India launches new aircraft carrier as tensions with China grow

• India has commissioned its first home-built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
• The 262-metre (860-foot) warship was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.
• It joins the Soviet-era INS Vikramaditya that was bought from Russia in 2004.

In an effort to compete with China’s considerably larger and expanding fleet of warships and to strengthen its own shipbuilding industry, India has commissioned its first home-built aircraft carrier.

The second-largest operational aircraft carrier in India is the INS Vikrant, which takes its name from the Sanskrit word for “powerful” or “courageous.” It joins the Soviet-era INS Vikramaditya, which was purchased from Russia in 2004 to protect the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal.

The new 262-metre (860-foot) INS Vikrant, which was created by the Indian navy and constructed in the Cochin Shipyard in southern India, was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday as part of the nation’s celebration of 75 years of independence from British rule.

Modi emphasised the significance of India now being just one of a select few countries with an indigenous aircraft carrier construction plan, which goes beyond simply enhancing the nation’s naval capabilities.

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It’s a momentous day and a significant accomplishment, according to Modi. It serves as an illustration of the government’s effort to strengthen India’s defence industry’s independence.

According to the navy, the carrier is the largest warship ever constructed in India. It can house a crew of roughly 1,600 people and fly a fleet of 30 aircraft, including fighter jets and helicopters. Initially, the Vikrant will rely on MIG-29K fighters of Russian design already stationed at INS Vikramaditya.

The 47,400-ton battleship will first go through landing testing with the MiG-29K aircraft and then be fully operational by the end of 2023. More than two dozen more jets will also be added to the carrier by India, with the F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet and the Rafale-M from France’s Dassault now under consideration.

According to the defence ministry, more than 100 smaller businesses and half a dozen large industrial companies supplied the machinery and equipment that went into the new aircraft carrier for India.

According to defence analysts, a six-year construction delay resulted in a six-fold price overrun that is currently 200 billion Indian rupees ($2.5 billion).

1.38 million people work for India’s armed services, many of them are stationed close to its borders with neighbouring nations China and Pakistan that both possess nuclear weapons.

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