AIR DEFENCE SHIP

In 1989, a plan was announced to build two new aircraft carriers, with the first vessel to replace the Vikrant, which was set to decommission in early 1997. A contract for a design study then was signed in 1989 with France's DCN (Direction des Constructions Navales) for a vessel of about 25,000 tons with a speed of 30 knots. Construction was to start at the Cochin Shipyard (CSL) in 1993 after the Indian Naval Design Organisation had translated this design study into a production model. However, in 1991, the Committee on Defence Expenditure informed the Indian Navy to abandon plans for large aircraft carriers and shift the design effort to the Italian Garibaldi Class due to budgetary constraints. In September 1993, then-incumbent Chief of Naval Staff - Admiral L. Ramdas, restated the commitment to have a large aircraft carrier ready for trials by 2000, yet no firm decision had been made to provide funds or begin construction. By January 1997, the Vikrant was decommissioned and the Navy was left with it's only aircraft carrier - INS Viraat. Proposals for a 17,000-ton Air Defence Ship (ADS) were made, but still no firm decision had been taken to provide funds or begin construction.

In a landmark decision, the government finally sanctioned construction of a 32,000-ton vessel on 14 June 1999 with the Navy receiving a formal letter of intent from the Cabinet Committee on Security. The decision came seven years after the designs were originally conceived. Pointing out that the vessel would be built at CSL, then-incumbent Chief of Naval Staff - Admiral Sushil Kumar, said the vessel will be built at an estimated cost of Rs.20 billion. Another Rs.50 million will be spent on expanding CSL's shipyards warehousing space, extending its marshalling yard and acquiring new equipment as the vessel is the largest and broadest ship ever to built in India. CSL Chairman & Managing Director, Commander (retd.) M.K. Murthy said that plate cutting was expected to be conducted by 2003 and the vessel would be ready for sea trials by 2009.

In 2001, CSL released a graphic showing the 32,000-ton STOBAR (Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery) design with a pronounced ski jump. The design of the 'island' (superstructure) and sensor suite was considerably different from the model displayed at Def Expo '99. In February 2002, current Chief of Naval Staff - Admiral Madhvendra Singh, stated that the commissioning of the ADS will take eight to ten years since the shipyards have not yet being modernized. It was also revealed that the 32,000-ton ADS design was 250 meters long, capable of speeds of 32 knots with a crew of 1500 personnel.

On 20 March 2002, Defence Minister George Fernandes stated that the Navy had reassessed their requirement and proposed building a larger vessel displacing 37,500 tons and measuring 252 meters by almost 57 meters with a speed of 28 knots. It is probable that with a full load, the ADS will exceed 40,000 tons. This last design iteration shows much influence from the Italian Andrea Dorea Class carrier in that there is much sloping of the superstructure and ship sides. The vessel will be powered by four HAL-built General Electric LM 2500 gas turbines driving 2 shafts. With a 12 to 14º ski-jump, the carrier has a STOBAR  (Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery) arrangement on an angled flight deck with 2 aircraft elevators - one before the island and one after. In the STOBAR arrangement, the aircraft lands on the angled-flight deck and is stopped by arrester wires. The air group will likely consist of at least 12, and probably 24 combat aircraft like the MiG-29K, Sea Harrier and Naval LCA along with 10 or so helicopters of the Sea King Mk.42 and/or the HAL Dhruv. Two Ka-31 helicopters would provide airborne early warning coverage

The most recent design has SAMs in VLS (Vertical Launch System) cells mounted on sponsons on either beam - the port side is to the aft of the ship while the starboard sponson is to the fore of the ship. Four OTO Melera 76mm Super Rapid dual purpose guns are mounted symmetrically on sponsons along the flight deck- two on the fore section and two at the fantail (stern). Preliminary sensor fit appears to show a Top Plate 3D radar on the mainmast and a large 3D radar antennae of a yet undetermined type, along with the usual SATCOM and Electronic Warfare antennae. CSL will use a modular approach to reduce construction time from nine years to around six to eight years. The most recent press releases indicate a rather optimistic commissioning date of 2009 or 2010. But with the pace of modernization at CSL very slow, and with slow build times at Indian shipyards, it is unlikely that the vessel will be completed within that time frame. However, what is certain is that construction will begin in 2003.