Posted on 01/05/2014 4:39:47 PM PST by Jeff Head
India's newest carrier, the INS Vikramaditya, R33, which India paid the Russians to rebuild and refit from the old Russian Admiral Gorshkov vessel, arrived in the Arabian Sea off of India.
It was greeted by India's other carrier, the INS Viraat, R22 and its task force.
The two groups then combined and began performing joint exercises. The two carriers, three guided missile destroyers, four guided missile frigates, and a replenishment tanker made up the combined group.
The INS Virkamaditya will embark an air wing of 20 Mig-29K strike aircraft which have already been purchased from Russia and have already been delivered and worked up into an operational wing in India. The Viraat operates a wing of 12-16 Harrier aircraft.
The Indian Navy has already launched the INS Viraat replacement, the INS Vikrant, which will be put into service in 2016 and will embark 24 Mig-29K aircraft.
This is the Indian response to the Chinese exercises last week in the South China Sea.
So who wins the prize of the biggest, hottest bowl of curried rice????
Things are getting complicated again.
Oh, I'm sorry, do I sound cynical?
I wonder what their sub force is like - the Air Force response to cover this task force - and other essential logistics to sustain twin group...i don’t think Pakistan can respond on this level - nor should they be required to...so what’s with the forward push out...are the going after pirates and hope to fund their presence through commercial ties??? They spent a fortune on that Russia carrier...so what’s their strategic projection for the future...
By virtue of its peninsular geography -- and potential adversaries on either side -- India's strategic need is for a two-ocean navy.
The Indians have a Russian Akula II SSN, the Chakra, and are buying a second. They also just launched and trialed their first, indigenous SSBN, and will soon launch their second.
This level of growth by India is not to contain Pakistan...they were already more than capable of doing that. This is clearly, and directly a response to the vast increase and growth of the Chinese Navy.
India could be a very critical part of our pwn China strategy as we are natural allies in that containment.
Why would they spend their money on the starving when we’ll do it for them.
Exaclty.
They intend to have three carrier groups.
One for the west (Arabian Sea), one for the east (Bay of Begal), and one to be in maintenance and workup while the other two are active. In that way they can cover their interests and threats in the entire Indian Ocean.
The US should look very favorably to having what should be two allied CSGs in the Indian Ocean to go along with our own that we pretty much keep on station there now.
Their growth and modernization is a response to China.
As is the current growth and modernization in Australia, Japan, South Korea, and even the Philippines...though the Philippines are much more financially constrained.
You don’t sound cynical. You sound like an American liberal.
Lol. I discovered that the Indians have ENORMOUS pride in their old culture. I can't imagine why, either.
It must have been a GIANT HOOT when the British, by INVITATION, went to India. The British could out-snoot ANYONE on the planet. The Brits made it QUITE clear that they thought the WOGS were dirt beneath their feet.
It's too bad the Indians tolerate such poverty among their own...there might be an incipient genius in them thar slums. What a waste.
You are correct. India is quite a land of contrasts, especially when it comes to haves and have nots. Their governmental system is shot through with corruption. Beats me how they set their priorities, but there is quite a significant element of grinding poverty in India. One would think that addressing its social issues would take precedence over developing nuclear weapons.
What you say is true.
Some FReedope thinks I sound like a liberal.
Shows how little he knows of India.
When my husband and I lived overseas, we did get a chance for a month-long tour to India. I saw it for myself...and the guides tried to keep a balance, showing us SOME of the poverty but not so much as to make us sick.
We even rented some golf clubs and played a round. Problem was that little boys kept darting out of the bushes, stealing our golf balls and then trying to sell them back to us.
Also, at the VERY beginning of the round, the caddies ha a HUGE fistfight as to who would be our caddy. SO India.
The Indians USED to deform their OWN children to make them a more pathetic beggar. There IS a "beggar caste," though Indian law outlawed the caste system. Didn't work, of course.
They addressed the child mutilation by ALLOWING the cutting off of arms and legs, but only ONE upper, ONE lower, and the amputation could NOT include the joint. Also, no facial mutilation was allowed.
I wouldn't have believed it unless I had seen it. Their justification is: We have to start SOMEWHERE.
I hope their "plan" works better than the plan to eliminate caste.
Their caste system is ALMOST as cruel as the Chinese dislike of females. AT LEAST upper class Indian females ARE considered worthy. The lowest caste females, though, I wouldn't want to be one. Yikes.
ping...
I’ve been to India several times, and my opinions are based on what I’ve seen with my own eyes.
That's nice. I hope it was all good for you.
India has some nice places, though I was disappointed by many of those famous gardens. I guess my expectations were different.
My opinions are also based on what I saw. Also, for five years I lived and worked with Indians who were working for ARAMCO in Saudi Arabia.
India was once the huge subcontinent and the Pakistanis are the SAME people, just Muslims. And yes, I know all about the partition. I happened to be a friend of a Pakistani whose Pakistani father was a Church of England vicar (the first) IN PAKISTAN. Pakistan, I think, FINALLY, managed to get rid of all its Christians. At least the Christians are still RELATIVELY welcome in India.
The Russians are refitting the air wing of their carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, due to attrition of their Su-33 fleet. With the Indian Navy's purchase of the MiG-29K for its CVs, it made more sense to refit its CV with the MiG-29K instead of restarting the Su-33 production line.
India is now a net food exporter. In country there are still some logistical problems. That means building more infrastructure, but that will happen.
Still, the rate of economic growth of India is now exceeding that of China. In the past decade India shed a lot of bureaucratic nonsense that was holding it back. India still has a way to go.
Thanks for the ping!
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