The Indian Navy has
put out a proposal for its third aircraft carrier, tentatively titled the
Vishal due to enter service in the latter 2020s. The 65,000-ton
Vishal will be significantly larger than India’s sole current carrier, the
Vikramaditya known formerly as the ex-Soviet
Admiral Gorshkov, and the incoming second one, the domestically-built
Vikrant which is expected to enter service later in 2018.
To see why
Vishal is a big deal for the Indian Navy, one needs only to look at her proposed air wing — some 57 fighters, more than
Vikramaditya — 24 MiG-29Ks — and
Vikrant‘s wing of around 30 MiG-29Ks. While below the 75+ aircraft aboard a U.S. Navy
Gerald R. Ford-class supercarrier,
Vishal will be a proper full-size carrier and India’s first, as the preceding two are really small-deck carriers and limited in several significant ways.
The Indian Navy is also looking at an electromagnetic launch system for its third carrier, similar to the one aboard the
Ford class. India’s first two carriers have STOBAR configurations, in which aircraft launch with the assistance of a ski-jump, which limits the maximum weight a plane can lift into the air. Typically this means that fighters must sacrifice weapons, or fuel thus limiting range, or a combination of both.