The Indian Navy is racing against time to get the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya ready for battle before the onset of the monsoon, with combat operations beginning later this month even as the second aircraft carrier INS Vikrant will be fully operational after the monsoon.
The Indian Navy’s combat posture is understood to have been discussed during a meeting of naval commanders aboard the INS Vikrant this week, with the MiG-29K and Tejas-M fighter landing aboard India’s newest aircraft carrier. A new vessel with fighter jets and anti-submarine warfare helicopters, powered by GE turbine engines, is set to dominate the Indo-Pacific for years to come.
While sea trials are underway to make INS Vikrant fully combat-ready, INS Vikramaditya will be handed over to the Indian Navy after a 15-month overhaul by March 31. It is understood that test landings and take-offs of the fighters will begin soon after the handover with the 45,000-tonne aircraft carrier with a complement of MiG-29K fighter jets ready by May 2023.
With both aircraft carriers being combat-ready this year, the Narendra Modi government will have to take a decision to procure 26 fighter jets including eight trainers for INS Vikrant. Although US Boeing has offered to move its F-18 production line to India, another viable option is France’s Rafale-M fighter, which has operational similarities to the IAF’s Rafale fighters.
The two fighters were tested by the Indian Navy at its coastal test facility in Goa last year and the report was forwarded to the Ministry of Military Affairs to take a final decision on the advice of the government.
The commissioning of the two aircraft carriers this year comes as the PLA Navy is rapidly expanding its warship fleet and currently operates three aircraft carriers, with the latest, Fujian, launched in June 2022. Xi’s regime has been making ominous noises to take over Taiwan’s the Republic of Wan, the US has also decided to replace Japan’s USS Ronald Reagan, its only forward aircraft carrier, by 2025.
The USS George Washington will replace the current warship with new unmanned refueling drones that will allow the fighters on board to refuel about 800 kilometers from the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. This will allow US aircraft carriers to operate beyond the range of China’s medium-range DF 21 “killer” carrier-based missiles and allow America to send its carrier-based fighters into contested areas at long distances with unmanned tankers.
With China expected to send carrier patrols to the Indian Ocean by 2025, the QUAD Navy will have enough firepower to deter any misadventure by the PLA Navy in the Indo-Pacific. Two Indian aircraft carriers will also patrol the Indo-Pacific, but their main focus will remain the Indian Ocean region up to Australia and the east coast of Africa.
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