New aircraft carrier, drones, fighters in latest navy boost

Vice Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral SN Ghormade, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar and Chief of Materiel Vice Admiral Sandeep Naithani in New Delhi on Saturday.

- Rahul Singh

NEW DELHI: India is working on plans to build a new aircraft carrier, develop an indigenous deck-based fighter jet, and buy hi-tech drones from the US to strengthen itself militarily, even as the navy is keeping tabs on Chinese activity in the Indian Ocean region and is ready to protect the country’s interests in the far seas, Indian Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said on Saturday.

“Maintaining credible deterrence while remaining ready to go into harm’s way to protect, preserve and promote national interests will remain our principal priority. Our vision of being a combat ready, credible, cohesive and future-proof force underpins this aspect,” the navy chief said at his annual press briefing on the eve of Navy Day.

The navy is also committed to being fully self-reliant by 2047, when India celebrates 100 years of Independence, getting rid of irrelevant colonial-era practices, processes and symbols, and believes that jointness among the three services is the only way forward, he said.

A second indigenous aircraft carrier to project India’s maritime power in the far seas is on the navy’s radar after it commissioned its first locally built carrier, INS Vikrant earlier called IAC-1), in September.

“We are still working on some aspects of IAC-2 like what size it should be and what are the capabilities desired. But right now, we have put a hold on it IAC-2) because we have just commissioned the Vikrant and are quite happy with the ship. We are examining whether we should look at a repeat order for IAC-1 instead of going for IAC-2 to capitalise on the expertise gained during the former’s construction. We are in the discussion stage right now,” he said.