The Indian Navy is preparing to place an order for a third aircraft carrier which would be the second such ship to be locally produced following the induction of INS Vikrant last year, the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R. Hari Kumar said on Friday.
"We are working for a third aircraft carrier which will be a repeat of the INS Vikrant. There is a lot of expertise that has been generated in terms of building an aircraft carrier. We are looking at having an IAC, a follow-on I would say, a repeat order being made. We are preparing a case for it," Kumar said at a public event in Mumbai.
The remarks of Kumar come at a time when India's blue water force has seen its influence grow in the Indian Ocean Region (ICR) and beyond.
Earlier this year, an Indian Navy veteran urged the Indian government to grant approval to the navy's long-pending demand for a third aircraft carrier.
According to retired commodore Anil Jai Singh, who served in the Indian Navy for more than three decades, underlined that generally an aircraft carrier goes for a refit for months, leaving the maritime force with only a single warship to carry out operations on the seas.
In this context, having three aircraft carriers was far more practical and would allow the Indian Navy to dominate the Indian Ocean Region for years to come.
"For many years, India had only one carrier, so if that carrier was in refit, the Indian Navy had no carrier for six months, nine months, or one year, whatever the length of the refit was. With two carriers also, if one of them is in refit you only have one carrier," he noted.