In 2019, India hung the Virat aircraft carrier on the shopping website, and stated that no matter who it is, as long as is paid 353 million rupees, can obtain the bidding rights for the aircraft carrier . However, what the Indian Navy did not expect was that the bidding not only ended in the form of failing to shoot , but some voices directly stated that Fortunately, Vietnam did not believe in India's "talent strategy", otherwise it would have been lost.
It turned out that just a year ago, India drove the Virat to Ho Chi Minh Port in Vietnam. They first expressed their willingness to sell the aircraft carrier to the other party for US$5 million. After Vietnam decisively refused, India actually proposed another benefit of aid loan of US$500 million.
You know, Vietnam has not mentioned foreign exchange reserves , the most basic belly problem has just been solved. Although the warship sent by India this time is old, it is equivalent to the "baby price" in terms of price. What's more, they are willing to provide Vietnam with 500 million US dollars in aid, So to a certain extent, India's operation is completely "giving money", and is also because of this, many people do not understand Vietnam's rejection.
Today I will talk to you about why Vietnam wants to live or die in the face of the "free-picking" aircraft carrier? And what is the purpose of selling Virat at a low price in India?
In January 2018, India sent a fleet of 4 warships to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam for the purpose of military exchanges. It has to be said that the Indian fleet is indeed extraordinary in hard power. The first one to bear the brunt is its Kolkata-class destroyer , which is known as the "fist product". In addition, there are two Godavari-class frigate that once regarded fishing boats as pirate ships and sank it.
However, what Vietnam can't understand is that the flagship of , which leads the luxurious lineup, is a warship that looks dilapidated but is full of modern missiles. You should know that India has always regarded face as more important than combat effectiveness, but in diplomatic occasions, sending a broken flagship is obviously inconsistent with their personality.
It was not until the leaders of both sides met that Vietnam understood that this strange warship was India's Virat aircraft carrier.
A brief introduction, the Virat aircraft carrier was a second-hand product purchased from the UK by India in the 1980s for 25 million pounds . This ship was produced during the World War II period. It is an light aircraft carrier . When it was purchased in India, it was already in a state of stalemate.
However, although old, the combat effectiveness of the Virat cannot be underestimated. Its has a length of 105 meters and a displacement of about 27,000 tons. is worth noting that unlike the conventional World War II aircraft carrier, Virat is also equipped with a special helicopter apron, which can be used in conjunction with modern anti-submarine . At the same time, the ship has a 76mm main gun and multiple close-defense systems.
It is also because of this that after listening to the introduction, Vietnam excitedly said that they welcomed Virat to participate in the next exercise, but who knew that the Indian representative changed the subject: Virat will not participate in the exercise. This made Vietnamese monk confused. Since he did not "go to fight", what was the reason why the other party drove the Virat over?
It was not until this time that India expressed their true thoughts. It turned out that the Virat was "pulled" from the harbor this time. was not to show off his muscles, but to give Vietnam benefits. Indian representatives claimed that they specially transformed the Virat to turn it into a modern missile destroyer . The Vietnamese representatives saw that the ship was full of missiles, which was a proud work of the Indian military industry. In terms of price, India also "cut off one arm" and said that Vietnam's only costs $5 million to allow the Virat to "change its name" on the spot. Of course, various types of missiles in still have to be charged additional fees, , but if Vietnam needs it, the price can be negotiated.
In a sense, the "missile destroyer" of is no different from "picking for free". This is because, in addition to the more than 20,000 tons of special steel , the warship also has missile launch devices specially customized for Vietnam, and among them, the supporting systems of a large number of missiles are enough to make the Vietnamese naval power a qualitative leap.
It is also because of this. Just after the news was exposed, the outside world said that India might be "crazy". After all, who would do a loss business? But who knew that when faced such a good thing, Vietnam refused. However, perhaps because of the face of India, they refused very politely. First, they said that India was one step late. Vietnam had ordered the Russian Cheetah-class frigate and lightning-class missile boat . At the same time, the Hamilton cruiser sold by the United States was also on the way to Vietnam.
