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India will reportedly shortly announce a tendering procedure for building its third aircraft carrier. A new Russian project called “Storm”, which was made public last year, is said to be among the frontrunners.
India’s plans to have a new aircraft carrier have been floating around for some time. French defense newsletter TTU reported that a French delegation visited India in late January to propose the naval version of the Dassault Rafale jet to complement its future bid. The US is also eyeing the lucrative contract.

However, according to the Izvestia newspaper, the Russian project is the favorite in the upcoming tender. Russia's Krylovsky State Research Center (KRSC) will be offering its new multipurpose heavy aircraft carrier design called Project 23000E Shtorm (Storm). The project was first revealed to the public in June at the Army-2015 show near Moscow, where a scale model of the ship was exhibited.

The design has a displacement of up to 100,000 tons, is 330 meters long, 40 meters wide, and has a draft of 11 meters. It has a nuclear power plant, although initial plans state a conventional one may also be used. The ship is designed to sail at up to 30 knots (around 55 km/h) and withstand sea state 6-7 (characterized by waves up to 9 meters high).


The carrier can remain 120 days at sea before needing a port. It will have a crew of 4,000 to 5,000 and deploy up to 100 aircraft. The air wing will include naval versions of T-50s (PAK FA) currently in development and MiG-29Ks, as well as early warning radar aircraft, most likely Yak-44Es.

The flight deck is of dual design and features four launching positions. Two have ski-jump ramps and the other two have electromagnetic catapults to enable take-off from a shortened runway.


The Russian bid is favored by the Indians partly because Moscow is willing to allow bigger technology transfers than the French and American contenders, Izvestia said. A program called Make in India launched by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 seeks to stimulate domestic production of high-tech products, including military hardware.

Russia enjoys strong defense cooperation with India, including its navy. One of the country’s two serving aircraft carriers, the INS Vikramaditya, is a Kiev-class Soviet ship, which was rebuilt by Russia. The other, the INS Viraat – formerly the HMS Hermes of the British Royal Navy – is to be decommissioned in June and replaced in 2018 with its first domestically build aircraft carrier of the Vikrant class, which Russia helped design and build in a joint effort with Italy.

India is also cooperating with Russia in aircraft design and production. An “Indian” version of the PAK FA is being developed, which facilitates India’s domestic acquisition of aircraft for the future carrier. The Indian Navy is already the prime user of MiG-29Ks.

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The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Tuesday cleared a proposal to acquire two more Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) at the cost of Rs.7,500 crore under a tripartite contract with Israel and Russia.

The Indian Air Force already had three such platforms, which give an ability to see deep inside enemy territory. All three AWACS, comprise Israeli-made radars mounted on Russian heavy transport planes IL-76. ...

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INS Tabar (F 44) visiting Port Louis, Mauritius 10-13 March

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The Indian Navy has deployed a P 8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft to Seychelles since 20 Mar 16, for surveillance in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Seychelles, in accordance with the MoU between the Governments of India and Seychelles. The Indian Navy has, in the past, undertaken surveillance missions in the Seychellois EEZ twice a year, by deploying IN ships. The last such deployment was undertaken by ships of the 1st Training Squadron of the Indian Navy, in Oct 15. This is the first time that the P8I aircraft has been deployed to Seychelles.

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Sea Harrier says “so long!” to India

The final 11 of originally 30 British Aerospace Sea Harriers have said so long to their motherland India, after serving the second largest populated country in the world for 33 years.
Six Sea Harriers already left the Indian Navy aircraft carrier INS Viraat on 6 March 2016, when the vessel – due to be retired itself this year – returned to Mumbai from its last cruise.

Russian-made to modern battlefield
The Indian Sea Harriers soldiered on a decade longer after the British Royal Navy retired their aircraft. Delivered first in 1983 the Indian Sea Harriers had little left to bring on a modern battlefield. Their role has been taken up by Russian-made Mikoyan-Gurevich designed, Irkut built MiG-29Ks. Of those jets – with the NATO reporting name Fulcrum – 30 of 45 ordered have been delivered.

Indian Navy aircraft carriers

The new breed will has not only equipped the air wing of the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya with a nice combat element, it will also serve on board the new INS Vikrant when it will start sailing in 2019.
Sea Harriers in muséums

For the remaining 11 India Sea Harriers the Autumn of their lives might come with a spotlight, when they will keep on serving as museum items on several locations. For now, they are stored at Indian Naval Air Station Hansa in Goa, until they began what must be the last journey of their lives. No more vertical take-offs, just a final landing.

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Naval Today said:

The Indian Navy has deployed a P 8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft to Seychelles on March 20, to conduct surveillance missions in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Seychelles, in accordance with the MoU between the Governments of India and Seychelles.

The Indian Navy has, in the past, undertaken surveillance missions in the Seychellois EEZ twice a year, by deploying IN ships.

The last such deployment was undertaken by ships of the 1st Training Squadron of the Indian Navy, in October 2015. This is the first time that the P8I aircraft has been deployed to Seychelles.

The aircraft will remain deployed till March 23. In addition, the deployment will facilitate professional interaction between the aircrew and the Seychelles People’s Defence Force (SPDF).

The Indian Navy said this deployment would assist in curbing illegal activities and piracy as well as contribute towards security and stability in the Indian Ocean region.

The P-8I aircraft is a variant of the P-8A Poseidon aircraft that Boeing developed as a replacement for the US Navy’s ageing P-3 fleet. Indian Navy became the first international customer for the P-8 aircraft with the conclusion of the nearly US $ 2.1 billion contract on Jan 1, 2009 for a total of eight aircraft.

Based at INS Rajali, the aircraft are operated by Indian Naval Air Squadron 312A under the command of Commander Venkateshwaran Ranganathan.

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