The first of four 7,400-ton stealth destroyers being built Mazagon Docks, under a contract signed in January 2011, was delivered to the Navy on Thursday after a delay of more than three years. “His name will be INS Visakhapatnam On commissioning in the second half of November,” said an official.
The other three destroyers, Mormugao, Imphal and Surat, would follow in the next few years. The total cost of the four warships with an array of weapons and sensors, including BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and Israel’s new generation Barak surface-to-air missile systems, is over Rs 35,000 crore.
While destroyers are powerful warships, they are simply dwarfed by aircraft carriers in size as well as combat power. Capable of covering over 500 nautical miles in a day, the floating airbases pack a formidable offensive punch and project raw military might like nothing else across the globe.
The US Navy has 11 “Super” 100,000-ton nuclear-powered carriers, each carrying 80-90 fighters and aircraft. China also eventually wants to have 10 carriers as “the epitome of a great nation”.
India, however, is operating with just one carrier in the other hand 44,500 ton INS Vikramaditya, which was commissioned from Russia in November 2013 for $2.33 billion. A further $2 billion was spent on purchasing 45 MiG-29s to operate from its deck.
Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh reviewed the second round of sea trials of the country’s first 40,000 tonne indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC), which began as INS Vikrant in August next year.
Built at the Cochin Shipyard (CSL) for about Rs 23,000 crore, the IAC was first sanctioned by the government in January 2003. Sonowal asked CSL to ensure the carrier’s timely delivery by April next year so that it can be operational by August.
The IAC, however, will become fully operational only after flight tests of MiG-29K supersonic fighter jets and MH-60R multi-role helicopters will be completed from their decks by mid-2023, as previously reported by TOI. it was done.
Shipbuilding in India continues to involve huge time and cost overruns. In addition, the Navy’s case for a third 65,000 ton carrier (IAC-II), pending since May 2015, has not yet been received by the government until its initial “acceptance of requirement”.
China already operates two carriers, the Liaoning and Shandong, and is rapidly building two more with a CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take-Off but Arrest Recovery) configuration to allow fighter aircraft as well as surveillance, ex- To warn and launch heavy aircraft for electronic warfare from its deck. Like the Americans.
Both INS Vikramaditya and IAC, however, have only ski-jumped to land the fighters under their own power in STOBAR (Short Take-off but Arrest Recovery) operation.
140 Warships The Indian Navy expects to have 175 warships by 2027 despite budget constraints. China, with a total strength of about 350 warships and submarines, meanwhile has surpassed the US Navy, although the latter is much more technologically advanced.
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