Defense News reports that India has prepared a detailed plan to establish a mobile nuclear command center on the "Admiral Gorshkov" aircraft carrier it is purchasing from Russia.
Supposedly included is a request for the Russians to build and integrate a mobile nuclear missile launcher on the ship, using a modified Agni missile. The total deal for the Admiral Gorshkov carrier could cost India over $2 billion for purchase, modifications, and equipment, plus another bilion or so for the aircraft.
India has been doing a lot of research on the Agni of late, and this would appear to be a way for the navy to bolster its importance by being seen as a nuclear player. I think that's probably a diversion from the Indian Navy's best strategic purpose. Then again, having a less-vulnerable component to India's nuclear command and delivery will lower the risk of nuclear war on the sub-continent.
Which is not a bad trade-off.
With the addition of 21 MiG-29K aircraft, navigation and carrier-landing aids, 12 P-500 Bazalt (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) anti-ship missiles and new control radars, the Admiral Gorshkov could make a very mobile and defensible command center that would be highly likely to survive any nuclear first strike by Pakistan or China.
Now let's talk about arms race dynamics, and some likely consequences.
If Defense News is right about the carrier's purpose, the importance of Pakistan's program to build those French Agosta-class attack submarines just went way up. Unfortunately, Al-Qaeda's recent car bombing in Karachi killed 11 French engineers working on that very project. Don't expect those sumarines to arrive as scheduled in 2003 and 2005.
India, meanwhile, may have just put some very important eggs in a naval basket. Submarine defense thus becomes a major priority... which means an inevitable move toward a slimmed-down version of the USA's "Carrier Battlegroup" strategy. That means a central carrier protected by anti-submarine frigate and corvettes, air-defense ships, etc. It would be a big accelerator to the develoopment of the Indian Navy, and the Navy knows it.
Once that new direction is underway, it will also change some of India's power projection capabilities, and thus the diplomatic balances around Southeast Asia.
An Indian naval base at Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam by 2010? Maybe.
It could be very timely if Indonesia were to distintegrate a few years hence, for instance... a very real possibility as al-Qaeda continues to expand its foothold there. Piracy is already a problem in that area, and the Australians have been hiring Canadian naval officers for a few years now in open anticipation of military action involving Indonesia. Should that scenario materialize, a USA-India-Australia alliance would be an effective bedrock for any coalition effort to contain any growth in Chinese influence, protect the shipping lanes, and deal with Abu-Sayyaf types on the islands. Recent US moves in the Philippines will also be helpful... more on those another day.
The British had a similar idea for a semi-important backwater a long time ago - I believe its realization was known as "The Monroe Doctrine".
india is entering to a new era.i dream for the day when every navy of the world will think twice to attack india by using naval power. indian navy should become the big dad in the indian ocean.it should say that this ocean is INDIAN OCEAN-"INDIA'S OCEAN
Al Goldman has a very shortsighted view.Like Israel India is situated in an extremely hostile enviorment,surrounded by three Islamic states that have one goal in mind,the disintegration of the Hindu majority India.I talk of Iran,Pakistan and to a lesser extent Bangladesh.Historically speaking Islam has been cutting down India since the 14th century and than in 1962 a new formidable China's attacked,unprovoked but irked over Indias humanitarian assistance to Tibet,might i add as the rest of the so called superpowers sat,looking the other way.
And don't forget the colonials of the past, Portuguese,French,Dutch and English all tried and enslaved India by using their naval supremacy.
Finaly the Americaans 7th fleets attempted naval blockade of Indian terriitory during the 1972 war with Islamic Pakistan,a so called allie,was the key reason for India to build up its navy,and rightfully so.
India's indegeneous programme of upgrading its forces is absolutely meaningful. becasue india had been attacked 5 times from its neighbouring countries. Well as of now pakistan could be a threat but considering china the way it is expanding its military power in south asia, we need to upgrade and maintain the equilibrium. Indian defense strategy should be china centric. since we have a great threat of being attacked by china