This Is Why The New Aircraft Carrier INS Vikramaditya Is Important For The Indian Navy

The platform will enable the Indian navy to move from sea denial to sea control.

The new aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya will be commissioned into the Indian Navy in Russia by defence minister AK Anthony on November 16.

Displacing 44,500 tonnes, it is the largest ship ever owned by the Indian navy. It has a ski jump for take-offs and arrested landing by wires that latch onto the aircraft on the deck. The ship carries about 8,000 tonnes of fuel and can sail up to 14,000 km at one go.

With this ship, the Indian navy gets one step closer to its dream of operating a blue-water fleet. This follows the classical doctrine of maritime power or sea control – first articulated by Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan in the 1890s.

Only navies with aircraft carriers and nuclear-powered submarines can claim sea control, and India has both. In contrast, navies without such capacity can, at best, exercise sea denial. It is very simple to comprehend – it is essentially offence versus defence.

Indian Navy now has an air force of its own.
The ship has a balance of 30 fighters including 20 brand new MiG-29Ks. It also has 10 Kamov 28 and 31 early-warning and anti-submarine helicopters. This gives the Indian navy a massive outreach. The MiG-29K is an all-weather, carrier-based multi-role fighter aircraft with a range of 2,000 km. It can fly at up to 2,200 km per hour. The MiG-29K carries a 30 mm cannon and advanced laser-guided and electro-optical bombs, as well as anti-ship and air-to-air missiles. Similarly, the Kamov is the world’s best anti-submarine and early-warning helicopter.

No smooth sailing for this ship – the seas were rough all along.
The ship was originally called Admiral Gorshkov and served the Russian navy not as an aircraft carrier but as a nuclear missile cruiser. It was retired when the erstwhile USSR collapsed and Russia could not afford it. But that was a long time ago.

To transform a missile cruiser into an aircraft carrier has never been done before. From removing its missiles and widening its deck to adding a ski jump for shorter take-off – this ship has seen quite a transformation.

But that has also transformed the cost. It was originally billed at $750 million, but the final cost was over $2.3 billion. It is also five years late in getting operational. To make things worse, there was a fire after a boiler burst and wrecked a large part of the ship, which had to be remade piece by piece.

However, almost everything on this ship, save the hull, is brand new. The entire wiring was changed and the deck was widened with new angles. And that’s no mean achievement.

The ship sailed continuously for 100 days to prove itself and this happened after being docked for, hold your breath, 17 years!

One of the MiG-29Ks also crashed while testing. Russians said it was pilot’s error and India took their word for it.

It will take 4 more years for this aircraft carrier to be fully operational. Systems for its air defence are not yet on board. Incidentally, these defend the aircraft from cruise missiles. So wait till 2017 for it to do its job properly.

That’s not unusual as no one gives you an aircraft carrier off the shelf. India’s special relationship with Russia counts and this aircraft carrier will serve the navy for at least 25 years.

The experience gained at the Sevmash shipyard while this ship was built will be of enormous help to India’s own aircraft carrier programme. Also INS Vikrant, an indigenous carrier, was launched on August 12 this year. Therefore, within 5 years, India hopes to operate two carrier battle groups.

Meanwhile, China has got its own second hand carrier from Ukraine.
China has recently made a giant sea stride. It has completely refurbished a second hand carrier that displaces 65,000 tonnes and has a ski jump, just like the Indian carrier. Originally, this aircraft carrier was to be sold as junk by Ukraine, but China finally bought it. Its air wing includes Chinese J15 carrier-borne fighter bombers and anti-submarine helicopters such as the Kamovs that are also used by the Indian navy.

However, India has an advantage over China. Having an aircraft carrier and making it a fully operational battle group are two different things. India has operated battle groups for over 40 years now and has deployed them in real wars. A fully operational Chinese aircraft carrier battle group is at least 10 years into the future.

Image Courtesy: Wikipedia