Indian Navy to buy four more P-8Is aircraft

The Economic Times, India ^ | 3 Feb, 2011 | Biswarup Gooptu

[Army Air Corps]

You’re, not your...

[Always Independent]

Its obvious we’re behind the curve here, its something that should have got started during the Bush years.

[lentulusgracchus]

The closest thing we have to a baby carrier would be an LPH.

Well, then, an LPH or an LHA. Maritime surveillance? Could always go chuggin' out there in an LPH-based CH-53 or a swarm of LAMPS twirlybirds.

If all you want to do is "maritime surveillance". If you want to fight, get real, get a CVN.

The Indians might be in the market for those two British CV's the Conservatives would like someone to take off their budget. Along with the rest of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, and Royal Air Force. Then they could afford to fix National Health and quit croaking the seniors.

[Vanders9]

That’s no reason not to do so now. US yards had lots of experience building “jeep” carriers in the past. I’m sure it wouldnt be too difficult to resurrect those skills.

[Army Air Corps]

From what I have read, the long term plan for the Indian Navy is to build up to a larger carrier. In the meantime, it is the ex-Admiral Gorshkov (soon-to-be INS Vikramaditya) and an indigenously designed and built small carrier. The INS Vikramaditya will provide roughly twice the displacement of their current carrier and the INS Vikrant will also be roughly twice the displacement of their current carrier.

[Army Air Corps]

The skills are there, but the jeep carriers were smaller than what the Indian Navy will soon acquire and the “jeep carriers”, if you recall, were not designed to last as long as their larger sisters. There is no dispute that American shipyards could build a mid-size carrier for the Indian Navy, but it would take several years for the ship to be completed. We could have approached them, say, eight years ago and inked such a deal and have a carrier ready for them by now.

[Army Air Corps]

The Indian Navy has Sea Harriers, so and LPH would not be a bad addition to their naval force. Their current aircraft carrier (INS Viraat) has FRS.51 Sea Harriers. The two new carriers will also field fighters(likely navalised MiG-29s) including an Indian-built aircraft that resembles a Mirage 2000. There is also the possibility that the new carriers will carry F-18s.