India’s first indigenous naval carrier would give more teeth to our fleet

India achieves a naval milestone as it joins a small group of nations capable of building aircraft carriers. IAC-1, India’s first indigenous carrier that was shaped at the Cochin Shipyard took to the sea on Wednesday for its maiden trials. It is 76 per cent indigenous and at 40,000 tonnes, will be INS Vikrant when commissioned next August. It is the second carrier after INS Vikramaditya, inducted from Russia in 2013. The Indian Navy proposes to build a second carrier, a 65,000-tonne INS Vishaal. If the project gets the Government’s go-ahead, it may be the most modern vessel and have unprecedented access to the US technology. The carrier may have the capacity to launch and recover heavy strike aircraft and early warning planes like the E-2 Hawkeye. The aircraft carrier projects are the icing on the cake that is the navy’s Maritime Capability Perspective Plan to increase its capabilities in the strategic Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The Indian coastline of 7,516 km with 1,197 offshore islands and a large Exclusive Economic Zone of 2.01 million sq km needs protection from diverse forces from pirates to non-State actors and State-sponsored elements. The future INS Vikrant is the biggest among the batch of 50-odd ships and submarines currently under construction through the indigenous route. Getting ready are large amphibious ships, fast-attack craft, destroyers, stealth frigates, offshore patrol vessels and Scorpene Class submarines. India aims to become a 200-ship navy by 2027.

The IAC-1 boosts India’s security preparedness in the IOR. Along with INS Vikramaditya, it will help in the projection of India’s air power in the high seas. The main threat to the IOR comes from China which intends to expand its influence over the region. The IOR is the world’s busiest trade route, with 80 per cent of the world’s maritime oil trade passing through it. Vital sea lanes of the world pass through it with choke points like the Bab-el-Mandeb, the Strait of Malacca and the Strait of Hormuz. China wants a strong foothold here and is working for it through the Belt and Road Initiative. It wrongly interprets the UN Convention for the Law of the Sea to justify the presence of its naval vessels in the IOR. It is executing its “String of Pearls” project for a maritime encirclement of India. The rise of China has made India reshape its maritime strategy. It now protects the Sea Lanes of Communications (SLOC) in the IOR, deploys warships in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to protect Indian vessels operating in those regions, and has the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) to keep a close watch on the movement of ships passing through the IOR. It is modernising its naval commands, establishing monitoring stations and investing in recce, surveillance and communications facilities. The aircraft carriers will help India have its own carrier strike groups that can prowl the IOR and act as a counter-balance to rival intrusions into the region.