Welcome, Admiral Gorshkov

Former Indian Navy chief RH Tahiliani runs against the current and says India needs the Russian carrier

The deal signed by India to buy the 44,000-tonne aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov from Russia has not come a day soon. Indeed, the Indian Navy has been wanting to build a new aircraft carrier for over a decade. So in a way, the decision has come a little late in the day but it is better late than never. It must be remembered that the only aircraft carrier that India has at the moment, the INS Viraat, can last only for another four to five years, Gorshkov’s scheduled induction in 2008 would come about at an appropriate time. It is pertinent to mention that INS Viraat (formerly HMS Hermes) was commissioned in 1959 a full two years before INS Vikrant which has already been decommissioned.

Some ill-informed critics have been saying that India is being saddled with an old, junked ship at a phenomenally high cost. Every ship, it must be noted undergoes periodic overhauls. All important equipment is replaced, refitted and refurbished under what is known as mid-life refitting. The hull plating is constantly renewed. Admiral Gorshkov will go through a similar process. So for all intents and purposes, we would get an aircraft carrier that is as good as new.

The Admiral Gorshkov (formerly known as Baku) is the last of in the series of four Project 1143 air defence ships, officially known as aviation cruisers. The aircraft carrier was designed as a Short Take-Off Vertical Landing (STOVL) and was commissioned by the Russian navy in 1987, but did not enter service until 1988. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, all four aviation cruisers were retired between 1991 and 1994, with the Admiral Gorshkov being the last to be withdrawn. Under the deal signed by India and Russia, Gorshkov will undergo all the required refitting.

I am confident that the naval staff would have ensured that the Russians would install the latest state of the art equipment while refurbishing the Gorshkov. The latest MiG-29 K aircraft will also be a part of the package. This shows that the naval staff has done its homework well. Gorshkov’s induction will fulfill a much-felt need for an aircraft carrier keeping in view India’s current needs. It is better to build one’s own aircraft carriers but for various political and financial reasons we have not started the project despite having conceived it way back in the late Eighties. It must be remembered that war ships are never available off the shelf and take a decade or so to build. We were lucky to get Viraat when we did. It is fortunate for us that Russia wants to part with Gorshkov at this juncture.

Ideally speaking we must have not one but three aircraft carriers if India’s maritime interests are to be fully safeguarded. Hopefully the other two will be indigenously built in Cochin Shipyard in the not too distant future. India’s long coastline and its maritime interests like the exclusive economic zone and shipping are best protected by an integrated task force that is able to move on the high seas. As India moves up in economic power, our standing in the world will be dependent upon our maritime capacity. Three years ago, India hosted an International Maritime Review to foster friendship with other maritime nations. The process must continue for us to play our role for a conflict-free world.