Indian Navy & Need For Aircraft Carrier

History Of Indian Navy Operating A Carrier

The Indian navy has a rich history of operating aircraft carriers and has vast experience in carrier flight operations. The story began when the Indian Navy acquired a majestic class Aircraft carrier, which was left incompleted after World War 2, with the completion of its construction, the Indian Navy commissioned its first Carrier in 1961. Capt Pritham Singh was the first Commanding officer of an Aircraft carrier. Carrier-operated aircraft from two naval air squadrons, INAS300 commanded by Lt Cdr B R Acharya, which had Hawker Sea Hawk, and INAS310 commanded by Lt Cdr Mihir K Roy which had French Alizé anti-submarine aircraft. On 18 May 1961, the first jet landed on her deck. It was piloted by then Lieutenant later Admiral Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani.

Immediately after its completion, it saw deployment in operation Vijay. Though it did not see any action, it was patrolling the waters to resist any foreign interference in war. During the 1965 war, it was undergoing a refit and did not see any action, but the fact is the navy was not allowed to take part in the 1965 war. But the ship saw its first action in the 1971 war, where the ship played an instrumental role in war by ensuring the naval blockade of the Bay of Bengal. Hawker Sea Hawk and Alize aircraft from Vikrant struck Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar harbor and maintained air dominance over the Bay of Bengal. During the 1971 war, Fleet Operations Officer, then Captain later Vice Admiral Gulab Mohanlal Hiranandani told the Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Nanda, during the 1965 war Vikrant was sitting in Bombay Harbour and did not go out to sea. If the same thing happened in 1971, Vikrant would be called a white elephant and naval aviation would be written off. Vikrant had to be seen being operational even if we didn’t fly any aircraft.

Current Strength & Future Needs Of The Indian Navy

The Navy has always maintained the stand of having three carriers. Each operates on the western and eastern seaboard, while the other undergoing servicing. This means that the navy wants two operational carriers at any given time, that is whether in case of conflict or peace. Currently Indian navy operates two carriers INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant. INS Vikrant has commissioned into the Indian Navy this September but is yet to be operationalized. Apart from 1987 to 1997 where Indian navy operated two carriers INS Vikrant(old) and INS Viraat and for a short period from 2014 to 2017 with INS Viraat and Vikramaditya. But from now Indian navy will be a multicarrier navy, but two carriers are not enough to maintain dominance over the Indian Ocean as many experts believe.

US Navy’s Doctrine Of Operating Aircraft Carrier

Where is the closest carrier, that’s the question the US president asks when there is a crisis in any part of the world. Though the US has military bases worldwide, its main instrument of power projection is through the navy, to be precise its carrier strike group. US federal law mandates, US Navy to have 11 Carriers and 9 carrier air wings. Assuming, about 1/3 of carriers are in maintenance, 1/3 in preparation and training and the other 1/3 is in deployment. If the situation demands more Carrier can be rushed to deployment. The reason behind number 11 is, the navy must be capable to fight two major wars on any two fronts at any given point in time. Aircraft Carriers are ‘sine quo nine’ for the US to maintain its global domination and preserve its interest.

Growing Threat Of the Chinese Navy

With China expanding its naval fleet and an increasing number of carriers to three with the induction of  Fujian an 80k ton class carrier, its imperative for India to have its third carrier to counter naval threats emanating from our adversaries. Because confronting a navy like the Chinese navy, India needs a platform that has significant firepower for annihilating the enemy arrest, but at the same can defend itself from any incoming threat, which only an Aircraft carrier can have.

Senior Colonel (retd) Zhou Bo of PLA, said during an event “It is no secret that India does not want to see China’s expanding influence in South Asia. The bilateral relations between many South Asian countries and China have been interfered with and suppressed by India to varying degrees, India should not interfere with the sovereignty of its South Asian neighbors and force them to take a side between China and India, “In contrast, China has never thwarted India’s “Look East” or “Act East” policy. SE Asia is important to China’s geographical environment, but China has never interfered in India’s development of its political, economic, and military relations with any Southeast Asian country, “India always complains about China’s provision of military equipment to Pakistan, but China never complains about Russia’s provision of military equipment to India. In 2017, China accepted India and Pakistan into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization with openness and generosity, “I do not think it’s necessary to remind everyone that during the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He’s fleet, the most powerful fleet in the world, went to the Indian Ocean seven times, “Therefore, China is not a newcomer to the Indian Ocean. To safeguard China’s growing interests in the Indian Ocean and maintain the security of strategic sea lanes, the Chinese navy must maintain or even strengthen its presence in the Indian Ocean, It is only a matter of time before a Chinese carrier strike group appears in the Indian Ocean. Since the end of 2008, the Chinese navy has been sending naval formations to patrol the Gulf of Aden and the Somali Basin in the Indian Ocean

Two School Of Thought

1. People Who Favour Submarines Over Aircraft Carrier: Many people advocate having submarines over the expensive aircraft carriers

• Submarines are less expensive vis-a-vis Aircraft carriers.

