US says making progress in aircraft carrier collaboration with India

[mkb95]

• 

India and the United States are making progress in talks on the joint development of an aircraft carrier for India, the top US navy admiral said on Wednesday, potentially the biggest military collaboration between them.

The two countries agreed to work together on aircraft carrier technology as well as jet engines during US President Barack Obama’s visit to India last year in a strengthening of ties to balance China’s expanding military power in the region.

The visiting chief of US Naval Operations, John Richardson, said the two sides had held talks on a range of issues relating to the next generation Indian carrier from its design to construction.

A high-level US-India joint working group is due to meet in New Delhi later this month, part of a series of meetings aimed at establishing broader cooperation on the design, development and production of the proposed Indian carrier.

“We are making very good progress, I am very pleased with the progress to date and optimistic we can do more in the future. That’s on a very solid track,” Richardson told reporters in New Delhi.

India inducted an old aircraft carrier from Russia in 2014 while an ageing British vessel is set to retire this year. It is building an indigenous carrier that is expected to enter service in 2018-2019.

But the navy also plans a third, its biggest carrier yet, for which it has sought US assistance, especially state-of-the-art technology to launch aircraft.

Richardson said the electromagnetic launch technology that enabled a navy to fly heavier planes from a carrier was part of the discussions with India.

“All of those things are on the table, there are possibilities, its a matter of pacing, it’s very new technology for us,” he said.

China has one aircraft carrier and announced last month it is building another. The Pentagon said in a report last year that China could build multiple aircraft carriers over the next 15 years.

India’s navy, which has long considered the Indian Ocean its area of influence, has been unnerved by Chinese naval forays in the region and its efforts to build port infrastructure in countries stretching from Pakistan to Djibouti on the African coast.

After years of neglect, the Indian government has approved the navy’s plans for a dozen new submarines, six of them nuclear-powered. More than 40 warships are under construction.

 

[C130]

*cough* lease them a Nimitz *cough* just make them pay for deactivating the nuclear reactors when the lease is over.

 

[Penguin]

But the navy also plans a third, its biggest carrier yet, for which it has sought US assistance, especially state-of-the-art technology to launch aircraft.

And Italian (Fincantieri) and - possibly - Russian assistance, IIRC?

 

[KingRaj]

And Italian (Fincantieri) and - possibly - Russian assistance, IIRC?

I think the US is the clear frontrunner in this project, thank to their vast aircraft carrier experience.

 

[Abingdonboy]

“We are making very good progress, I am very pleased with the progress to date and optimistic we can do more in the future. That’s on a very solid track,” Richardson told reporters in New Delhi.

Wow, this is ridicuously positive, I'm not used to senior officals being so openly bullish on deals of this kind.

 

[jetray]

Wow, this is ridicuously positive, I'm not used to senior officals being so openly bullish on deals of this kind.

Well money talks,they simply dont see a carrier they are seeing a carrier laden with f22,f18..etc.

 

[nang2]

Wow, this is ridicuously positive, I'm not used to senior officals being so openly bullish on deals of this kind.

He actually didn't say anything concrete, did he?

 

[Penguin]

*cough* lease them a Nimitz *cough* just make them pay for deactivating the nuclear reactors when the lease is over.

Never gonna happen: not a single CV, CVA, CVB or CVN of the US has ever ended up in foreign service.


Spain's Dédalo was formerly the World War II-era light aircraft carrier USS Cabot. (CVL28)
USS Belleau Wood (CVL24) was a United States Navy Independence-class light aircraft carrier active during World War II in the Pacific Theater, from 1943 to 1945. The ship also served in the First Indochina War under French Navy temporary service as Bois Belleau.
La Fayette was an 11,000-ton Independence-class [light] aircraft carrier that served the French Navy from 1951 to 1963. She was initially USS Langley (CVL-27) serving the United States Navy from 1943 to 1947 before transferring to the French Navy.
Only these three CVL and escort carriers (CVEs, based on merchant hulls) have been transferred to foreign (non-US) navies.

 

[Abingdonboy]

He actually didn't say anything concrete, did he?

True, but to offically state they were making very good progress and talks were on a "very solid track" is rather significant for deals of this nature. It would be far more reasonable to expect completely vague statements and throwaway platitudes but these words are rather more concrete.

Never gonna happen: not a single CVA or CVN of the US has ended up in foreign service.


Spain's Dédalo was formerly the World War II-era light aircraft carrier USS Cabot. (CVL28)
USS Belleau Wood (CVL24) was a United States Navy Independence-class light aircraft carrier active during World War II in the Pacific Theater, from 1943 to 1945. The ship also served in the First Indochina War under French Navy temporary service as Bois Belleau.
La Fayette was an 11,000-ton Independence-class [light] aircraft carrier that served the French Navy from 1951 to 1963. She was initially USS Langley (CVL-27) serving the United States Navy from 1943 to 1947 before transferring to the French Navy.
Only these three CVL and escort carriers (CVEs, based on merchant hulls) have been transferred to foreign (non-US) navies.

