China Planning For 10 Aircraft Carrier Battle Group What Should Be Indian Response
By
Colonel Awadhesh Kumar
Both the Government of India and the Indian navy are of the view that the way of the future is to operate aircraft carrier battle groups that is able to not only defend the Indian Ocean but also project power wherever required to further our National Interest.
The United States of America operates 10 Carrier Battle Groups for the Naval Defence of USA and also for World wide power projection. To match the Americans now the Chinese too are planning to join the power competition for the maritime domain and thus heading towards construction and operation of 10 Carrier Battle Groups within the foreseeable future.
Thus our Naval Chief Admiral Karambir Singh very clearly states “The ongoing crisis in the straits of Hormuz, confrontations in the South China Sea and increasing use of naval platforms for political signalling are unmistakable fallouts of the great power competition in the maritime domain.”
The Indian Ocean has been aptly named and it implies that it is India which must ensure that peace prevails in this Ocean, end to end. Therefore we need to outmatch any adversary who may cause any kind of interference in this Region. So if China starts operating 10 CBGs then how many CBGs India must have ? We certainly need not copy China blindly.
The biggest advantage India has in the Indian Ocean Region is the availability of four natural unsinkable Super Aircraft Carriers in the form of Andaman Islands, Nicobar Islands, The Deccan Peninsula and the Lakshadweep Islands. Fighters aircrafts like Sukhoi MKIs armed with BRAHMOS, even Jaguars appropriately armed, soon to come Tejas Mk2 and the futuristic AMCA will deter any naval flotilla from making even eye contact with the Indian Navy.
Now the Chinese, even if they start operating 10 CBGs will be unable to send, operate and maintain not more than three Carrier Battle Groups in the IOR at the maximum. Therefore it is imperative that apart from the natural Super Carriers, we need to have at least five CBGs to take on the Chinese nice and deter them nice and proper and one additional CBG to guard the Western gates of IOR near the African Coast.
Thus the Indian Navy must have six Carrier Battle Groups and no less. Presently we have One CBG, with the Second CBG becoming operational by 2021. Therefore work on the third Carrier needs to start now and the fourth, fifth and sixth to follow at intervals, so that we have them operational well before 2040. With six CBGs at least 4x carriers will be available all the time for deployment and other two under going refit/ maintenance.
In spite of the hectic Chinese activity in the field of Carrier construction, the Indian Defence Ministry seems to be sleeping as usual. It has been going slow on own Carrier project, knowing fully well that it takes years to build an Aircraft Carrier and few more years to field an effective Carrier Battle Group.
They consider building of even the third Aircraft Carrier a prohibitively expensive naval programme, and without considering the overall picture they suggest utilization of resources for other critical purchases, like submarines and advanced frigates. By conservative estimates, the cost of construction of the carrier itself, without the aircraft, would exceed Rs 70,000 crore. However this will be money worth spending like the money being spent on the Chandrayaan and Mangal Mission.
So the Naval Chief has referred to an increasing Chinese Navy presence in the Indian Ocean Region as well as its ongoing construction of destroyers, submarines and Carriers to emphasize the need for our own third aircraft carrier quite urgently. “It is pertinent to mention that the PLA(N) (Peoples Liberation Army Navy) is projected to have a force level of five to six aircraft carriers within the next decade and up to 10 carriers by 2049,” he said.
“Our overall strategy is centered around the operation of Carrier Task Groups supported by multi-dimensional, state-of-the-art surface and air platforms… an aircraft carrier is central to INs operating philosophy… accordingly, we are pursuing induction of the third carrier to ensure we have the requisite force levels to meet all operational imperatives,” the navy chief has said in his first detailed comments on the stalled project.
As per preliminary design plans, the ship would displace 65,000 tons and would be of the CATOBAR (catapult assisted take off but arrested recovery) type. This Carrier will be quite indigenous but with assistance most likely from Russia or France. The work on expansion of Cochin Shipyard should be getting completed by some time next year. So the go ahead for the third Carrier needs to be given within next few months.
