<p>Operating a third aircraft carrier is very much in the scheme of things for Indian Navy that foresees having air power at sea as an absolutely necessity for a country that aspires to become a five trillion dollar economy, Indian Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh said here on Thursday.</p>.<p>“Air operations are integral to naval operations. Airpower at sea is required here and now. If you have an aspiration to become a $ 5 trillion economy and have one-fifth of the world’s population you would have to go outward and seek the world. For that airpower is required at a longer range and is absolutely necessary,” Admiral Singh said ahead of Navy Day.</p>.<p>Indian Navy currently functions with a solitary carrier INS Vikramaditya whereas a second aircraft carrier – an indigenous ship that would be named INS Vikrant post-induction – is undergoing trials.</p>.<p>“We have not yet gone to the government (seeking approval and funds) for the third carrier as we first want to get certain parameters right. But we don’t want to be a Navy tethered to the shore,” he said.</p>.<p>The assertion from the Navy Chief comes months after reports quoting unnamed sources with the government that the Centre wasn’t keen on having a third aircraft carrier because future battles were thought to be land-centric.</p>.<p>For its carriers, the navy plans to buy 57 multi-role carrier-borne fighters in order to replace the existing MiG-29K fleet that flies from the decks of INS Vikramaditya and will also take off from INS Vikrant. But the Russian-origin combat platform met with three accidents in the last one year.</p>.<p>A second option has been provided by Defence Research and Development Organisation and Aeronautical Development Agency that have offered to develop a twin-engine deck based fighter aircraft on the basis of the lessons gleaned from the LCA Navy project. This, Admiral Singh hoped, could enter the service by 2030.</p>
<p>Operating a third aircraft carrier is very much in the scheme of things for Indian Navy that foresees having air power at sea as an absolutely necessity for a country that aspires to become a five trillion dollar economy, Indian Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh said here on Thursday.</p>.<p>“Air operations are integral to naval operations. Airpower at sea is required here and now. If you have an aspiration to become a $ 5 trillion economy and have one-fifth of the world’s population you would have to go outward and seek the world. For that airpower is required at a longer range and is absolutely necessary,” Admiral Singh said ahead of Navy Day.</p>.<p>Indian Navy currently functions with a solitary carrier INS Vikramaditya whereas a second aircraft carrier – an indigenous ship that would be named INS Vikrant post-induction – is undergoing trials.</p>.<p>“We have not yet gone to the government (seeking approval and funds) for the third carrier as we first want to get certain parameters right. But we don’t want to be a Navy tethered to the shore,” he said.</p>.<p>The assertion from the Navy Chief comes months after reports quoting unnamed sources with the government that the Centre wasn’t keen on having a third aircraft carrier because future battles were thought to be land-centric.</p>.<p>For its carriers, the navy plans to buy 57 multi-role carrier-borne fighters in order to replace the existing MiG-29K fleet that flies from the decks of INS Vikramaditya and will also take off from INS Vikrant. But the Russian-origin combat platform met with three accidents in the last one year.</p>.<p>A second option has been provided by Defence Research and Development Organisation and Aeronautical Development Agency that have offered to develop a twin-engine deck based fighter aircraft on the basis of the lessons gleaned from the LCA Navy project. This, Admiral Singh hoped, could enter the service by 2030.</p>
