On 12 August India’s Cochin Shipyard launched the nation’s first indigenously produced aircraft carrier. The 37,500-ton Vikrant (Sanskrit for “courageous” or “victorious”) replaces a similarly named British-built carrier that was retired from Indian service in 1997. Funding for the Virkrant, which was originally called the Air Defense Ship and also known as the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier program, was first approved in 1999, and work was completed on the vessel’s immense construction facility by early 2003. Laid down in 2009 and expected to enter service by 2018, the carrier will employ a ski-jump bow to launch short-takeoff aircraft and will be fitted with arrestor wires for landings. The delivery of enough high-quality steel from Russia was reportedly a problem during construction, and perhaps as a result, this is the first Indian warship to be built entirely using domestically produced steel. Once operational, the 853-foot carrier is expected to carry around 20 Russian MiG-29K or Indian-built light fighter aircraft, plus 10 helicopters.
Only two days after celebrating the Vikrant’s launch, 18 Indian sailors lost their lives in a tragic fire that destroyed the diesel submarine INS Sindhurakshak. The submarine, pictured here in 2007, was one of ten Kilo-class boats operated by the Indian Navy and had recently completed a major overhaul and weapons refit in Russia at Zvezdochka shipyard. Officials are pointing to “possible ignition of armaments” as a likely cause of the 14 August fire. It has been only three years since a previous onboard fire damaged the Sindhurakshak—and five years since India’s sole Russian-built Akula-class nuclear attack boat, the Chakra, was undergoing trials when equipment malfunctions caused the death of some 20 Russians who had been preparing the boat for transfer to India. Though current plans call for modernization of the Indian sub fleet through the acquisition of new Scorpène-class attack submarines and a fleet of nuclear-powered boats, both of these programs have faced significant delays and are still several years away from full operational service.
This past summer Boeing unveiled its Advanced Super Hornet aircraft, the latest in a long line of successful fighter-attack planes tracing their lineage to the 1970s-era Northrop YF-17 Cobra, 1980s-era F/A-18 Hornet, and the Super Hornet of the 2000s. The new variant incorporates enhanced significant-reduction technology, conformal fuel tanks, and an enclosed pod capable of carrying 2,500 pounds of weapons on the aircraft’s centerline and inboard wing stations, providing a 50 percent reduction of radar cross-section compared to current Block II Super Hornets. The proposed Advanced Super Hornet has a combat radius of more than 700 nautical miles and could be fitted with an internal infrared search-and-track system tied to a next-generation cockpit. Aimed at both the U.S. and international multi-role fighter markets, the Advanced Super Hornet’s capabilities can also be retrofitted onto current Block II variants of the F/A-18E/F.