Recently, India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said India will soon start making its third aircraft carrier but will also aim for more. “We will not stop at that (three carriers). We will make five, six more,” said Rajnath.
An aircraft carrier is a warship that acts like a seagoing airbase, heavily equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities like deploying, arming, and recovering aircraft. As of 2024, the US Navy has 11 nuclear-powered carriers, highest number in the world.
Currently, India has only two active aircraft carriers- INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant. Earlier, INS Viraat was the flagship of the Indian Navy until INS Vikramaditya was commissioned in 2013. Both aircraft carriers has a displacement of 45,0000 tonnes.
INS Vikramaditya is a modified Kiev class carrier which was purchased in January 2004 from Russia. The ship was formally commissioned on 16 November 2013 at a ceremony held at Severodvinsk, Russia. In June 2014, PM Narendra Modi formally inducted INS Vikramaditya into the Indian Navy.
INS Vikrant is powered by gas-turbines and has a range of 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 kilometres) and deploys 10 helicopters and 30 aircraft. The ship was launched in 2013, its sea-trials began in August 2021 and was commissioned in September 2022.
The development of new aircraft carrier INS Vishal is underway, which will have a displacement of 65,000 tonnes. INS Vishal would serve alongside INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant. The proposed design of this class will be a new design, featuring significant changes from Vikrant.