Hmm.
How many times Reaper has been operated from AC? Lets not even consider Tapas as of now.
Even if we start operating Ghatak UCAV from ACs, they can't go in and fill up the role of a fighter completely. They could supplement fighters, but can't take their place. Now we would be operating two sqds strength of Migs from Vikrant which displaces 45k tons. With a 60k ton carrier we could expect 4 sqd strength of same or equivalent fighters. Now even if we replace 1 sqd with drones of Ghatak caliber at 8 tons per ton, how come a light AC is going to help your cause. We are not even considering the helis for SAR and AWACS role here. Drones and fighters can't perform SAR and AWACS role for sure.
Now IN is not even saying this. SAP got it from MOD source. Now either the source is ch****a or it is making SAP ch****a .
Exactly. Drones can't replace fighter jets. This is some sort of a compromise being considered and frankly, it would be saner to delay construction by 3-4 years instead of reducing size. And if even that is insufficient, create a sister ship of IAC-1 if they really want to compromise. Because a 65,000 ton carrier won't get to field 4 squadrons (i.e. 48 jets, which is the capacity a Nimitz class supercarrier has), rather it will be able to field only 3 squadrons (36 fighters). If we are that hard pressed for funds, create a IAC-1 sister ship which we can build quickly and without budget overruns. But keep the IAC-2 size at 65,000 tons, don't compromise on it. The original plan was 5 carriers for the Indian Navy as stated by senior officers themselves. So IAC-2 can become the fourth carrier.
TL DR Delay it don't dilute it. And if the delay is too long, build another IAC-1 class in the meantime.
Chinese have conscription? I thought they had not implemented it since the 1940s.
Chinese men get drafted. Not all are volunteers. The title of the current largest all-volunteer military force as well as the title of the largest volunteer military force in history both belong to Indian Armed Forces.
From where will the money come from ?
It's highly unlikely that India will see a massive jump in revenues,allowing for higher spending in defense.
Aircraft carriers are good,but only for those countries with huge financial reserves.But for a country with large fiscal deficit,it can become a White elephant.
I would rather go with more frigates,destroyers,SSN's
If I remember correctly, India's defence CAPEX has been rising with an average of 10% for the past few years. This year the jump was even higher. India's economy is growing, there is no question that the defence CAPEX will rise with it. We don't need a sudden massive jump in CAPEX, a steady rate of increase would do just fine.
Your entire fleet will be a white elephant when China starts sending its carrier fleet through your backyard and you don't have a carrier to send with your fleet that is meant to shadow the PLAN fleet. Your politicians will also become more willing to talk "peace and tranquility along LAC" when that happens. Do you think we would have been nearly as meek infront of China as we are right now if we had a large military edge over them?