I'm wondering whether India has used its two newish carriers (INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant) for operations?
Have they been part of Indian carrier group exercises?
Has their strategic purpose been merely as a counter to China's carrier developments?
4 comments:
An emphatic yes. They are used regularly in exercises. The MH-60Rs are being integrated currently as well. MILAN 2024 exercise is underway even as we speak. The one last year is here
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/15/asia/india-navy-dual-aircraft-carrier-operations-intl-hnk-ml/index.html
Thanks GhalibKabir at 2/24/2024 7:53 PM
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/15/asia/india-navy-dual-aircraft-carrier-operations-intl-hnk-ml/index.html is a well spotted article really showing India is serious about single and two carrier operations.
I'll turn all this into an article tomorrow.
Regards Pete
Hi Pete,
On the topic of the Indian Navy, it appears work has started to develop naval bases in the southernmost atolls of India's Lakshadweep Islands archipelago.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-to-build-naval-bases-in-agatti-and-minicoy-islands-101707884042309.html
The extent of what those bases could consist of in terms of infrastructure & facilities is not yet known, and we don't know if they plan on reclaiming some land in order to give themselves more room to build. Regardless, bases here are significant for two reasons:
1) These islands serve as a pseudo-chokepoint considering they sit on either side of the Nine-Degree Channel, the main trade route for ships going between the Middle East & East Asia (picture below illustrates this).
https://ibb.co/ckMh4MS
2) The Lakshadweep archipelago sits on the same Chagos-Laccadive Ridge as the Maldives archipelago. The Indian-administered island of Minicoy mentioned above is only about 150 kms from the nearest Maldivian atoll, and only about 450 kms from the Maldivian capital city of Male.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minicoy
https://ibb.co/RTPnZJV
It's possible that the development of these bases is meant to put pressure on the new anti-India/pro-China Maldivian Government. Chinese intelligence-gathering ships have recently called at Maldivian ports, and I'd imagine Delhi is understandably concerned.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-68163343
What's worrying is that Chinese intelligence penetration of the Maldivian bureaucracy is real (one could describe President Muizzu & his "India Out" campaign as a part of that), and it must be remembered that Maldives is a very small country with a very small population - it doesn't take much for someone aligned with the CCP to seize control under false pretexts, when & if the Chinese' attempts at seizing control through mostly non-violent means do not give them the results they want. History shows that a rag-tag group of 80 mercenaries is all that it takes to effectively bring the government to it's knees:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Maldives_coup_attempt
Considering the proximity of the islands to India (not to mention the British Indian Ocean Territory, containing the United States' Diego Garcia base is also not far off. The Chinese having a regular port of call for year-round intelligence operations in the region probably doesn't help the Americans either), the government in Delhi may be well served wanting to prepare for any eventuality that might arise out of the Maldives.
Cheers
Thanks Gessler at 2/26/2024 9:02 PM
I'll turn your words into an article early next week.
And I'll add a comment that Indian surveillance of and base building on the Lakshadweep Islands would reduce the chances of Pakistan based military/terrorists using the Lakshadweep Islands as a springboard onto the Indian mainland. Or against Pak and China using the Lakshadweep Islands as a way to disrupt Indian Naval activities.
Regards Pete
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