On May 14, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced that the Indian Navy had begun production of a third aircraft carrier.
According to Indian news sources, the third aircraft carrier will be similar in size to INS Vikrant, which displaces 45,000 tonnes.
In the same announcement, Singh also noted that India “will not stop” at three aircraft carriers and has plans to build “five or six more” according to the Business Standard.
Since this is a large number of carriers to be actively deployed, analysts have theorized that these forecasted carriers will likely replace those that are actively deployed.
This announcement comes as India has reinvigorated its national defense industry as tensions with China continue to increase. These tensions mainly stem from China’s expansion of influence into the Maldives and over the disputed Kashmir region.
China has rapidly modernized its armed forces in the last decade, with a heavy emphasis on an expansion of their naval capabilities.
