The Carrier Dilemma: How Many is Enough?

[Kesang]

2 active and 1 in reserve. 1 for Arabian sea and 1 for Strait of Malacca. Because operating a carrier is very expansive.

 

[Contrarian]

3+1(repair/reserve) till 2030-40 is what i practically see.

 

[arp2041]

I request all not to make it an Indian Navy centric debate but talk about other navies as well.

IMO, US will always keep it's no. of AC's at 11 since there is a congress resolution not to come down from that no. but it will not increase the no. also since each carrier of USN is way to expensive with all the defence budget cuts that the present (maybe future also) US administration is doing.

As the things stand currently, it can be turned out that after the USN the highest no. of carriers in a decade or so will be with IN only, which is planing a 3 carrier force by 2025 (but 2 will be mid size AC & 1 will be bigger).

What PLAN is planning & how many no. of ACs will it have in the future can be anybody's guess, but Varyag will be more of a training ship than an actual operating AC, the bigger & nuclear powered ACs which the PLAN will have in the future will be the real game changer, but i think till 2025 PLAN will be having just 2 ACs (if one does not count Varyag).

Russian Navy is also planning to construct a larger nuclear powered AC by 2022 or so & operates currently 1 AC, so i don't see it increasing the no. of operating ACs beyond 2 though it also operates 4 cruisers.

Than comes the Royal Navy which is planning a two carrier force with Queen Elizabeth class ACs, but with budget cuts on offer maybe they can sell the 2nd ship to any other country (IN "may" also be in the queue).

French Navy will again be operating 1 carrier (nuclear powered).

so it turns out that IN & PLAN can be the biggest achiever in the race of AC's around the world with IN jumping from 1 CBG to 3 & PLAN jumping from 0 to 2.

Also the dilemma is not how much ACs the major powers are planning, but the dilemma is how many will be enough???

 

[Tshering22]

I request all not to make it an Indian Navy centric debate but talk about other navies as well.

IMO, US will always keep it's no. of AC's at 11 since there is a congress resolution not to come down from that no. but it will not increase the no. also since each carrier of USN is way to expensive with all the defence budget cuts that the present (maybe future also) US administration is doing.

As the things stand currently, it can be turned out that after the USN the highest no. of carriers in a decade or so will be with IN only, which is planing a 3 carrier force by 2025 (but 2 will be mid size AC & 1 will be bigger).

I disagree. While our Red friends are extremely smug about their venture into aircraft carrier manufacturing, China is most likely to host the second largest number of carriers. They may need to be updated with state of the art technology as their carriers evolve but Chinese are good in rapid introduction of combat platforms.

They will definitely be operating at least 4-5 carriers. But yes, IN will be the third largest if not the second.

Russian Navy is also planning to construct a larger nuclear powered AC by 2022 or so & operates currently 1 AC, so i don't see it increasing the no. of operating ACs beyond 2 though it also operates 4 cruisers.

Despite the endless Russian maritime borders, they really don't need to operate more than 2-3 carriers at a time. Simply because they are not going to use it for coastal surveillance (carriers are meant for full blown wars). Currently, Russia has finally decided to go along with our own orders of MiG-29Ks to replace the old Su-33s. The Ks will play the role of F/A-18 Super Hornets, as they both fall under medium combat aircraft category.

Russian CBGs are also the least likely party to face a war as not many countries are insane enough to piss Kremlin off. To the Russians it will be a show of might and to underline the fact that "they're still here and nobody takes them for a ride".

Than comes the Royal Navy which is planning a two carrier force with Queen Elizabeth class ACs, but with budget cuts on offer maybe they can sell the 2nd ship to any other country (IN "may" also be in the queue).

The UK carrier costs a bomb dude. $4.5 billion for a carrier is plain robbery. We can make another INS Vishal in that money (IAC-3).

What we need currently is at least 1 nuclear carrier that can travel large distances and is able to project power. In today's battle scenario (in the coming 10 years), we are unlikely to see a naval warfare unless of course our Red friends get too impatient.

UK in the foreseeable future is going to be carrier-less until F-35s arrive and they put them on the new ACC they're building.

Why do you think there's so much alarm in the British MOD as a carrier-less Royal Navy coupled with crippling cuts in defense budget would find it difficult to safeguard its far-away territories (read Falklands).

Also the dilemma is not how much ACs the major powers are planning, but the dilemma is how many will be enough???

Let me tell you an old secret bhai:

Any amount of power is never enough.

That's the human way.

 

[Abingdonboy]

I request all not to make it an Indian Navy centric debate but talk about other navies as well.

IMO, US will always keep it's no. of AC's at 11 since there is a congress resolution not to come down from that no. but it will not increase the no. also since each carrier of USN is way to expensive with all the defence budget cuts that the present (maybe future also) US administration is doing.

As the things stand currently, it can be turned out that after the USN the highest no. of carriers in a decade or so will be with IN only, which is planing a 3 carrier force by 2025 (but 2 will be mid size AC & 1 will be bigger).

What PLAN is planning & how many no. of ACs will it have in the future can be anybody's guess, but Varyag will be more of a training ship than an actual operating AC, the bigger & nuclear powered ACs which the PLAN will have in the future will be the real game changer, but i think till 2025 PLAN will be having just 2 ACs (if one does not count Varyag).

Russian Navy is also planning to construct a larger nuclear powered AC by 2022 or so & operates currently 1 AC, so i don't see it increasing the no. of operating ACs beyond 2 though it also operates 4 cruisers.

Than comes the Royal Navy which is planning a two carrier force with Queen Elizabeth class ACs, but with budget cuts on offer maybe they can sell the 2nd ship to any other country (IN "may" also be in the queue).

French Navy will again be operating 1 carrier (nuclear powered).

so it turns out that IN & PLAN can be the biggest achiever in the race of AC's around the world with IN jumping from 1 CBG to 3 & PLAN jumping from 0 to 2.

Also the dilemma is not how much ACs the major powers are planning, but the dilemma is how many will be enough???

Correct. If the IN and PLAN add ~2 carriers a decade then their ACC fleets will be 2nd and 3rd in whatever order to the USN. Once both nations have bigger defence budgets than the US then they can look to build more ACCs than the US but ONLY then.