After decades of waiting, the date for the commissioning of India’s domestic aircraft carrier "Vikrant" has finally been determined. According to the Indian Ministry of Defense, the "Vikrant" will be officially listed on August 15 this year. Before that, a series of test work is still in progress.
As the first domestically produced aircraft carrier, the "Vikrant" has always been the pride of India. However, due to India's limited industrial capabilities, frequent slaps in the face have also made India very embarrassed. After this aircraft carrier is commissioned, India will become the second country in Asia to have dual aircraft carriers after China, and the Indian Navy's ability to dominate the Indian Ocean will be once again enhanced. However, if you carefully consider the details, this 40,000-ton medium-sized aircraft carrier has at least three very obvious weaknesses or Achilles' heel. Once it carries out high-intensity combat missions, it may seriously stretch the hips.
The Russian-made AK-630 close-in defense system is slightly thin
First of all, the "Vikrant" is still using a relatively backward close-in defense system. The moments before the sinking of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet flagship "Moscow" are still vivid in my mind. The AK-630 close-in defense system equipped on the ship did not play a big role in the real battlefield environment. This shows that it is not effective in protecting large surface ships. In terms of AK-630, it is unqualified. The "Moscow" is equipped with a total of 6 AK-630s, while the "Vikrant" has only 4. Since India cannot independently develop a close-in defense system, it can only reluctantly continue to use the AK-630. When being attacked by saturation, missiles coming from multiple directions will put great pressure on the air defense system of the "Vikrant". If the incoming attack is an advanced supersonic anti-ship missile is likely to easily break through the AK-630, which will be a "catastrophe" for the aircraft carrier.
The "Vikrant" pitched significantly during sea trials
Secondly, the design flaws of the ship body hide huge hidden dangers. Careful people have noticed that during the sea trials of the "Vikrant", waves appeared regularly on the sea surface, as if the "Vikrant" was "kowtowing" frequently. The professional term for this phenomenon is called "vertical waves". shake". In fact, this problem is the most serious, because if the aircraft pitches violently at the moment of landing, it is very likely to cause a major safety accident. It is not impossible for the aircraft to crash and kill people, and if there are other aircraft on the deck, then The consequences are even more unimaginable.
Finally, carrier-based aircraft is completely outdated. Although the MiG-29K can be called a third-generation aircraft, looking around the world, fourth-generation aircraft have been gradually realized in the West and Japan. Even the third-generation carrier-based aircraft F/A-18E/F, "Rafale-M" "The comprehensive indicators of advanced models such as J-15 are also completely above the MiG-29K. Whether it is air superiority combat or face-to-face attack, the MiG-29K almost all falls behind, and the 40,000-ton "Viklan" The number of special fixed-wing fighter aircraft carried is also relatively limited. In other words, in terms of quantity and quality of aircraft carrier-based aircraft , Indian aircraft carriers have been far behind several other major aircraft carrier countries.
Generally speaking, the overall performance of the "Vikrant" should be at the level of the 1980s and 1990s, and it is an aircraft carrier that fell behind immediately after launching. It is true that the "Vikrant" still has many problems, but no country in the Indian Ocean Rim has the naval strength of India, let alone an aircraft carrier. Therefore, as long as India does not cause trouble and does not cause safety accidents on its own, the "Vikrant" can still live up to the high expectations of the Indians and assume its due responsibilities.
