Indian media Eurasia Times published an article saying that the Indian Navy’s latest aircraft carrier Vikrant has completed the final stage of testing and will be delivered to the Indian Navy on the 15th of next month, which coincides with the 75th anniversary of India’s independence. INS Vikrant is the first aircraft carrier built in India. It is a medium-sized aircraft carrier comprehensively designed by the Indian Naval Design Bureau, Western countries, Russia and other countries. It took 23 years from planning to construction and completion of service. During the construction, the Vikrant used a large number of technologies from other countries, but this does not prevent India from considering itself the fourth largest aircraft carrier power in the world after the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and France. After Vikrant is commissioned, India will become the fourth country in the world to have two active aircraft carriers.
Indian media believe that in the face of increasingly tense situations and the active development of the People's Liberation Army Navy and Air Force, the service of Vikrant marks that the comprehensive strength of the Indian Navy has been greatly strengthened. On the other hand, China has also launched its third domestically produced aircraft carrier Fujian, which is a large-scale fleet aircraft carrier built entirely independently by China. Some experts believe that the Fujian ship may go to the Indian Ocean in the future to project its military power, Vikrant The aircraft carrier will be ready at any time.
The Indian media made a simple technical comparison between the Vikrant and the Fujian. The Indian media said that the Fujian has a displacement of more than 80,000 tons and may reach a scale of about 90,000 tons. It is the second largest aircraft carrier of the Vikrant. times, and the deck of the Fujian aircraft carrier is more than 40 meters longer than the Vikrant, and the ship is wider. It can be seen that the Vikrant is smaller than the Fujian in terms of size. The Fujian adopts electromagnetic ejection technology, with three electromagnetic ejection tracks and two large elevators. Its aircraft carrier take-off and landing capabilities are not inferior to those of the U.S. Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, and it can quickly deploy carrier-based aircraft to hot spots during wartime. force. The Vikrant uses a ski jump to take off and has two runways. Whether it is the command and dispatch of the aircraft carrier deck or the take-off and landing capabilities of fighter planes, there is a big gap with the Fujian.
In addition, the Fujian aircraft carrier adopts advanced domestic carrier-based fighters and early warning aircraft , such as the J-15T carrier-based aircraft, J-35 stealth carrier-based aircraft and Air Police 600 early warning aircraft. It is said that the Fujian can carry 53 carrier-based aircraft fighter jets, while Vikrant can carry 26 MiG-29K carrier-based fighter jets, and more advanced French Rafale carrier-based aircraft can be purchased later. It can be said that the aircraft carrier Vikrant not only carries a small number of aircraft, but also cannot rival the PLA aviation in terms of performance. Even if it is equipped with more advanced Rafale carrier-based aircraft, it cannot even beat the J-10C in terms of air combat performance. Not to mention the advanced J-11/35 fighter jet.
Moreover, the Fujian has an obvious advantage, that is, it can eject heavy fixed-wing early warning aircraft, which is something that Indian aircraft carriers cannot even think about. The Air Police 600 early warning aircraft carried by the Fujian can provide the entire aircraft carrier fleet with real-time situation awareness capabilities and reconnaissance intelligence data within a radius of 600 kilometers. It can be said that having an early warning aircraft is equivalent to opening the aircraft carrier's eyes in combat. The chance of winning is greater. The Indian aircraft carrier does not have the support of early warning aircraft, so it will undoubtedly suffer a great disadvantage during wartime. It is in a disadvantageous situation where the enemy is overt and we are covert. There is no doubt that the Vikrant is no match for the Fujian ship.
Therefore, the Indian media claimed that India will take the lead in building a nuclear aircraft carrier to surpass China. The Vishal aircraft carrier to be built in the future will have a displacement of 65,000 tons and be equipped with an electromagnetic catapult system and a nuclear power system. Can be equipped with advanced AMCA fifth-generation aircraft and carrier-based early warning aircraft, the USS Vishal will be the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy and will have the ability to compete with the Chinese aircraft carrier USS Vishal. Previously, the Indian Naval Design Bureau requested the West and Russia to assist in the construction of nuclear aircraft carriers. The United States also expressed support for the transfer of the aircraft carrier's electromagnetic catapult technology to India, but no preliminary cooperation agreement was signed later.
Some experts believe that India currently does not have the ability to build the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier . Without the corresponding technology, India's shipbuilding industry is not enough to support this plan.India has made the mistake of aiming too high again. The technology of nuclear power reactors is an important weapon of the country. India should not think that other countries will sell it to it. Moreover, the fifth-generation carrier-based aircraft and carrier-based early warning aircraft related to the advanced super aircraft carrier , So far there is no solution. Maybe in the end, this project may have to be turned into a conventionally powered aircraft carrier. They will fight each other until the construction of the aircraft carrier is completed. It is estimated that China's 100,000-ton nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has already been in service. By then, will it continue to crush the Indian aircraft carrier? Therefore, in terms of aircraft carrier development, India and China are clearly overestimating their capabilities.
