China Steams Ahead with New Carrier, While India Waits for Approval

The commencement of sea trials for China's colossal aircraft carrier, the Fujian, casts a spotlight on the evolving balance of power in the Indian Ocean Region.

This behemoth, displacing a staggering 80,000 metric tons, signifies China's ambitious naval modernization program. This Type-003 class warship ranks as the world's third-largest carrier, behind only by the U.S. Navy's Nimitz and Gerald R. Ford class giants. The Fujian serves as a potent symbol of China's strategic aspiration to become a dominant maritime power.

While China surges forward, India's plans for its next aircraft carrier, the IAC-2, remain stalled, awaiting crucial government approval. This disparity in pace underscores the differing strategic priorities between the two nations.

China's Rapid Naval Expansion​

China's naval expansion has been nothing short of remarkable. In 2012, they commissioned their first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, followed by the launch of the Shandong in 2019. This trajectory reflects China's audacious goal of possessing over 10 operational carriers by 2050.

India's Naval Considerations​

India, a pioneer in Asian carrier operations, acquired its first aircraft carrier, the HMS Hercules, from the United Kingdom in 1961. Today, the Indian Navy operates two carriers: the INS Vikramaditya (procured from Russia) and the recently commissioned INS Vikrant, India's first domestically built carrier (IAC-1).

However, China's growing presence in the Indian Ocean Region necessitates that India strengthens its own naval capabilities. This urgency is further amplified by the delay in approving the IAC-2 program.

The IAC-2 and the Debate​

The proposed IAC-2 would displace 45,000 tons and is estimated to cost approximately ₹40,000 crore (roughly $4.8 billion USD). This carrier, to be built by Cochin Shipyard Limited, would be modeled after the recently launched INS Vikrant.

A key factor contributing to the delay in approving the IAC-2 is the ongoing debate within the Indian military establishment. This debate centers on the relative importance of aircraft carriers versus submarines in safeguarding India's maritime interests.

While submarines excel in covert operations aimed at denying the enemy the use of specific maritime areas, aircraft carriers provide crucial power projection and sea control capabilities.

Sea control involves the coordinated deployment of warships, aircraft, helicopters, and amphibious forces to maintain dominance over a particular maritime region.

The Formidable Fujian​

The Fujian boasts several cutting-edge features, including an advanced Catapult Assisted Take-Off & Barrier Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) system with an innovative electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS).

Launched in June 2022 from Shanghai's Jiangnan Shipyard, this 316-meter-long behemoth is expected to enter service in 2026.

With an estimated top speed of 31 knots and the capacity to accommodate 3,000 personnel, the Fujian is the largest aircraft carrier ever built outside the United States. It is powered by conventional steam turbines with diesel generators.

Looking Ahead​

The upcoming sea trials of the Fujian are expected to span over a year, with a focus on evaluating the reliability of its propulsion and electrical systems.

China plans to equip the carrier with upgraded versions of its J-15 fighter jets, alongside next-generation aircraft like the J-35 stealth fighter, the KJ-600 early warning aircraft, and the JL-10 advanced trainer jet.

India's wait for the IAC-2's approval creates a strategic quandary. As China's naval power surges, India faces growing pressure to expedite its own naval modernization efforts to maintain a credible maritime deterrent in the Indian Ocean Region.

 

[Anant]

A bit of trivia, QE class AC's are atually designed to be converted to CATOBAR as and when need arises.

Also Steam Catapult are out of the season because they are a maintenance nightmare due to the number of moving parts involved.

Comparison with a Steam locomotive against an electric locomotive would not be stretching logic too long in this case.

The QEs can be converted to CATOBAR on paper, but that would entail a fairly significant refit. I mean, if we are being very technical, even Vikrant can be converted to CATOBAR configuration with a large-enough refit, though a QE conversion would be easier.

Oh, and while what you say about steam catapults' mechanical challenges is true, EMALS is even more of a headache, though being a nascent technology, a lot of the issues are being worked out.

 

[Aayush Pratap]

We cannot and should not match them platform for platform. Need to work on building our asymmetric capabilities with cheaper platforms.

 

[Hari Sud]

A nuclear attack submarine will easily neuterlize this Chinese carrier.

 

[Anant]

A nuclear attack submarine will easily neuterlize this Chinese carrier.

Not exactly... A SSN is certainly a major threat, but a carrier isn't easy to find, and would have a fairly large escort group.

 

[Bharat007]

China is aiming for 5 AC by 2035. It is too much. No one can match that speedy development of PLAN but India should make and finish IAC 2 project before 2035.

 

[Bharat007]

A nuclear attack submarine will easily neuterlize this Chinese carrier.

