Reports: India may buy an advanced aircraft carrier from Britain
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    • Reports noted that India has “lodged a firm expression of interest” to buy an advanced 65,000 tonne aircraft carrier worth £2 billion from the UK. BAE Systems, the second largest defence contractor in the world, is presently building two carriers – HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, for the Royal Navy. The £4 billion carrier programme, which has been delayed by two years, is facing challenges due to the government’s cost cutting plans. Officials involved in the programme were quoted as stating that "selling a carrier is one very serious option," though a formal decision had so far not been taken by the UK MoD. If India did succeed in buying the aircraft carrier, it was unlikely to join the Indian Navy before 2018. The first carrier is scheduled to join the Royal Navy in 2016.1

    Currently, India has only one carrier, INS Viraat, against the Navy’s desire of having three carriers so as to enable it to have two operational carriers at any given time. To fill the void, India in 2004 signed a contract with Russia to buy the 44,500 tonne Gorshkov. India is also constructing an indigenous, 37,500 tonne Air Defence Ship (ADS) at Cochin Shipyard Ltd.

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