Context:  India commissioned its first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant.

INS Vikrant

• INS Vikrant is India’s first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier.

• The ship is named after India’s first aircraft carrier Vikrant, which played a crucial role in the 1971 war.

• INS Vikrant was designed by the Warship Design Bureau (WDB) of the Indian Navy and was constructed by the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) which is a public sector shipyard working under the aegis of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterway.

• The 26,000 tonnes of steel used for the construction of the ship is of a unique warship grade, produced in India for the first time by the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), in collaboration with the Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) and the Navy.

Strategic advantages of aircraft carriers like INS Vikrant

• Access to littoral spaces: In peace and in war, no platform provides access to littoral spaces as thoroughly and emphatically as the aircraft carrier.

• India’s proactive maritime strategy: Vikrant will boost India’s maritime capability in the Indo-Pacific and the Indian Ocean Region. It will also aid India’s ‘SAGAR’ or Security and Growth for All in the Region initiative.

• Trade benefits: A strong Navy is critical to India’s ambition to grow its share in global trade. This is because India’s merchandise exports are largely maritime.

• Economic empowerment: One shipyard job leads to the creation of 5-6 jobs in ancillary industries. Over 500 Indian firms and 100 MSMEs contributed to building INS Vikrant. For example, Vikrant generated employment opportunities for almost 15,000 personnel across various segments including 2,000 personnel at the Cochin Shipyard.

• The versatility of aircraft carriers: With Vikrant, India’s aircraft carriers can be been used as versatile assets, switching between power projection, soft and hard power diplomacies. This is because the navy earlier has only one aircraft carrier.

• Counter China: INS Vikrant significantly expands the Indian Navy’s footprint in the backdrop of increasing Chinese activity in the region. For instance, Under the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) “far-seas” strategy, China deploys 7-8 vessels in the IOR at any given time. There will be a Chinese Carrier battle group (CBG) moving into the IOR on a near-permanent basis in the future.

What are the challenges raised while building aircraft carriers?

• Critics were concerned about the relevance of aircraft carriers in the contemporary world. They say there is little point in spending billions for a carrier strike force to protect the Bay of Bengal or the Arabian Sea. This is because

• a) The near-seas defence can be easily ensured from airbases on India’s island territories,

• b) Aircraft carriers are logistically unviable and highly vulnerable to new hypersonic weapons and disruptive technologies,

• c) Susceptibility to enemy attack: The flattop of aircraft carriers is defenceless(a virtual sitting duck) against modern-day underwater attacks, long-range strategic airpower and ballistic missiles;

• d) Prized target for enemies: In a conflict scenario, the destruction of the opponent’s aircraft carrier is a priority mission.

How can India move ahead after IAC Vikrant?

• Increase indigenous content: The IAC Vikrant has 76% of indigenous content overall, but its critical technology has been imported. This points out the need for persistence and increases further indigenisation.

• Build second indigenous aircraft carrier: The Indian Navy’s ambition is to have three aircraft carriers. (INS Vikramaditya procured from Russia is undergoing a major repair-and-maintenance cycle). The expertise gained from building Vikrant could now be used to build a second, more capable, indigenous carrier.

• Solve the fighter jet conundrum: India’s plans to develop its own twin-engine deck-based fighter remain a distant dream. So, India should resolve the fighter jet conundrum while also taking a call on the second indigenous aircraft carrier.

• The deployment of maritime power needs to be anchored in the logic of geopolitics and long-term state interests, and not on contingent assessments of imminent needs.

Road Ahead

• In recent years, there is renewed interest worldwide especially among advanced countries to develop, design and deploy new generation aircraft carriers. In this context, the induction of INS Vikrant into India’s Navy is a significant step for ensuring self-reliance, and maritime security as well as helping India in global trade, which is maritime-based to a large extent.