Natarajan S
I was excited to see Aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, getting inducted into the navy last Friday, with Modiji saying lot about Indian achievement, etc.. Oh my God, India is currently building a new generation of warships for its navy and the Vikrant is the most visible symbol of Indian pride and industry. Hi Hi Hi.
It was locally designed and manufactured, the Vikrant that shows the abilities of an emerging military-industrial complex. I was recollecting the launch of the programme that was delayed by the bureaucratic processes and cost overruns.
Not happy at the delays and cost overruns, I wanted to fast check if the working aircraft carrier -delivery was the priority of the programme or superiority with China was the priority. If you are into project management, you may know if delays happen would we not take into consideration the technology of arch rival at the start of the programme and the current time? Same way when cost-runs are many folds, would we not consider a superior technology to match the costs. Now I am intrigued to look at whether Indian defence sector took those delays and cost runs into advantage or just ignored the latest technology change to just satisfy the top of Government that they finished the task. I had a question is it genuine Government effort to pursue 2003 programme with matching modern capabilities of 2022 OR Is it just lopsided Government nod to finish a 2003 project (keel laid down in 2009) in 2022 without analysing 2022 technological advancements to the handed over product that is INS Vikrant? What are the India’s current arch rival China”s capabilities? Is this vessel fulfilling India’s next-generation navy needs to match China’s Navy capabilities?
In the current situation India’s strategic focus is more on China and its unparalleled military expansion, with the People’s Liberation Army Navy on the focus of the world. Chinese Navy is now the largest navy in the world in numbers, with all its ships designed and built in Chinese own shipyards. China builds new designs at record speeds as China’s navy, that works towards its strategic ambitions of global naval force.
After Doklam tensions created by China, India reinvigorated itself in defence and is working hard to develop its own navy as a counter to China’s expansion. One step ahead, India has become a member of the four-nation maritime organisation, the QUAD, whose unspelt out goals was to counter China’s influence. The other 3 partners complain that India is not spell it as defence as one of the bullet points explicitly into this Quad. But India because of its non-alignment history may be not wanting to be part of any defence alliances explicitly.
Strategies to defeat China in a future conflict should have considered naval conflict at length. Aircraft carriers definitely will play a part in that conflict, but their designs have to be able to stand up to powerful weapons systems coming online. In short, long delays from design to production risk obsolescence.
Now I am thrown at with the fact that the Vikrant, whilst a milestone for India’s military indigenisation programme, I am told is an older design that is already almost out of date. I am told It is better compared to China’s own first domestically-made aircraft carrier, the Shandong, commissioned in 2019. Both are modified Soviet-era designs. So the hype for Vikrant created not only by media but by PM launching it – all becoming eye-openers for me now, about the truth.
The Vikrant,(45,00 tons), is even smaller than the older Shandong(60,000 to 70,000 tons).
Speed-wise they are equal. Shandong speed is 57 kms/h. Vikrant speed is matching with just 1 km lower than that.
Considering the length Shandong is 305 m. While Vikrant is 262 m.
How they are powered:
Vikrant:
Shandong
Conventional steam turbines, 4 shafts
Aircraft carrying capabilities:Shandong:
- 36 total aircraft including:
- 24 Shenyang J-15
- 8 Changhe Z-18
- 4 Harbin Z-9
Vikrant:
- 30 Total Aircrafts including:
- Fixed-wing :
- Mikoyan MiG-29K multi-role fighters
- LCA Navy
- Rotary-wing :
- 4 x Kamov Ka-31
- 4 x Sikorsky MH-60R
- 2 x HAL Dhruv
All through the functionalities are good.
But the point analysts make are that both carriers use the older technology “ski-jump” design to give aircraft taking off a much-needed lift.
The Vikrant and Shandong have both been important ships in terms of allowing local designers to develop their own ideas and start to think independently in terms of naval design and manufacture. However, India has lagged down to China in designing these huge warships.
