How bout a Quad-nation Aircraft Carrier Strike Group?

By: Kartikeya Semwal

With the ever-increasing threat posed by China’s PLA Navy in the IOC (Indian Ocean Region), neighbouring countries like Japan, South Korea and Australia have started feeling the need to induct and operate aircraft carriers of their own. Till now, none of these countries has an operational Aircraft Carrier (AC). Instead, they operate heli-carriers and/or ALS (Amphibious Landing Ships).

But more than them, India feels the immediate need of operating at least 3 Aircraft Carriers (ACs). Currently, the Indian Navy has a solo AC called INS Vikramaditya, a 44,000-tonne behemoth brought from Russia. By 2022, India will get its 2^nd AC which is its own indigenous AC called INS Vikrant; a 45,000-tonne ship. Now since India has a vast coastline to guard, it needs 1 AC fleet to guard its western coasts & another to guard its eastern coast.

INS Vikramaditya in battle mode.

Guarding the western coast is easy when compared to the eastern coast as our foe Pakistan doesn’t have an AC of its own. Opposite to that, China currently has 2 ACs namely Laoning & Shandong, the latter of which was inducted towards the end of 2019. With this, China’s power projection through it’s PLA Navy has increased by leaps & bounds; and so has its threat to other neighbouring countries including India. China is working on getting 2 more ACs by 2030 so that it can get under control the whole of IOC. Till date, IOC has been guarded by India Navy in coordination with Japanese & South Korean Navy. 

PLA Navy's Aircraft Carrier Shandong

Indian Navy’s top brass feels that in order to maintain its power projection in the face of PLA Navy & to effectively guard the IOC region, it needs a 3^rd AC which if accepted by Govt. of India (GOI); will be India’s 2^nd indigenous AC called INS Vishal, a bigger 65,000-tonne behemoth that will pack a power punch. The only problem is lack of funds as its construction & operationalization over a period of 10 years will cost a hefty 6 billion or 60,000 crore. Due to this reason, GOI is reluctant to spend such a huge amount on getting a 3^rd AC for Indian Navy. 

INS Vishal Design

But there might be a solution to this problem, and that is sharing an AC jointly by 4 nations namely India, Australia, Japan & South Korea. Indian can have a 40% share in its ownership while the remaining 3 countries can have 20% each. This will help in a big way and can be hugely beneficial for navies of all 4 countries. I am hereby sharing the following points about it:-

1.    Having a joint AC will reduce its overall cost including construction & maintenance & bring it down to 1/4^th for each country.

2.    It can be built in 5-6 years if its construction commences in the 2^nd half of 2020. This can be done by allotting construction of various parts by all 4 participating countries.

3.    Each country can bring its best stuff when it comes to construction such as Japan for its electrical & electronic parts, Australia and South Korea for their weapon packages & crew and India for its expertise in hull & designing.

4.    Since it will be constructed by 4 countries jointly, it can be the best AC built till date as will have the best of features from 4 different countries.

5.    A huge amount of money saved in making it rather than making solo carriers by all 4 countries can be diverted towards developing a joint strike force to accompany & guard it; which will comprise of missile cruisers, frigates, destroyers, submarines & supply ship/s.

6.    Joint operations & functioning that will further cement international ties between all 4 South Asian countries. That will also include sharing of knowledge among officers & sailors. 
7. Automatic threat-neutralisation from China’s PLA Navy, as it would refrain from attacking the joint AC, as doing so will bring it to war against 4 countries of which 2 are developed & 2 are developing economies. 

India-Australia Joint Naval Exercise

One point that can be decided later is- the type of aircrafts that will operate from it. Now this can be the latest 5^th generation stealth fighters such as Lockheed Martin’s F-35Bs or the 4+ generation Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet Block-III. Now except India, all 3 countries have already ordered F-35As for their airforce’ modernization plans. So they can easily get the F-35Bs which have been specially designed to be operated from ACs. 

But again, doing so would increase the overall cost of operating a joint AC which in-turn won’t be feasible. Add to it, while the other 3 countries are also NATO members, US won’t be willing to allow access of F-35Bs with Indian navy officers & sailors on the joint AC as it will help them get the technical and mechanical know-how of F-35Bs, which they might share with IAF, DRDO & HAL to help them make their own 5^th generation AMCA (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft). 

F-35B in action.

On the other hand, opting for F/A-18 Super Hornet Block-III would be a cost-efficient step and will be welcomed by one and all. The US won’t mind sharing of technical & mechanical know-how about their latest variant of 4+ generation of aircraft as this jet fighter is also being offered to Indian Navy and Indian Airforce for their respective requirements of 57 jets and 114 jets respectively. Indian Navy’s fighter pilots will be more than happy to operate and fly the latest variant of Super Hornets as it will also get them 1^st hand experience of flying these beasts. 

F/A-18 Super Hornet Block-3

Now it only depends on the top leadership of all 4 countries as to whether to make this idea practical or not, to effectively check the Chinese threat in IOC. It is only a matter of time coz once if PLA Navy gets its 3^rd AC possibly by 2025, then they might not be willing to back down. But if India, Japan, Australia and South Korea succeed in coming together and getting a joint AC & a joint strike group along with it together by 2025-26 then China would think twice before messing with it.