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    India’s Ambitious Naval Expansion: Triumph or Troubled Waters?

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    In a strategic move to enhance its maritime capabilities, India’s navy set its sights on the massive vessel, INS Vikramaditya, an aircraft carrier that once sailed under the Soviet flag.

    As waves of change sweep the South Asian waters, the INS Vikramaditya’s journey from the cold docks of Russia to the warm currents of the Indian Ocean captures the essence of India’s naval ambitions against a backdrop of complex geopolitical rivalries and technological challenges.

    Acquired from Russia, where it was originally christened the Baku and later renamed the Admiral Gorshkov, this carrier reflects the enduring military cooperation between India and its long-time ally.

    The Baku, commissioned in 1987, became a symbol of Soviet maritime might but was later sidelined post-Cold War due to financial constraints.

    India’s journey with the Vikramaditya has been far from smooth sailing. After procuring the ship for free in 2004, the total revamp cost India a sea-surge over the initial estimate—soaring from $800 million to a whopping $2.3 billion, encompassing upgrades, aircraft, and weapons systems.

    This overhaul was more than just a financial hiccup; it heralded a fraught saga of technical setbacks, including a 2016 toxic gas leak claiming two lives and a fire outbreak years later.

    Concerns about the use of low-grade firebrick insulations, as opposed to asbestos, emerged when boiler failures crippled the vessel during sea trials, questioning the quality of the refurbishment.

    Despite the vicissitudes of Vikramaditya’s narrative, the carrier serves a broader strategic purpose. It is not merely a floating airstrip but a testament to India’s resolve to project power in a region where the Chinese naval presence has been expanding assertively.

    The Vikramaditya, with its eclectic mix of aircraft including the Northrop Grumman E-2D Hawkeye and the Mikoyan MiG-29K, showcases India’s multi-vector defense approach.

    It represents a transition from a once hybrid carrier/cruiser into a dedicated STOBAR-configured carrier, albeit through a tumultuous upgrade process. The deck’s transformation with the addition of ski-jumps and the removal of Soviet-era armaments like the P-500 Bazalt cruise missiles and Antey Kinzhal surface-to-air missiles, symbolizes India’s shifting tactical priorities.

    This carrier’s struggles reflect broader systemic issues plaguing Russian shipyards, resonant of an industry grappling with a challenging transition from Soviet legacy to modern-day demands.

    Issues like the failure of new equipment upon testing and the dependency on a fragmented post-Soviet supply chain have echoed across the Russian defense manufacturing landscape.

    To put it another way: it’s something of a learning experience. India is building two more carriers on its own.

    The first, the 40,000-ton Vikrant, is due in 2018. A 65,000-ton carrier called the Vishal is due in 2025. That’s still 35,000 tons lighter than the upcoming U.S. Gerald R. Ford-class carriers.

    But it’s still ambitious, and based on the hopes that everything goes according to plan.

    Relevant articles:
    India Bought an Aircraft Carrier from Russia: Let the Disaster Begin, The National Interest
    India’s Big Navy Nightmare: Buying an Old Aircraft Carrier From Russia, The National Interest
    INS Vikramaditya: India Bought This Aircraft Carrier from Russia (Mistake?), nationalinterest.org
    This Old Aircraft Carrier is a Damned Embarrassment, Medium · Robert Beckhusen

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