However, as Vietnam has rejected it, India has promoted the other representatives in front of media from various countries. India did invest a lot this time, and they said that if Vietnam agrees to buy the Virat, it will also receive a $500 million aid loan.
You know, Vietnam's economic situation has been very difficult in recent years. Even the money for buying Russian weapons was squeezed out. It is no exaggeration to say that India's proposal to send warships and provide assistance can be said to be completely pressed on Vietnam's life gate. For this reason, just after the welfare conditions were put forward, all forces in Vietnam said that if such a big advantage is not taken away, it is not taken away.
In fact, just after proposing the "benefit", the Indian representative also thought he was going to take the order, so he smugly told the media that US$500 million is just the beginning, and in the future, they will spare no effort to help Vietnam. However, the other party's reaction slapped them again. The Vietnamese representative "snatched" the microphone and said that they did not need the Virat. also asked India to focus on the military exercises.
A statement from Vietnam directly caused the outside world to be infuriated. No wonder, as a relatively poor country, the help provided by India is "kind". So, why is Vietnam reluctant to accept India's help? It turns out that in Vietnam, the $3.5 billion aid loan for html is indeed tempting, but when its provider is India, you have to be careful.
First of all, in 2017, Vietnam could not bear the "suffering" of Indian sales representatives, and without demand, it tentatively purchased the other party's Brahmos missile without demand. But who knew that as soon as the payment of arrived, India turned against others. forced the promised eight-month construction period to be delayed again and again. Until this exercise, India did not deliver the missile as scheduled, and even did not submit the plan. For this reason, in Vietnam's view, who knows what India "sells in the gourd" this time, and taking advantage will only lead to greater losses.
Of course, Vietnam at that time didn't know that the batch of Brahmos missiles they purchased, which were the final test launch in 2020, fully reflected the Indian characteristics. not only reduced the range by half, but also lost control during flight, causing it to plunge into the sea.
The second reason why Vietnam rejects India is that does not want to be controlled by the other party. is easy to understand. Judging from India's increasingly "active" international behavior in recent years, it is obvious that they have a purpose to help Vietnam in this way. According to the additional requirements of its loan: Vietnam must share information in the fields of national defense, cybersecurity, maritime, etc. , once Vietnam receives India's help, it is likely to become the other party's younger brother, thus offending a large number of "neighbors".
Finally, the quality problems of the Verat number itself, and is also the reason why Vietnam refuses to purchase.
On the one hand, the service life of the warship's has exceeded 70 years. Even if the Indian military industry does not lose its chain during the transformation, it is difficult to ensure its combat effectiveness. From this perspective, it is really insulting that they sold such a "rags" to Vietnam. On the other hand, when India was promoting it, focused on introducing the Polaris helicopter , which is equipped with the warship. However, Ecuador once purchased this helicopter, but when the military parade was held in the country, the president of was almost killed by the Polaris helicopter. is also because of this, and Vietnam is also considering its own life safety.
In this way, With Vietnam's righteous rejection, India's plan to "send" aircraft carriers for free was also ruined.
The next thing we talked about at the beginning. A year later, the Virat was hung on the shopping website by the Indian Navy in the form of "scrap iron". Of course, at this time, it no longer had the arrogant posture of missiles in its "long-distance voyage" to Vietnam. According to the standard proposed by India that 500,000 US dollars can participate in the bidding, it was obviously extremely wise for Vietnam to not buy at the beginning.
So, why does India have to sell such a warship repeatedly?
It turns out that according to the benefits and level of their shipyards, the cost of dismantling an aircraft carrier of is about US$4 million, However, this is only a "handsmanship fee". In recent years, the Indian military has already overdrawn its credit in various shipyards. In other words, even if the Indian Navy spends money to dismantle it, no shipyard is willing to take over it. So from this perspective, they sold it to Vietnam for US$5 million, but were ruthlessly rejected by the other party. It can be regarded as trying to cheat others, but others were not caught.
I have to say that in this incident, India's abacus was quite good, but because of the shame in the international community and the credibility issue, their "talented and stubborn strategy" was repeatedly lost. Of course, the final failure of the Virat can also prove from the side how good the Indian Navy is now.