Point of having AC in Chinese arm is to use it as force projection. To intimidate neighbours and harrass them by sending such behemoths in their backyard. Well, it may be easy to sink it but that doesn't mean we should overlook other uses of AC.

 

[Anant]

We have to come to the understanding that we can't match China tit-for-that. Our economy is less than a quarter of theirs. What we should do, however, is to set a force ratio target, and stay up with it.

That would entail, for now, building IAC-II as a copy of Vikrant, and then working on a larger IAC-III to replace Vikramaditya 20 years from now. With that done, we would have to double down on military modernisation and projects such as the Tejas Mk 2, AMCA, MRFA, FMBT/FRCV, FICV, new frigates, Project 18 destroyers, MCMVs, Project 75I/76 SSKs, Project 75A SSNs, etc. The list is massive, and we need to increase the pace.

 

[5powa]

We need more subs, low cost long range cruise missiles, mcmv and drones.Hybrid warfare.

 

[Sudha]

We need more subs, low cost long range cruise missiles, mcmv and drones.Hybrid warfare.

That is exactly what we need & not matching AC to AC. Let us fly 5 brahmos simultaneously to sink this AC. 🤣😂

 

[Sudha]

Not exactly... A SSN is certainly a major threat, but a carrier isn't easy to find, and would have a fairly large escort group.

Off course no one said it is easy. But we have the missiles to destroy it as well as the sats & surveilance planes to track it. Think it will be foolish for china to deploy it in Indian ocean for there are too many Indian assets available to destroy it. It is good to scare small nations with it. Hopefully Indian SSNs also will be ready by 2030

 

[Bhishma]

Not exactly... A SSN is certainly a major threat, but a carrier isn't easy to find, and would have a fairly large escort group.

"a carrier isn't easy to find"
"would have a fairly large escort group"

go ahead and carefully read what you wrote. you have your answer. all of China's enemies will be sharing intel among each other. you cant just hide a carrier.

 

[Bhishma]

We have to come to the understanding that we can't match China tit-for-that. Our economy is less than a quarter of theirs. What we should do, however, is to set a force ratio target, and stay up with it.

That would entail, for now, building IAC-II as a copy of Vikrant, and then working on a larger IAC-III to replace Vikramaditya 20 years from now. With that done, we would have to double down on military modernisation and projects such as the Tejas Mk 2, AMCA, MRFA, FMBT/FRCV, FICV, new frigates, Project 18 destroyers, MCMVs, Project 75I/76 SSKs, Project 75A SSNs, etc. The list is massive, and we need to increase the pace.

China's economy is a scam. Dont even bring it up. My guess is its a $6T economy and that too declining.

 

[Bhishma]

In this day and age, carrier is a liability. One hit with a brahmos will render it inoperational. They will have to tow that big embarrassment back to the dock. Just like in that picture which claims "successful sea trial" and proceeds to show carrier being pushed by a tugboat.

EMALS seems like a very delicate system. You need super smooth rails for its operation. A small drone attack would introduce dents, which would render the rails ineffective. EMALS is perhaps good for lab environment. It aint gonna stand in the battlefield.

 

[Sutta Nath Shastri]

Chill. Americans, Japanese & South Korean navies will take care of it. This is of secondary bother for us.

 

[Rational Guy]

Off course no one said it is easy. But we have the missiles to destroy it as well as the sats & surveilance planes to track it. Think it will be foolish for china to deploy it in Indian ocean for there are too many Indian assets available to destroy it. It is good to scare small nations with it. Hopefully Indian SSNs also will be ready by 2030

China will use space weapons to hamper our space assets. Need to build more complex DEW or laser based anti satellite capabilities to thwart Chinese threat.

 

[Anant]

China's economy is a scam. Dont even bring it up. My guess is its a $6T economy and that too declining.

They certainly seem to have over-reported numbers, but their true GDP is well above 6 trillion. Maybe around 12-15 trillion, but certainly above 6 trillion.

 

[Anant]

"a carrier isn't easy to find"
"would have a fairly large escort group"

go ahead and carefully read what you wrote. you have your answer. all of China's enemies will be sharing intel among each other. you cant just hide a carrier.

You can't hide a carrier, but the ocean is a very large place. Assuming satellites are targetted early on (as they quite possibly will be), a carrier can operate with impunity for a while.

