India’s new aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant will glorify the country’s status as a marine power, boost the navy’s sea command and power projection capabilities and help the navy meet its growing responsibilities in the Indian ocean. The warship, India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier will also allow the navy to counter China’s steadily increasing naval capabilities and check the aims of the Indian Navy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned INS Vikrant in Kochi.
INS Vikrant’s integral air power is formidable and the aircraft carrier significantly enhances the navy’s capability to conduct missions on the far seas. When fully operational, INS Vikrant will operate an air wing consisting of 30 aircraft including new deck-based fighters that India plans to buy, Russian-origin MiG-29Ks, Kamov-31 choppers, MH-60R multi-role helicopters, and advanced light helicopters. The aircraft carrier and INS Vikramaditya will put the navy on an equal footing with China depending on how and where the Indian aircraft carriers are deployed.
India plans to buy 26 new fighters for INS Vikrant through a government-to-government deal, with a US firm Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet competing with French aircraft maker Dassault Aviation’s Rafale-M for the order.
Critical flight trials will be conducted aboard the aircraft carrier from November, and the warship is expected to be fully operational by the middle of the next year, the officials said. The flight trials will involve the Russian-origin MiG-29K fighter jets that will use the ski jump to take off from INS Vikrant. The navy is pushing a case for building a second indigenous aircraft carrier, though the government will take the final call on that capability enhancement. The navy believes the second carrier can be built faster than Vikrant by tapping into the ship-building experience and expertise acquired through the construction of the first carrier. Vikrant was commissioned into the navy on the backdrop of China launching its third aircraft carrier Fujian, the first designed and built entirely in that country, on June 17.
