..:: India Strategic ::.. Indian Navy: What future for carrier aviation?

British Prime Minister David Cameron resigns | Theresa May takes over as new UK PM | May becomes second British woman PM after Margaret Thatcher | Cameron announced resignation following Brexit, a referendum for UK's exit from EU June 23 | International Tribunal demolishes China's claims over South China Sea | Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague says China has no legal basis to claim regional waters and build islets | The Tribunal also held China guilty of damaging coral reefs and natural environment | China has border maritime problems with all its neighbours | China rejected the decision, saying it is invalid and has no binding force | India, Tanzania agree to deepen overall defence and security partnership, especially in the maritime domain | Both nations agreed to work closely, bilaterally, regionally and globally to combat twin threats of terrorism, climate change | Prime Minister visiting Tanzania in the last leg of his visit to 4 African nations July 7-11 | Boeing, Mahindra Defence open C-17 Training Centre for IAF | Terrorism is the gravest security threat facing the world today, says PM Modi during Mozambique visit | Terrorism impacts India and Mozambique equally | NASA spacecraft Juno reaches Jupiter | Juno crossed violent radiation and flew 130,000 miles/hour | Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system | Juno should be in Jpiter orbit for 20 months to send data | The $1.1 billion Juno mission took five years to reach Jupiter | LCA 'Tejas' joins Indian Air Force | Tejas is an indigenously-built Light Combat Aircraft | The single-seat, single-engine, multi-role light fighter is designed by ADA and manufactured by HAL | India test-fires new surface-to-air missile from a defence base in Balasore off Odisha coast | The new missile is jointly developed by India and Israel | Abdul Majeed Al Khoori appointed Acting CEO of the Abu Dhabi Airports | Eng. Mohamed Mubarak Al Mazrouei becomes Advisor to the Abu Dhabi Airports Chairman | Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar hands over 'Varunastra' to Indian Navy | Varunastra is an advanced heavyweight anti-submarine torpedo | It is indigenously designed, developed and manufactured by DRDO | India officially joins Missile Technology Control Regime | With this India becomes 35th member of the MTCR | Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar signed the document of accession into MTCR in Seoul June 27 | The document was signed in presence of Ambassadors of France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg - the Chair and two co-chairs of the Regime | India had applied for the membership in 2015 | India finalises deal for 145 BAE Systems M777 artillery guns | This is Indian Army's first artillery deal in 30 years | Britain votes to leave EU, Pound crashes | 52 per cent voted Leave and 48 Remain in historic referendum | British Prime Minister David Cameron announces to resign before October over UK's exit | Leave process will take about two years though | Markets hit worldwide, including in India | China scuttles India's NSG bid | India joins SCO | India, apart from Pakistan, was admitted as full member of SCO during its Ufa Summit in July 2015 | After completing certain procedures, India now technically entered into SCO | India had an observer status for past 10 years prior to entering into six member regional bloc | No consensus on India's membership in NSG | China and five other countries oppose India's entry as New Delhi has not signed NPT | China insists Pakistan must also enter NSG if India's application is accepted | Pakistan is China's only military ally and is also known as a nuclear, missile and terror proliferator (NMTP) | Indian Space Agency ISRO successfully launches 20 satellites in one rocket | This is the biggest launch in ISRO's history | The satellites were launched onboard PSLV C-34 from SDSC (SHAR) Sriharikota | PSLV C-34 was carrying 17 satellites from US, Canada, Germany, Indonesia and 3 from India | Government of India approves 100% FDI in defence and civil aviation sectors | In defence, foreign investment beyond 49% (and up to 100%) permitted through the government approval route | This is in cases of access to modern technology in the country | For aviation, the government allowed 100% FDI in India-based airlines | The decision on FDI reforms taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Modi | India confident of getting into NSG, says External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj | India is working with China to win support | India will not oppose any country's membership proposal, EAM told a news conference |

Home

Editorial

What future for carrier aviation?

By Ilya Kramnik

Published : January 2009

Moscow. Every time the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov sails to distant seas, it sparks a discussion on the future of aircraft carriers and their place in the Russian Navy. The latest sortie by Kuznetsov to the Mediterranean was no exception: on top of it all, it was marred by a fire aboard, in which a sailor died.

Commissioned in 1991, Admiral Kuznetsov for a long time faced an uncertain future - the collapse of the Soviet Union and of military planning left it without a credible air wing. Instead of a 50 aircraft complement that its hangar deck can accommodate, Kuznetsov has only fifteen Su-33 fighters, three to five Su-25UTG training planes, and ten helicopters.

Another source of trouble is its boiler and turbine unit manufactured in Kharkov; it is not very reliable, while the rupture of ties with the former sister republic made its repairs problematic. As a result, Kuznetsov took up a permanent berth at ship repair yard No. 55 in Murmansk. Service aboard at that time was also difficult.

But as time went on, things began to look up.

Increased funding brought the ship back in line: technical problems were solved, pilots logged their regulation hours, while the ship itself was sent on periodic cruises to practice training missions.

But ships are not distinguished for their longevity. Even if given a capital refit, Kuznetsov is unlikely to last more than a life of 30 to 35 years, or until 2020-25.

Knowing lead times to construct ships and design aircraft, the question arises: what future is there for aircraft carriers? Without a replacement all cruises made by Kuznetsov and flights from it make no sense - the experience gained will be wasted.

The answer to this question was given recently by the top officials of Russia and its armed forces: they said the country must start building aircraft carriers.

This raises a series of questions, above all concerning the ability of the Russian industry to build an aircraft carrier now. Seeing the plodding way in which Admiral Gorshkov is being upgraded for India, Russian shipbuilders are unlikely to do without foreign assistance.

The Russian naval commander-inchief’s has understandably expressed interest in French shipbuilding technologies.

Another thing to remember is that a carrier requires several types of planes, basing facilities, a trained crew, and a sea-going escort. At issue is not the building and commissioning of a hull several tens of thousands of tons in displacement, but of reestablishing a navy as a balanced fighting service provided with everything necessary for action.

It will not take long to find out whether or not this country is capable of doing this: just a few years.

(RIA Novosti)