The Third Fleet

The vision 2022 concentrates on building up our naval capability in the IOR, the current plans should be adequate for the task.

If everything goes right this will provide us with the chance to create a third fleet, to safeguard our interests far away from regional waters.

A recent post by a defence journalist in his blog (livefist) stated

The keel of India's first indigenous aircraft carrier, to be the second warship christened INS Vikrant, will be laid on February 28 at Kochi. But it is now clear that while Cochin Shipyards will build three aircraft carriers in the current 37,500-ton category (the second and third are to be christened INS Viraat and INS Vishaal apparently), design work has already begun in earnest to develop and build two more aircraft carriers with not only much larger displacements, but possibly nuclear propulsion as well.

A third fleet could be structured to include a aircraft carrier group and a amphibious assault group, with other elements joining in if required.

The aircraft carrier and the amphibious ship are the main power projection tools, with the rest of the constituent elements built around them.

For the development of this capability we will need assistance from nations that have similar capabilities (USA, Europe, Russia), in order to keep the costs and delays to the minimum possible levels, this help will not be too difficult to come, as is evident with the current IAC project and with many other projects that are under-way.

We have to use this power to shape the events when we can and where we can to our advantage.
If our friends face a threat/challenge in the region we have to possess the capability to intervene decisively, which will give us the ability to solve matters diplomatically when needed.

As we develop into a economically prosperous energy and resource hungry nation, we will need to form partnerships with distant nations, military capability will be a important part of these partnerships. In a world that is violent and unstable, diplomacy alone will only get us limited results.

If the economic growth falters we will be restricted to our region and unable to influence the events happening away from our borders, instead these events will shape our policy, and the economy will shrink without resources and markets.

Sea has always been important and will be so in the coming years, all the recent activity is a clear indication of this.

This world is a huge place and we are a small part of it, we have paid the price of limiting ourselves to the subcontinent before, a naval force which is in proportion with our interests has to become a permanent part of our nation.