Indian Navy aircraft carriers - out with the old, in with the new

India plans to scrap their last remaining aircraft carriers from the Royal Navy, add a new one from Russia to offset the Chinese, and then an indigenously built one. They will commit to Russian aircraft for the air wings, so in the Indian Ocean, we may see former Russian aircraft from former Russian carriers fighting each other. The Indians will still retain a 2:1 edge.

India’s Emerging Blue-Water Navy | The Diplomat
On November 16, the Indian Navy finally took delivery of aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, formerly the Adm. Gorshkov, at Sevmash Shipyard in northern Russia’s Severodvinsk town. The acquisition marks a new phase in India’s quest to become a true blue-water navy.

The handover ceremony of the 44,570-tonne carrier is sure to have generated more than a passing interest within the PLA Navy and across the rest of the continent, since India will be the only country in Asia to have two aircraft carriers in its fleet.

INS Viraat

Admittedly, the 55-year old INS Viraat is “long in the tooth” as India’s Navy Chief Admiral D. K. Joshi himself described it in a recent interview, but it will continue to operate until India’s locally built carrier INS Vikrant becomes operational by 2017.

Chinese Media Report: India's Aircraft Carrier INS Vikrant a Threat

For details: http://newsfeederr.blogspot.in/ http://newsfeederrvideohub.blogspot.in/

Describing the launch of India's aircraft carrier and Japan's biggest warship since World War II as a threat to China, a report in the state-run media today alleged some countries are backing New Delhi to balance Beijing's power.

former INS Vikrant (ex HMS Hercules)

Govt to auction decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Vikrant | Firstpost

  Why India should preserve INS Vikrant

INS Vikrant was the Indian Navy's first aircraft carrier. Once HMS Hercules in the Royal Navy, she was sold to India and commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1961. In the 1965 and 1971 wars, the INS Vikrant was an active combatant despite mechanical problems, and became an obsession for the Pakistan Navy. It is hard to describe the emotions, ghosts, wisdom, laughter and spirit that would perish if the INS Vikrant were broken up and sold for scrap. For a country that has been resolutely sea blind for decades, preserving the Vikrant wouldn't just be a symbol of respect for all that the ship has done, but that history cannot simply be sunk.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/indian-navy-india-ins-vikrant-1971-war/1/327802.html

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