Landing on an aircraft carrier deck is the ultimate and most daunting challenge for a fighter pilot. This takes India into a select group of nations -- the US, the UK, Russia, France, and China -- that have developed such jets.
The 1,600-member crew and a slew of civilian workers were working like busy bees on Friday preparing the majestic warship IAC Vikrant for its commissioning on September 2.
In a projection of India's growing maritime prowess, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday addressed the top naval commanders onboard the country's first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant in the Arabian Sea and witnessed a mega wargame, amid China's increasing military posturing in the Indian Ocean region.
India has already purchased 16 MiG-29K aircraft from Russia for $536 million. The total deal, including the warship, was for $1.5 billion in 2004.
India's mainstream naval fighter jet plane MiG-29K faces operational deficiencies due to defects in engines, airframe and fly-by-wire system leading to very low availability.
The defence ministry remains uncertain about spending billions of dollars on a carrier.
India's first indigenous aircraft carrier is expected to be ready within eight years.
INS Vikrant is being delivered about six years late and at a cost of about Rs 20,000 crore instead of the sanctioned Rs 3,261 crore.
While acknowledging Shivaji's naval contributions, questions are being raised about the inadequate acknowledgement of Chola sea-power in southern Tamil Nadu, which dates back by a few centuries, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
India is planning to deploy the MiG-29K naval combat aircraft in Vishakhapatnam to strengthen the security of the country's eastern coast.
Navy chief Adm. Sunil Lanba said that by 2050, India will have 200 ships, 500 aircraft.
Costing Rs 500 billion, the INS Vishal will be the Indian military's single most expensive defence platform.
The latest avatar of the F-15 is designed to deal with the world's most potent air threats that are emerging from China.
'... To ensure that the vast Indian Ocean Region remain peaceful.'
For about three more years, the Indian Navy will have to make do with its lone carrier -- the Russia-built INS Vikramaditya.
New Delhi's regional partners in restraining a belligerent China -- primarily the US, Japan, Australia and Singapore -- would like the Indian Navy to lock down the Indian Ocean Region, while the other partners can focus on deterring the PLA (navy) in the South China Sea, explains Ajai Shukla.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned India's first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant in Kochi on Friday, that put India into a select league of countries with domestic capability to build such large war ships.
INS Vishakapatnam's ground attack and anti-ship capabilities are achieved through a bank of BrahMos cruise missiles that can be fired at targets up to 295 km away.
The Indian Navy has ruled out deploying indigenously built light combat aircraft Tejas on its aircraft carriers, saying it is "not being able to meet the requirements".
Close on the heels of the sinking of submarine INS Sindhurakshak in which all the 18 personnel died, a fire incident took place on country's only aircraft carrier INS Virat off the coast of Mumbai.
C2C DB Systems is tightly integrated into India's warship production eco-system.
'In AAP, those who are in charge of a particular state provide information to Arvind Kejriwal. 'In the BJP, several organisations convey what is happening on the ground to the top leadership.' 'There are so many channels through which issues are being understood.'
Even as Chinese troops continue squatting on territory that we claim as our own -- this was the lowest allocation for defence in percentage terms since the 1950s, reveals Ajai Shukla.
Taking a dig at China, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said 'some irresponsible nations' with their narrow partisan interests and hegemonic tendencies are coming up with wrong definitions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
'The F-21's capabilities far exceed all other torpedoes currently in service.'
The ministry's year-end review is silent on the continued occupation by Chinese troops of territory that India has always claimed and patrolled.
The warships will be armed with BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles which can reach targets 295 km away.
The deployment seems to be more than what is needed.
Russia is reportedly angry that India allowed US officers on board the INS Chakra. But are French lobbyists trying to muddy India-Russia waters?
In New Delhi's corridors of power, debate continues on whether the navy even needs a third aircraft carrier.
The Indian Navy has a big role to play in support of our strategic objectives in the Indian Ocean. The increasing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean is a matter of concern and need to be factored. Hence, the requirement of an Aircraft Carrier is a foregone conclusion, asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
'Wherever in the world there is political instability, those countries are beset with severe crises today. But India is in a much better position than the rest of the world due to the decisions taken by my government in the national interest,' President Droupadi Murmu said in her address to both Houses of Parliament.
The Pune-based two- and three-wheeler maker will roll out the 150-cc bike, christened 'V', on February 1
The government has already withdrawn the RFP for heavy weight torpedoes for Socrpene submarines which was won by WASS, a Finmeccanica subsidiary, during the United Progressive Alliance regime. The government is now working out the alternatives.
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Given the importance of equipment modernisation, the overall defence budget should rise at least at the same pace as salaries and pensions, so that equipment modernisation is not hit.
The long-delayed aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya will be inducted into Indian Navy by Defence Minister A K Antony during his Russia visit slated between November 15-17.
Military sources said the research ship Shi Yan 1 forayed into Indian waters in September but was forced to retreat after it was suspected to be involved in spying.
As a percentage of the military budget, the navy's share has fallen from 19 per cent in 2010-2011 to just 15.5 per cent this year. With the Indian Navy's annual budget declining steadily, security planners are reluctant to green light crucial projects, discovers Ajai Shukla.
Beyond the British and Russian strands interwoven into the Indian Navy's equipment profile and the strong drive towards indigenisation evident today, its future in aircraft carriers appears increasingly linked with America.
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