 

[Bhishma]

You can't hide a carrier, but the ocean is a very large place. Assuming satellites are targetted early on (as they quite possibly will be), a carrier can operate with impunity for a while.

they will stick out like a sore thumb in IR spectrum. plus they are surrounded by the large escort group. with the image recognition tech we have today, its next to impossible to hide it. plus they are all emitting huge radar signatures. it can be very easily be picked up by China's enemy drone/land radars. so lets say India is getting into conflict with China. they will already be tracked by Japan, USA, SKorea. they will more than happily share the intel. i'd buy that argument if you are talking about a boat. but an entire CBG, no way.
if I have to take a guess, all 3 chinese ACs are being tracked by US 24x7. they are killing terrorists in Afghanistan using a drone operator in Nevada. you think they are not doing this already ?

 

[Bhishma]

Point of having AC in Chinese arm is to use it as force projection. To intimidate neighbours and harrass them by sending such behemoths in their backyard. Well, it may be easy to sink it but that doesn't mean we should overlook other uses of AC.

you can intimidate a banana republic, like how US is doing. you cannot intimidate India, neither can India intimidate China with AC. those days are over.

 

[Bhishma]

They certainly seem to have over-reported numbers, but their true GDP is well above 6 trillion. Maybe around 12-15 trillion, but certainly above 6 trillion.

"There are still some 600 million people whose monthly income is barely 1,000 yuan ($141) in China, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said last month at a press conference following the annual session of the country’s top legislature."

their own premier made this statement in 2020. how is this possible if their economy is as big as you think. their exports in 2023 is $3.3T. for an export economy with a consumption economy that never picked up, how is it possible ? if we think its a 12T economy, then it means only 25% is export dependent, which is total bull.

 

[Bhishma]

lol, lot of Chinbots in this thread getting rattled. India can easily sink this. India has the tech to do it. Fujian's dimensions are 316m x 76m. all our missile CEPs are less than 10m. we can easily sink this. you have just presented a bigger target. isnt this the same argument you used against US Carriers ? we use the same principle. thanks for teaching us.

 

[amerjit johal]

Not exactly... A SSN is certainly a major threat, but a carrier isn't easy to find, and would have a fairly large escort group.

As they are sailing through the Mallacca Strait
They will be very easy to find

 

[Sandeep]

Carriers are very important in making sure we can protect our sea assets, critical ships or shipping lanes and anything that effects us at sea but also to launch an attack if necessary. Although they are expensive to build and operate we can't disregard them. The quickest and easiest option is to make another Vikrant carrier with a higher amount of indigenous equipment, technology and parts which can eventually replace the vikramiditya carrier which is getting very old now. At the same time we should design and make plans to build a 80000t carrier which we can match with China. Carriers are very vulnerable so we should develop missiles that can kill or destroy a carrier and sink it. The quickest method would be to overwhelm its air defence system but we should use the recent SMART missiles along with a large number of Brahmos missiles. The SMART torpedo can be used as a very potent, sophisticated and silent killer as the torpedo can be released much further away where they will think the missile was off target and isn't a threat to them so they are likely to ignore it but we should always fire a barrage of Brahmos missiles and SMART missiles so we can cripple not just the carrier.

 

[Anant]

"There are still some 600 million people whose monthly income is barely 1,000 yuan ($141) in China, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said last month at a press conference following the annual session of the country’s top legislature."

their own premier made this statement in 2020. how is this possible if their economy is as big as you think. their exports in 2023 is $3.3T. for an export economy with a consumption economy that never picked up, how is it possible ? if we think its a 12T economy, then it means only 25% is export dependent, which is total bull.

Not quite. If you look at the sector-wise breakdown of China's GDP, they have around 37.2% coming from private consumption, 16.1% from government consumption, 43.5% from capital formation, and just 3.2% (20.7% exports - 17.5% imports) from net exports (Exports - Imports). China has a fairly low share of their GDP coming from private consumption, which has been a red flag for many external watchers.

In contrast, in India, 57.2% of our GDP comes from private consumption, 10.3% from government consumption, 33.9% from capital formation, 5.7% from other sources, with -7% (-29.7% imports + 22.7% exports) coming from net imports.

Similarly, for a nation like the US, 68.4% of their GDP comes from private consumption, 17.3% from government consumption, 17.2% from capital investments, 0.1% from inventory investments, and -2.9% (-15% imports + 12.1% exports) from net imports.

The global average share of GDP coming from private consumption is around 50% for emerging economies, and around 68-70% in developed economies. You can see why China has a massive problem here. That doesn't mean they don't have consumption.

 

[Bharat007]

you can intimidate a banana republic, like how US is doing. you cannot intimidate India, neither can India intimidate China with AC. those days are over.

Those days are not over. If India sends AC through Taiwan strait, and if China also send AC to Bay of Bengal during LAC clash then it would definitely rattle respective countries. By 2035, China would have 5 AC. Everyday is not war where u can sink those AC with missiles everytime they're in Indian backyard.

