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Synopsis : All countries need to have the ability
to protect itself from its enemies so India is no exception. With its 7000 kms
of shore line, its navy faces special challenges to safeguard the country from
sea invaders . Now a modern warship INS Vikrant designed and made in India
joins the Navy to bolster its ability to project power anywhere.
On September 2, 2022, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi arrived in Kochi to induct the beast of the sea INS Vikrant into the
Indian Navy that was built at the Kochi shipyard and equipped there with the
latest state of the art defensive and offensive weaponry. The launching of the
air craft carrier INS Vikrant in the Arabian Sea has made the world news
because of its sheer size and its modern weaponry that has greatly disturbed
India’s enemies.
India is now in the elite group of five nations that can
build aircraft carriers and put it to sea with their formidable defensive and
offensive abilities that can project the might of the Indian Navy anywhere in
the world when needed with the ability to put fear into its enemies. Often this
fear alone of such an immense warship that can cause terrible damage to the
enemy in the sea or land prevents war .Its utter destructive power persuades
them to leave the battle field.
India has over 7000 kms of shore line that face the Arabian
Sea in the West, the Indian Ocean in the South and the Bay of Bengal in the
East that need to be protected at all times so India needed a second carrier
like Vikrant to give the Indian Navy more power and capability to protect the
country.
What the world saw for the first time was the ability of
India to build a complex war ship like INS Vikrant that was designed by the
Indian naval engineers and architects and built by the workers of the Kochi
shipyard. It is the largest of the ships in the navy and proudly shows the flag
of India and the emblem resembling the war ships of Shivaji that fought and
repelled the enemies. The Cross of St.George was removed from the flag that was a
relic of the British Navy to usher in the new era of the dominance of the seas
by India now and announcing to the world of the arrival of India with its
powerful Navy, Army and the Air force to protect the country all the time.
What the world saw for the first time was the ability of
India to build a complex war ship like INS Vikrant that was designed by the
Indian naval engineers and architects and built by the workers of the Kochi
shipyard. It is the largest of the ships in the navy and proudly shows the flag
of India and the emblem resembling the war ships of Shivaji that fought and
repelled the enemies in the 15th century.
The
Indian navy now a strong navy with its frigates, destroyers, air craft
carriers, helicopter carriers and most lethal of them all the nuclear
submarines that are equipped with nuclear tipped missiles. This armada is
unbelievably powerful that the enemies of India are mortally afraid of. China
and Pakistan have plenty of reasons to be very worried
The keel of the carrier Vikrant was laid a long time ago
but it suffered the hurdles the bureaucracy placed on its construction, poor
will of the previous governments that failed to allocate the funding necessary
to build such a mammoth ship so the skeleton of the ship languished in the ship
yard for years until Mr. Modi became the Prime Minister of the country in 2014.
From then on the work on the ship was speeded up, all hurdles removed and the
completion was prioritized by his government. It became one of Mr. Modi’s dream
project when he determined that such a warship must be built as soon as
possible to give the Navy the ships it needs. Now many new ships and submarines
are under construction that will soon augment the power of the Indian Navy to
fight any war in the seas that surround India on its three sides.
An air craft carrier is not just a war ship that carries
fighter jets, helicopters and other types of aircrafts for surveillance, it is
a floating city that generates its own power and carries all the things its
soldiers need like food, water, weapons, ammunitions, fuel for its massive
engines etc. that allows it to remain at sea for a prolonged time and travel to
any part of the world where it is needed. It has a very modern hospital very
well equipped that can treat any kind of injury during an actual conflict.
https://youtu.be/A-d3zd56hgU ( Source : U Tube video on INS Vikrant )
It carries surface to air missiles, powerful guns that can
bombard a target 40 kms away with pin point accuracy, track and target any
underwater enemy submarine or other enemy ships and communicates with the Naval
Command via satellite based system through encryption. In short a carrier like
Vikrant is built to put fear into the heart of India’s enemies because it is a
fearful floating war machine.
https://youtu.be/4LcqI7RAoeI ( Source : U tube video on INS Vikrant )
This type of carrier is equipped with the latest naval technology
for self-defense and damage control in case of accidental fire on board during
a sea battle. It is always flanked by several destroyers and a very lethal
nuclear powered submarine below that is equipped with ballistic missiles that
can carry nuclear weapons. So it is called a Carrier Group that projects power
wherever it goes.
During the war with Pakistan in 1971, such a group of war
ships effectively blockaded the Karachi port so no Pakistani war ships could
venture out to fight with the Indian army that had sent its army, navy and air
force to liberate East Pakistan that later came to be known as Bangladesh.
Recently the Indian navy placed its nuclear capable
submarines with its lethal ballistic missiles near Karachi to put pressure on
the Pakistan Army to release Wing Commander Avinandan within 24 hours of his
capture after his MiG 21 fighter plane was shot down over Pakistan. This is the
power of the Indian Navy and its carriers and destroyers. Mt. Modi demanded his
release without any pre conditions so Commander Avinandan was released fearing
the consequences of not releasing him.
Only a few countries can project such power anywhere in the
world. USA. China, France , Russia ,England and Italy have aircraft carriers
and now it is India that has joined this elite group of nations that can build
carriers and equip them with the latest weapons .
Narendra Modi has declared that India will develop and
build its fighter planes, missiles, tanks and carriers with the help of the
finest engineers and scientists so that the country will not import such
hardware. This will make India independent of other arms producing countries
and save the money it used to spend on such purchases in the past. India still
buys some fighter planes like Rafale from France and the S-400 missile system
from Russia but aims to reduce such imports in the future by developing
its own offensive and defensive weapons.
India has developed its own GPS system and placed a number
of communication satellites in space to meet its military communication needs
with complete encryptions. Its satellites keep an eye on the enemy country 24
hours a day to know their movements. Now all the services like Army, Navy, Air
Force and other arms of the military work in complete sync with maximum
coordination during conflict so a Chief of the Defense Staff ( CDS ) will now
be responsible for it.
What Mr. Narendra Modi has achieved in only 8 years to
modernize the defense forces is unprecedented .Now women are integrated into
all branches of armed services for the first time in Independent India although
it was Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose who formed the first female brigade in his Indian
national Army ( INA ) that fought the British tooth and nail to make them leave
India in 1947. It was called Rani Laksmibai brigade.
https://youtu.be/GoC02mU1gwU (Source : U Tube video)
With the INS Vikrant in the Navy, a demand for more
carriers like Vikrant will rise so that the Navy becomes more powerful to
protect the country better. The confidence the ship builders have now achieved
by building Vikrant will surely make it easy for the construction of the next
carrier.
I wish that the next carrier will be named Netaji Bose who
is a national hero.
To achieve it they will need the total support of the Modi
government that has to remain in power
by winning the next election due in 2024.
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