As per the reports of Hindustan Times, the Indian Navy has asked for a third carrier from the Government of India. This request has been made in the context of seeking the requirement of a third carrier to handle the PLA challenge. The reports state that the Chinese Navy is trying to expand its footprint in the Indian Ocean with the help of logistics support bases which they are getting from the Straits of Malacca to the Gulf of Aden. By keeping this thing in mind, the Indian Navy also wants to increase its strength by adding one more aircraft carrier, 6 diesel-electric conventional submarines and 3 nuclear-powered subs to handle the challenges that the People’s Liberation Army will create.
In the reports, it is stated that all the construction of creating new aircraft will happen under the vision of Prime Minister Modi’s “Atmanirbhar Bharat” vision along with the shipyards of India. We all are familiar with the new strategy of the PLA who are now focusing on two oceans (the Indian and Pacific) rather than one. The Indian navy is familiar with the vision of China’s Navy and that is why they want to muscle up its strength. The vision of the Navy is to achieve a force level of 155-160 warships by 2030.
The capital of China under the cover of the Belt-Road-Initiative (BRI) has reversed logistics bases in Ream in Cambodia close to the Straits of Malacca. The Hambantota base is located in Sri Lanka, the listening post is located in Coco Islands which is situated in the Bay of Bengal, the Jask naval base is in Iran, Gwadar is in Balochistan, and a full-fledged berthing naval facility is based at Djibouti on the mouth of Red Sea and in the entry of Mediterranean Sea. It is noted that Navy brass has talked to the government of India about their plans to shift the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) for acceptance of necessity (AON) of repeat order of 45000 ton Vikrant class of aircraft carrier.
Besides, The Indian Navy has placed an order for 68 warships which is worth Rs 2 lakh crore. Though the Navy wants to expand the presence of India in the Indian Ocean region (IOR), and to achieve this goal, the Navy has to increase its strength. At present, The maritime force has 132 warships. It has also managed to obtain approval from AON to add 8 next-generation corvettes, 9 submarines, 5 survey vessels, and 2 multi-purpose vessels. The report states that all these will be developed in India. Moreover, INS Vikramaditya, the first aircraft carrier of India is presently functioning whereas INS Vikrant is engaged in routine overhaul at Karwar Naval base.
The Western media is underestimating the capabilities of Chinese strict forces but India understands that the aircraft carriers of China (Liaoning and Shandong) can organise non-stop operations and the People’s Liberation Army Navy is giving training naval fighter pilots within 9 months. At present, the 80,000-ton Fujian carrier is under construction and it will be ready for its trial at sea by next year. For more news just keep visiting here.
