3 of a P-17A stealth frigate that was under construction at the Gallodagarden Ritchie Shipbuilding Engineering Company Shipyard was nearly scrapped when the gantry crane above the dock suddenly collapsed, landing nearly a step away. At that time, Kolkata was blowing strong winds, and the weak gantry crane collapsed, hitting key areas such as module workshops, dry docks and inclined berths, although it did not hit the P-17A frigate, but it seriously affected the construction of the ship, as mentioned above, the infrastructure of these shipyards is very expensive.
The collapse of the gantry crane caused damage to many dock bodies in the shipyard to varying degrees, and the modular hall of the P-17A frigate was completely destroyed. Berths and docks were blocked due to accidents. Indian industry analysis said that the current gantry crane has been completely destroyed, the use of the new gantry crane from bidding to assembly and final commissioning takes at least 3 years, which will add a lot of trouble to the subsequent P-17A frigate construction work, postponement is inevitable. Compared with the delayed delivery of the Vikrant, the extension of the P-17A frigate is more thrilling, once the gantry is hit by the frigate, there is no doubt that it will be scrapped, this frigate is also a foreign equipment assembled in India, its value is quite high.
Model of Project-17A
The P-17A frigate project was launched 10 years ago, the ship is a new generation of warships developed on the basis of the P-17, with a displacement of nearly 7,000 tons, which is currently the most advanced frigate in South Asia, and it is clear that it is similar to the tonnage of a destroyer, and India has high hopes for it. In 2015, India decided to produce seven P-17A frigates, starting construction in Mumbai and Kolkata, the former's Mazagang Shipyard is responsible for building 4, and the latter's Garden Ritchie Shipyard is responsible for building 3, so the gantry crane accident will cause at least half of the frigates to be delayed. Even the No. 1 and No. 2 ships, which are under intense construction, are far from high-speed, and according to the construction plan, they are in service in 2022, and they are difficult to deliver on schedule according to the consistent delays of Indian manufacturing.
P-17
As India's latest generation of frigates, P-17A frigates equipped with advanced radar, antennas and other equipment, or simplified or hidden, to obtain excellent stealth characteristics, India said that the ship's stealth performance is outstanding in similar products. The P-17A will be equipped with the Lightning-8 long-range air defense missile, which was developed by India and Israel, but the core part is still provided by Israel; in addition, it is equipped with the "BrahMos" supersonic anti-ship missile jointly developed by Russia and India, and the ship is also equipped with EL/M-2248 "MF-STAR" four-plane source phased array radar and Ajanta electronic warfare support system, which is relatively technical. Moreover, the number of crew members of the ship is greatly reduced compared to the P-17, that is, from 257 to 150 people, which indicates that the P-17A has a high level of automation. There is no doubt that the P-17A frigate will be the future capital ship of the Indian Navy,