The US apparently offered the USS Kitty Hawk to India though I don't know how serious the offer.

Either way, I doubt the US side would offer it nor would the Indian side accept it.

 

[Penguin]

True, but to offically state they were making very good progress and talks were on a "very solid track" is rather significant for deals of this nature. It would be far more reasonable to expect completely vague statements and throwaway platitudes but these words are rather more concrete.


The US apparently offered the USS Kitty Hawk to India though I don't know how serious the offer.

Either way, I doubt the US side would offer it nor would the Indian side accept it.

USS Kitty Hawk: there never was such an offer.

The controversy over India's purchase of a globally capable aircraft carrier is finally laid to rest. Last week, when U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was in New Delhi, the defense community in India was abuzz with rumors that India would be purchasing the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk (BusinessWeek.com, 2/26/08), which is slated for decommissioning this year. The Bush Administration tried to shoot down the speculation, growing across the blogosphere in both India and the U.S., that the Americans were preparing to take the unprecedented move of sending an aircraft carrier to another country's navy. ]"The Navy has no plans of transferring the Kitty Hawk to India," said Lt. Col. Clay Doss, a U.S. Navy spokesperson in Washington.

It's now becoming clear, however, that the Indians were fanning the Kitty Hawk rumors in order to get what they really wanted—a better deal on an aircraft carrier they've been trying to buy from Russia. On Feb. 27, India's Defense Secretary V.K. Singh put to rest the speculation about the Kitty Hawk by announcing that New Delhi had renegotiated a deal with Moscow to buy a Russian aircraft carrier, the Admiral Gorshkov.

Many defense analysts now believe the Indians used the Kitty Hawk as a ploy to push the Russians into committing to the delivery, albeit overdue, of their carrier.

http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories...siness-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice

Aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk not for sale to India: US
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 - 16:47

New Delhi: The aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk is not up for sale to the Indian Navy as it has already "outstretched" its life, a senior US Navy officer said Wednesday.


"The ship was meant to last 48 years. It is in Wilmington (North Carolina) and not for sale. There is no intention to sell it. It has already outstretched its intended service life," Rear Admiral Allen G. Myers, the Director (Warfare Integration) of the US Navy, told IANS.

This puts to rest all reports of the decommissioned carrier being offered to India, which, at one stage, expressed interest in the vessel.

Myers, who once commanded the warship, said: "I am proud of her service. There is no other intention but to keep her in Wilmington."

http://zeenews.india.com/news/natio...tty-hawk-not-for-sale-to-india-us_603050.html

I think the US is the clear frontrunner in this project, thank to their vast aircraft carrier experience.

Mmm, you under estimate the role of Fincantieri in making the new INS Vikrant a reality. Notably via its power- and propulsion system, which - if I were IN - would be a serious candidate for IACII.
https://www.fincantieri.it/cms/data/browse/news/000173.aspx
http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/14686434/fincantieri-supports-indian-carrier-design

US involvement is mainly of interest for the next domestic carrier, INS Vishal.

The design stage of IAC-II began in 2012, and was undertaken by the navy’s Naval Design Bureau. The navy decided not to seek outside help in preparing the design concept and implementation plans, but might seek help from the Russian Design Bureau later to integrate Russian aircraft into Vishal.

Indian Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Dhowan said: “All options are open for the second indigenous aircraft carrier. Nothing has been ruled out. It could be nuclear powered or conventionally powered.” Indian Government signed an agreement with United States to form a Carrier Working group to identify areas of collaboration and they first met in August 2015.

The Indian Navy has reached out to four international defence companies for help with the design of Vishal. The letters of request (LoR) were sent to U.K. firm BAE Systems, DCNS in France, Lockheed Martin and Russia’s Rosoboronexport on July 15, 2015 , according to a report in Jane’s Navy International. The letter asks the companies to “provide technical and costing proposals” for the IAC-II program.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INS_Vishal

NOte that 'identifying areas of collaboration' is not the same as actually collaborating....

 

[nang2]

True, but to offically state they were making very good progress and talks were on a "very solid track" is rather significant for deals of this nature. It would be far more reasonable to expect completely vague statements and throwaway platitudes but these words are rather more concrete.

Either way, he won't be held accountable for such a statement. That is why I don't see much value in it as he can speak such for whatever reason.

 

[somebozo]

Indo Russian defense ties going deep and under day by day!

 

[SajeevJino]

*cough* lease them a Nimitz *cough* just make them pay for deactivating the nuclear reactors when the lease is over.

is that much hard to operate and dismantle a nuke powered ship...

Ex Charlie SSGN, Akula SSN and the Arihant SSBN ..smiles for your joke