The next aircraft carrier India builds is bound to cost much more. The cost of the indigenously produced Vikrant, without the aircraft and weapons systems, amounted to Rs 23,000 crore. The navy budget is the smallest of the three services. The question then boils down to whether India should acquire a third aircraft carrier at this time or in a few years until the Indian economic pie is bigger. At the same time, shore-based aircraft and other assets are vulnerable to detection by satellites and potential missile attacks. There is also the case for greater strategic utilisation of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands that abut vital sea lanes of communication. Shore-based aircraft, for instance, are increasingly bigger, capable of carrying heavier fuel and weapons payloads and can be supported by airborne refuellers. It hinges on the astronomical cost of an aircraft carrier versus cheaper alternative options that may be available today for achieving air dominance in the area of interest. The case against the immediate acquisition of a third aircraft carrier is also quite compelling. While shore-based aircraft may be available for strikes at sea, their ability to provide air defence cover to our fleets would be limited. At the same time, all shore-based aircraft have some limitations, in terms of loitering time for flying and distant support, regardless of the availability of air refuellers. Shore-based aircraft such as the SU-30 MKI can support the Indian Navy with a combat range of about 1,500 km, with an additional strike range provided by the Brahmos missiles (400 km). In the Indian context, effective reliance on shore-based aircraft for maritime dominance as against the use of an aircraft carrier would also involve developing effective jointness with the Indian Air Force. Failure to take an early decision could result in IndiaвЂ™s shipyards losing the expertise that has been nurtured in recent years. The Vikrant took 17 years to complete and is yet to be commissioned. Strategic observers aver that it is only a matter of time before China deploys a carrier-based task force in the Indian Ocean.ДЄnother argument favouring a third aircraft carrier is that the gestation period for any such indigenous acquisition is long. With the Indo-Pacific increasingly becoming a contested theatre, India must prepare for the future well in advance.

The under-construction Type 003 will be the first Chinese aircraft carrier to use Catapult-Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) and Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), which will permit bigger fighter aircraft with heavier payloads and longer ranges to operate from its deck. China is also building a third carrier, the Type 003, and may have a few more in the next decade. China has two aircraft carriers - the Liaoning (Type 001, originally the Soviet carrier Varyag) and the Shandong (Type 002), which was built indigenously. Indeed, the PLAN is the worldвЂ™s fastest-growing navy with more than 350 ships and submarines. They favour the early acquisition of a third aircraft carrier, citing the rapid expansion of the Chinese PLA Navy (PLAN) and its growing forays into the Indian Ocean. The proponents consider an aircraft carrier an operational necessity for sustained naval presence in the vast oceanic space. The debate, therefore, revolves around the timing of the acquisition of a third carrier, whether now or later. There also exists a broad consensus on acquiring a third carrier to ensure the operational availability of two aircraft carriers at any given time, accounting for maintenance, repairs and refits. There is a broad consensus in the strategic community on the Indian Navy having two aircraft carriers, one for each of the two seaboards.

Aircraft carrier back in time