Indigenous aircraft carrier gets nod

NEW DELHI, July 17: After delays of more than a decade, India is finally on course to constructing an indigenous aircraft carrier. The Mi...

NEW DELHI, July 17: After delays of more than a decade, India is finally on course to constructing an indigenous aircraft carrier. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has given the go-ahead for the manufacture of an Air Defence Ship (AD Ship) at Cochin.

The AD Ship project will now be put up to the Cabinet Committee on Security after the necessary scrutiny by the Department of Expenditure in the Ministry of Finance. “The major hurdle has been crossed, and now we do not expect any more delays,” said a South Block source. The cost of the project is likely to be around Rs 1,200 crores. It will, however, be at least another seven to ten years before the carrier is ready to be commissioned, said MoD sources.

There has been much anxiety within the Navy about the decommissioning of the existing aircraft carriers. While INS Vikrant has already left active service, the INS Viraat is expected to retire around 2007 AD. And that is when pressure on the Navy will build up.

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The plan for an AD Ship was conceived in 1986when India was looking for a second aircraft carrier. It then bought the Viraat from the British Navy, and work commenced at the Directorate of Naval Design (DND) for an indigenous product.

The original design submitted was for a 24,000-ton vessel which was then reworked to a 32,000-ton AD Ship. These changes were necessitated, firstly, by the delays in the decision-making process. And, secondly, by the changes in equipment profile to be placed on the AD Ship. While the indigenous Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) is to find a place on board, it is also the inclusion of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) which has led to the final changes. “The Navy has given monies from its own budget for the development of the LCA, as they did for the ALH. And that is the reason behind the importance given by us to the naval version of the LCA, one that is carrier borne in every sense,” said a scientist with the Defence Research and Development Organisation. The AD Ship is expected to fill in the gap caused when Viraatretires. “It has taken us 50 years to put together such high levels of flying skills over the seas. At this level of operations, and the kind of environment we are required to be proficient in, any stoppage of activity is catastrophic,” said a Naval aviator.

He was alluding to the time that it takes to get naval aviation up to combat-readiness levels. “Combat flying over the sea is a skill you cannot put together in a short span of time. It is a long drawn out process,” added the Naval officer.