A generation behind
Significant delays haunted the Vikrant. Its keel was laid down in 2009 and the carrier was only commissioned in September 2022, some 13 years in the making. By comparison, the Shandong’s keel was laid down in 2015 and the ship was commissioned four years later. China’s ability to produce increasingly competitive designs, taking them from drawing board to sea trials, far faster than its near-peer competitor India, fits in with China’s wish to produce and field six advanced aircraft carrier groups by 2035.
The Vikrant is a generation behind the design of China’s latest aircraft carrier the high-tech Fujian, launched in June. The first supercarrier to be built outside the United States, it is far larger than the Vikrant, will be able to hold more aircraft, and most importantly uses an electromagnetic system to slingshot aircraft at takeoff. This allows the Fujian to launch far heavier aircraft, laden with weapons and fuel, at a far faster rate than the Vikrant.
The Vikrant’s ski-jump system forces its jets to launch to take off under their own power, which limits the amount of fuel, missiles and bombs the jets can carry. All this means a shorter range for its jets, the length of the Vikrant’s “punch” being significantly shorter than that of the Fujian. In a conflict between carriers, the Vikrant would be significantly outgunned and vulnerable to destruction.
The Vikrant’s woes do not stop there. The ship’s Russian Aircraft Flight Complex, the electronic suite the Vikrant uses to detect and manage the ship’s aircraft when in the air, has had installation issues and is proving hard to integrate into the mostly-Indian design. Planned visits by Russian technicians could be held up because of US-led sanctions imposed on Russia due to the war in Ukraine, further delaying the carrier’s completion.
The Vikrant’s air wing will be made up of Russian MiG-29Ks that are used on its sister ship the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. On paper, these MiGs, adapted for carrier use, seem capable. But the jets have proven unreliable and are heavy, making takeoff and landing risky. The Indian navy is now looking for more advanced aircraft, with France’s Rafale M and the US-made F/A-18 Super Hornet being the likely choices.
Operational in 2023
With delays of more than seven years and a sixfold cost overrun, building the Vikrant has become a mammoth task. In fact, the aircraft carrier is not expected to become operational until at least 2023. The slow turnaround by India’s naval shipyards is in stark contrast to China’s military-industrial complex, which is already working on its second supercarrier that will join the Fujian. Observers predict it will likely be nuclear powered, giving the supercarrier a truly global reach.
Despite the Vikrant being completely outclassed by China’s flagship
Fujian carrier, (The Type 003 is expected to use steam turbines
and electromagnetic catapults (as shown in above picture), whereas preceding Chinese carriers were conventionally powered and launched aircraft with ski jumps
For CNS Fujian’s propulsion system, its structure is still not very clear. According to Chinese military commentator Song Zhongping, the system has “integrated electronic propulsion” (IEP).
But we need to appreciate the fact that Indian naval designers have learned valuable lessons in the process, which have been applied to its domestic shipbuilding programme.
Currently, 39 ships and submarines are being built in yards around India. India’s next generation of naval vessels will be stealthy frigates and corvettes. Both quick and heavily armed with BrahMos anti-ship cruise missiles, the fastest in the world, they pack a heavy punch. These ships, along with long-range patrol aircraft and new designs of ultra-quiet submarines, may well be the answer to India’s strategic needs, ensuring it has the naval combat power to prevail over China.
This distributed array of next-generation locally-designed and built vessels holds the key to success in any future war, far more than antiquated aircraft carriers that, in the event of a conflict, are likely to become high-profile casualties.
After seeing March 2022 footage of Ukrainian probably using HIMARS – to send BM-21 Grad MLRS, fired from Odessa that caused a Russian warship Vasily Bykov to catch fire and sink at Snake Island, a big question mark remains whether India should really outmatch China AirCraft Carriers or should India outmatch anti-aircraft carrier missiles and their launch vehicles to combat aircraft carriers? At least this time Indian defence think tanks should foresee clearly.