First indigenous-made aircraft carrier to be launched on 12 Aug
2 Aug 2013 11:48 PM GMT
Come 12 August, Indian navy will have launch the first, indigenously made aircraft carrier, called INS Vikrant. It is a name shared with the first ever aircraft carrier India had, from the British, commissioned in 1961 – this aircraft carrier being built at the Cochin Shipyard in Kerala, is expected to add muscle to the navy’s foray in the blue waters.
However, scepticism remains, as this carrier, Vikrant or even the INS Vikramaditya, the Indianised Gorshkov, which is expected to be inducted into the Indian navy by the end of this year, are not secured by the presence of a ‘missile shield.’
In other words, the carrier battle groups that these ships will constitute the core, will not have anti-ballistic missile system to secure them from ballistic missile barrages. This, in the face of the Chinese missile forces testing and owning an anti-ship missile, the Dongfeng-21D (CSS-5) is intended to destroy large surface ships and aircraft carriers.
Though, the China observers say that it is primarily intended to be used, if at all, against the US carrier groups in the western Pacific, the missile has a range of 1,500 kilometers and is tipped with a manoeuvrable warhead.
Shortly after the missile was tested in 2010, then Indian navy chief, now retired, Admiral Nirmal Verma was asked whether the service’s plans to have three carrier battle groups, with two deployed always, in the eastern and the western seaboards and one undergoing maintenance, was a fool-proof plan. Verma had given a neutral reply, which meant the contingency remained and the problem will be addressed when its time appeared.
On Thursday, there was also no such talk of that threat in a media briefing addressed by the present Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral RK Dhowan. He told the media persons, one of the singular achievements of the carrier build by the Cochin Shipyard is the development of the special steel that was an immediate need.
While initially there was a plan to import the steel from Russia, problems cropped up with that plan. Then Steel Authority of India and Defence Material Research Laboratory stepped in, and produced the steel with high tensile strength that could be used for ship.
However, scepticism remains, as this carrier, Vikrant or even the INS Vikramaditya, the Indianised Gorshkov, which is expected to be inducted into the Indian navy by the end of this year, are not secured by the presence of a ‘missile shield.’
In other words, the carrier battle groups that these ships will constitute the core, will not have anti-ballistic missile system to secure them from ballistic missile barrages. This, in the face of the Chinese missile forces testing and owning an anti-ship missile, the Dongfeng-21D (CSS-5) is intended to destroy large surface ships and aircraft carriers.
Though, the China observers say that it is primarily intended to be used, if at all, against the US carrier groups in the western Pacific, the missile has a range of 1,500 kilometers and is tipped with a manoeuvrable warhead.
Shortly after the missile was tested in 2010, then Indian navy chief, now retired, Admiral Nirmal Verma was asked whether the service’s plans to have three carrier battle groups, with two deployed always, in the eastern and the western seaboards and one undergoing maintenance, was a fool-proof plan. Verma had given a neutral reply, which meant the contingency remained and the problem will be addressed when its time appeared.
On Thursday, there was also no such talk of that threat in a media briefing addressed by the present Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral RK Dhowan. He told the media persons, one of the singular achievements of the carrier build by the Cochin Shipyard is the development of the special steel that was an immediate need.
While initially there was a plan to import the steel from Russia, problems cropped up with that plan. Then Steel Authority of India and Defence Material Research Laboratory stepped in, and produced the steel with high tensile strength that could be used for ship.
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