Even if some view the Fujian AC as potentially vulnerable in certain scenarios, it's essential to recognize its broader strategic significance beyond just its vulnerability. Aircraft carriers like the Fujian AC can serve multiple purposes, including power projection, maritime security, show of Dominance over region during Peace times and diplomatic signaling. They can also be part of a larger naval strategy aimed at securing sea lanes and protecting national interests. So, while its vulnerabilities are worth considering, it's equally important to understand its potential roles and capabilities in various contexts.

Applying the concept of cognitive dissonance is dangerous for military strategy. Never underestimate your enemy. Nehruvian mentality among Indians need to cease. Underestimating enemy is the first step towards self-defeat.

 

[Bharat007]

lol, lot of Chinbots in this thread getting rattled. India can easily sink this. India has the tech to do it. Fujian's dimensions are 316m x 76m. all our missile CEPs are less than 10m. we can easily sink this. you have just presented a bigger target. isnt this the same argument you used against US Carriers ? we use the same principle. thanks for teaching us.

It appears that you are committing a strawman fallacy by oversimplifying the utility of the Fujian AC solely to its vulnerability to missile attacks. The AC likely various capabilities and strategic uses beyond just being a target for missiles.

War is fortunately less common today, but military assets like the Fujian AC may serve multiple purposes beyond just wartime scenarios. They play roles in deterrence, diplomacy, and power projection, which are relevant even in times of peace. You don't sink warships during non-war times.

 

[Bhishma]

It appears that you are committing a strawman fallacy by oversimplifying the utility of the Fujian AC solely to its vulnerability to missile attacks. The AC likely various capabilities and strategic uses beyond just being a target for missiles.

War is fortunately less common today, but military assets like the Fujian AC may serve multiple purposes beyond just wartime scenarios. They play roles in deterrence, diplomacy, and power projection, which are relevant even in times of peace. You don't sink warships during non-war times.

ie what you are saying is, Fujian is a good showpiece, wont be useful in real war.

 

[Bhishma]

Those days are not over. If India sends AC through Taiwan strait, and if China also send AC to Bay of Bengal during LAC clash then it would definitely rattle respective countries. By 2035, China would have 5 AC. Everyday is not war where u can sink those AC with missiles everytime they're in Indian backyard.

Even if some view the Fujian AC as potentially vulnerable in certain scenarios, it's essential to recognize its broader strategic significance beyond just its vulnerability. Aircraft carriers like the Fujian AC can serve multiple purposes, including power projection, maritime security, show of Dominance over region during Peace times and diplomatic signaling. They can also be part of a larger naval strategy aimed at securing sea lanes and protecting national interests. So, while its vulnerabilities are worth considering, it's equally important to understand its potential roles and capabilities in various contexts.

Applying the concept of cognitive dissonance is dangerous for military strategy. Never underestimate your enemy. Nehruvian mentality among Indians need to cease. Underestimating enemy is the first step towards self-defeat.

let China field Fujian during LAC standoff and see what happens. Chinese attach emotional importance to Fujian. CCP has sold "superpower dreams" to the average Chinese. punching a big hole in that monstrosity would be a big insult to CCP & its legitimacy. so yeah, we dare to China to field it. lets see what happens. if you sink our carrier, the worst that would happen is the ruling party will exit and the other party would come in. if we sink your carrier, there will be civil war.

 

[Bhishma]

China is aiming for 5 AC by 2035. It is too much. No one can match that speedy development of PLAN but India should make and finish IAC 2 project before 2035.

China has 1 operational carrier today. It will take 7-8 years before Fujian can be operational ie ~2032. Heck it doesnt even have any fighters yet. Lets meet 2035 and discuss. See if you guys can weather the impending crisis.

 

[Bharat007]

wont be useful in real war.

Fox and sour grapes.

Don't celebrate defeat of enemy unless fight is over. Never underestimate your enemy.

Even India attaches importance to aircraft carriers because of its vast ocean, despite knowing that aircraft carriers are vulnerable. Such warships are made not just for war, but also for peacetime. Power projection is indeed a SHOWPIECE of a nation's might, Psychological warfare, marking territory and influencing others is all part of it. When you demonstrate your might, others will start to have a positive outlook on you as a strong nation. A showpiece is an important part of propaganda that can influence the perceptions of others. That's why even India wants aircraft carriers.

You failed to realise it. Wars are not fought solely with weapons, but also with propaganda, diplomacy, and by show of military might by instilling fear on enemies without firing a single shot at them aka Psy Warfare. Let this be known to you.