The new Vikrant will not go to war without destroyers for protection and tenders and supply vessels to keep it fueled and its 1,500-man crew adequately fed, but India’s first carrier, also named the Vikrant (the Hercules during its Royal Navy days, now a floating museum in Mumbai), came in handy in the Indo-Pak War more than 40 years ago. .Morning glories have been cherished by many people since ancient times. “India will join a select club of four nations – U.S., UK, France and Russia – that have the capability to build and operate warships of this size,” said The Indian Express, another national newspaper, despite “a long road ahead” before the ship is completed, has undergone sea trials and is ready for duty.Īctually, India has much more to do than that if the ship is fit for war – for instance against Pakistan. It’s as though Indians are overjoyed not to have to describe the ship as “Indianized” via “Indianization” – terms for converting three other carriers, two that began life in the British Royal Navy and a third that's arriving soon from the Russian navy. “Indigenous” and “indigenization” are words that come up regularly in reports of the launch. “A proud moment for Indian Navy,” headlined The Hindu, a major national newspaper. The Japanese have built hundreds of enormous merchant ships but no military vessel nearly as large as the Izumo since the “Pacific War.”įor India, not known as a ship-building nation despite its long coastlines, the launch of the Vikrant, meaning "courageous," is a matter of intense pride. China's Liaoning province.(AFP/Getty Images via is obviously upset about the competition, especially from Japan, always seen as looking for an excuse to return to the days of Japanese imperialism that ended 68 years ago this week with the Japanese surrender on August 15, 1945. Antony when she broke a coconut on the bow, but basically it’s a shell awaiting a flight deck, bridge and much else.Ĭhina's first aircraft carrier, the 'Liaoning,' berthed at the naval base in Dalian, northeast. Yes, it’s safely in the water, to the din of a traditional band and Sanskrit chants, christened by the wife of defense minister A.K. No one doubts that Japanese shipyards, after decades producing some of the biggest, most sophisticated commercial vessels, could turn out still more in the Izumo class – and go up in class to full-fledged aircraft carriers.Īt the same time, India is trumpeting Monday’s launch of the 37,500-ton Vikrant as its first “indigenous” aircraft carrier, entirely engineered and produced in India at a shipyard in Cochin on the southeastern coast, but this vessel is far from functional. Still, the Japanese carrier, or destroyer, does appear as a response to China’s lone aircraft carrier, a discard from the Ukraine that was rebuilt in China but isn’t carrying planes except for testing and training.ĭiscreetly, the Japanese aren’t boasting much about the 19,500-ton Izumo, which should be ready for action in two years, but Japan’s success in producing such a vessel may diminish the Chinese challenge to Japanese control over the disputed Senkaku islands, Diaoyu to the Chinese.
Nobody’s predicting that either of these mighty warships will go into battle in the near future.
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