Indian Navy aims to become Atmanirbhar by 2047
Badminton player P V Sindhu felicitates a navy officer who participated in the 1500-km running expedition conducted as part of 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' and Navy Day celebrations as Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar and Indian Oil Corp Ltd Chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya look on, during the flag-in ceremony of the running expedition in New Delhi on Saturday
New Delhi: The Indian Navy is looking at having a second indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) and is set to procure a raft of other platforms, including Predator drones from the US, to bolster its overall military capability, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said on Saturday in the backdrop of evolving regional security matrix and China's growing naval prowess.
Addressing the media a day ahead of Navy Day, Admiral Kumar said a timeline of 2047 has been set for making the force 'Atmanirbhar' (self-reliant). He said that an exercise is underway in the force to shed the colonial past as "we strongly support the view that we have to get away from this "ghulami ki mansikta" (slave mentality).
The Navy Chief also said that the Indian Navy is set to open all its branches for women from next year. On possible challenges from China, he asserted that the Navy keeps a strong vigil over movements of various Chinese military research and fishing vessels in the Indian Ocean Region.
Listing initiatives to bolster the Navy's operational prowess, he said a draft cabinet note is being prepared for the proposed indigenous twin-engine deck-based aircraft, adding the plan is to have a prototype of the jet by 2026 while its production would start by 2032. The Navy celebrates December 4 as Navy Day to commemorate its daring attack on Karachi harbour and its decisive victory in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Admiral Kumar said the Navy is contemplating whether to go for indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) II or prefer a repeat order for the IAC I. The Navy has been making a strong push for having the IAC-II having a displacement of 65,000 tonnes with the envisaged specifications. "We are still working on what size it should be and what its capabilities should be. Right now, we have put a hold on it because we have just commissioned INS Vikrant. We are quite happy with the ship. The way the ship performed in the trial," Admiral Kumar said when asked about the IAC II. India's first indigenously-built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant (IAC I) was commissioned in September. The aircraft carrier, with a displacement of 40,000 tonnes, was built at a cost of around Rs 23,000 crore.