INS Vikrant+ ? Navy wants Mix fleet UAS and Jets for 3rd Aircraft Carrier

Source : RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG.

A US Navy concept of UCAV operating from US Navy Supercarriers

According to a report prepared by ” ThePrint “, the Indian Navy is still firmly backing the idea of manufacturing and operating a third aircraft carrier but now has decided to back away from its original plan to develop an aircraft carrier with a displacement of over 65000-ton and rather instead might go for aircraft carrier with lower displacement that will be able to operate mix fleet of Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF) and Unmanned aircraft system (UAS) along with Unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV).

The report says that the Directorate of Naval Design of the Indian Navy has been asked to tweak design plans to accommodate unmanned aerial vehicles apart from fighter aircraft plans that could neither mean Navy has decided to go with a modified INS Vikrant Class Sister ship or is working with new design with lower displacement.

Indian Navy is already closely working with state-owned DRDO to develop a deck-based variant of the Ghatak Unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) that the company is developing for the Indian Air Force (IAF). Aircraft Carriers are usually designed around the fighter jets they plan to operate from its deck and the Indian Navy plans to include UAS and UCAV for its third aircraft carrier was no secret but to budgetary issues, it now might go for a smaller 45000-55000 ton aircraft carrier instead of 65000-ton displacement aircraft carrier it initially wanted.

Indian Navy already dropped two major components of the aircraft carrier that it was planning first being the Nuclear Pressurized-Water Reactor (PWR) powered ship and the second being Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) to launch aircraft to reduce the cost of the new aircraft carrier. If plans to further reduce its displacement and operate a mixed fleet of manned and unmanned aircraft hold then the cost of the new aircraft carrier will come down rapidly might even be similar to what was spent to develop INS Vikrant a 45000-ton aircraft carrier that is set to join Navy next year.

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