• Submarine armed with nuclear weapons acts as a deterrent.

• Submarines are low observable and can perform various types of missions in the vicinity of enemy territory.

• Hard to detect, thus very less chances of losing one.

• They can perform anti sea denial role, which can hamper the enemy’s shipping be it commercial or military.

• Many argue that we should convert Andamans and Nicobar Island into unsinkable aircraft carriers.

• Large Carrier are prone to the so-called Anti Carrier missile like the Chinese DF21(so-called Carrier Killer).

2. People Who Advocate For Carrier Over Submarine

Given the changing of world order and shifting of global focus to the Indo-pacific region, it is very clear that the navy has got a greater role to play.

• India’s engagement with quad, and other like-minded countries which have an interest in the Indo-Pacific region, and India’s commitment to other Indian Ocean countries as a net security provider, we need a third Aircraft carrier to fulfill the obligation

• Carrier-based Aircraft have better combat efficiency than land base Aircraft if they are involved in far-flung conflicts. For example, if we want to strike a target that is far from our airbase, Aircraft have to take aerial refueling and have to cover a long distance which degrades the efficiency of the crew and also decreases the “Time on Task” of the aircraft, this is not the case with carrier-borne fighter, it can be launched near to the conflict zone and also increased the “Time on Task” of aircraft.

• India has many Island chains to defend, for eg Andamans and Nicobars, carrier-based aircraft will be a more cost-effective solution than land-based aircraft. For land-based, it needs radar networks to monitor any air activity, an anti-submarine network, ammo depo, and so on, moreover, these are vulnerable in case of an attack.

•As far as the argument, that Carriers are sitting ducks to missiles, we must know that Carrier is put into the sea only after sanitizing all possible threats and the CBG( Carrier Battle Group) has various assets for the fleet defense. In WW2 the allies lost 18 percent battleships, 33 percent cruisers, 36 percent frigates, and 37 percent submarines compared to 11 percent carriers.

Read More About Submarine VS Aircraft Carrier: CLICK HERE

Utility Of Aircraft Carriers in the Navy

• Aircraft Carrier protects sea lanes of communication during both peacetime and wartime, considering the Chinese influence near the Straits of Hormuz, in bab-el-Mandeb(China has a Naval base in Djibouti) we need to have assets that can protect our merchant shipping. Considering government and focus on export-led economic growth it’s even more important to ensure open and free sea lanes of shipping and communication.
• Carrie Battle Group can aid ground forces in case of amphibious operation, US has a separate branch called the US Marine Corps for this job since they enjoy changing political flags in different countries, and not to forget Pakistan iron biradar(China) also has its own Marine Corps.
• As stated earlier maintaining influence in Indian Ocean Region as the net security provider for the region.
• Safeguarding our vital overseas interests, be it strategic, economic, or even political.
• Aircraft Carrier comes very handy in a humanitarian crisis for example when Japan was hit with a powerful Tsunami,  USS Ronald Reagan and other US Navy ships were first to respond.
• Other than this, they are a symbol of a nation’s strength, they project the political power of a country.

Conclusion

India is a growing economy, according to reports if India maintains the present growth story(Which we will) we would become Five Trillion dollar economy by 2026, so there Government must not make, any excuses that we have Budget problems, though we indeed have other sectors to focus on when we are spending on an asset like an Aircraft carrier, it’s more like an investment, it creates large number direct and indirect employment and gives boost domestic companies, MSME’s and defense manufacturing thus ensuring #Atmanirbharta. Aircraft Carrier takes around seven to ten years to build, so the cost of building a carrier can be managed. With the induction of INS Vikrant, our shipyards and other allied agencies have shown the ability to large Aircraft Carrier and workers of these industries have mastered the skills that require for building such large ships, Cochin Shipyard ever said that they can build the next carrier in 7-8 years, thus we cannot let go this opportunity and government must approve the construction of IAC2. In the US, the debate was not about the need for carriers, but their optimum numbers to support its global interests. Likewise, the debate in India must be on the number and size of its carriers, rather than on the Submarine Vs Aircraft Carrier.

For more, you can also read this Journel, Aircraft Carriers and India’s Naval Doctrine