How many Aircraft Carriers should India have? Why?

印度应该配备多少艘航母？为什么？

 Quora读者的评论：

Drew McCormick, studied at Reed College

I love the ingoistic love of the Indian keyboard warriors to acquire six or eight carriers. So here are a few informative facts.

Carriers are complex machines, especially the nuclear powered ones. Count on at least a third of the time in dock. So three carriers, one for each coast, won't do it if you want them asea always.

There are three types of carriers:

1.Super Carriers: around 100,000 tons, carrying about 90 planes. Only the US has these. They have a catapult launching system.

2.Regular Carriers: around 40,000 tons, carrying about 40 planes each. Most of these don't have catapults and can only carry short take off and landing planes.The US has 8 of these, twice as many as any other country.

3.Crap Carriers: built and operated by navies with no expertise in carriers. Both the Russian and carriers fall into this category.

我欣赏印度键盘侠要求军方配备6到8艘航母的嘴硬态度。但下面是一些事实。

航母是非常复杂的机器，特别是核动力航母尤为复杂。起码有三分之一的时间要停靠在码头上。所以如果印度只有三艘航母，每个海岸配一艘，希望海上一直有航母巡游，三艘是不够的。

有三种载体：

1.超级航母：约10万吨，可搭载约90架飞机。只有美国有这种航母。他们有飞机弹射发射系统。

2.常规航母：约4万吨，可搭载约40架飞机。这些飞机大多没有弹射器，只能搭载短程起降飞机。美国有8个这样的航母，是其他国家的两倍之多。

3.垃圾航母：由没有航母专业知识的海军建造和操作。俄罗斯和的航母都属于这一类。

Carriers are accompanied by a battle fleet of 5 to 15 other ships designed to protect the carrier and do tasks the carrier is not designed to to.

Carriers are really expensive, not just to acquire, but also to operate. A single US Carrier group costs $7 Million a day: the carrier alone costs $100 Million per year to operate.

The upshot is that if you want a carrier group, you should have damn good reason for it – not just macho nationalism. That money could be better spent elsewhere.

Update: It is interesting to see that many on this question claim carriers are needed to protect the Indian coast. But there is a better way to do this, called airfields. They may not be as impressive, or fancy, or nationalistic bombastic as an aircraft carrier, but they do have a number of advantages:

1.They are cheap. Really, really cheap. You can build a hellalot of air fields for the same price as one aircraft carrier.

2.They are unsinkable. Duh.

3.Aircraft flying from them have a longer range.

4.They require less training to use. Therefore fewer accidents involving multimillion dollar jets.

5.They can be used for other purposes, like civilian aircraft, which might help grow the economy.

译文来源：三泰虎 http://www.santaihu.com/47574.html  译者：Joyceliu

航母由一支由5到15艘其他舰船组成的战斗舰队护航，目的是保护航母并执行航母不能完成的任务。

航母真的很烧钱，不仅建造成本高，操作成本也很高。一个美国航母群每天的操作成本为700万美元：仅这艘航母每年的操作成本就高达1亿美元。

结果是，如果你想拥有一个航母战斗群，你必须有很好的理由——而不仅是出于民族主义。可以把这笔钱花在其他更值得的地方。

更新：有趣的是，很多人在这个问题上都声称印度需要航母来保护其海岸。但其实有一个更好的方法，就是机场。它们可能不像航空母舰那样令人印象深刻、高大上或符合民族主义的夸夸其谈，但它们确实有一些优势：

1.便宜。真的，真的便宜。造一艘航空母舰的钱，可以用来修建大量的机场。

2.他们不会沉没。废话。

3.从机场起飞的飞机航程更远。

4.机场需要的训练较少。因此价值数百万美元的飞机的事故少了。

5.机场也可用于其他用途，比如民用飞机，可能有助于经济增长。

Ayush Singh, 100000 tonnes of diplomacy

India needs at Least 20 nuclear powered super carriers with 10 of American design and other 10 of Russian design

1-Collossus class [American design]

印度至少需要20艘核动力超级航母，其中10艘采用美国的设计，另外10艘采用俄罗斯的设计

1-巨人级 [美国设计]

​

Displacement: Approxmately 120,000 short tons Length :( 360 m) and 80m width

The new vessels will have a hull similar to the Gerald Ford class, but with design features intended to improve efficiency and operating costs, including reduced crew requirement

Carriers of the Colossus class will incorporate features including

Advanced arresting gear, Automation, which reduces crew requirements by several hundred from the Gerald Ford-class carrier. BMD missile of Israeli origin system with range up to 500km and Barak 8 for short range air defense. An Israeli dual-band radar.

An Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS)

A new nuclear reactor design for greater power generation. Stealth features to help reduce Radar cross-section. The ability to carry up to 100 aircraft including

排水量：约120,000短吨，长(360米)，宽80米

新航母将有类似杰拉尔德福特级的船体，该设计旨在提高效率和操作成本，包括降低船员需求

巨人级航母将具备以下功能：

先进的拦阻装置，自动化，比起杰拉尔德福特级航母需要的船员减少数百名之多。配备以色列的弹道导弹防御系统，射程可达500公里，用于短程防空巴拉克8型，以及以色列双频雷达。

电磁飞机发射系统

一个新的核反应堆设计用于更大的发电。隐身功能，以帮助减少雷达横截面。能够携带多达100架飞机

Vishnu Menon, LL.M. in Business Laws from National Law School of India University, Bangalore

Originally Answered: How many Aircraft carriers are there in commision in Indian navy, and how many shuold actually be?

At present the Indian Navy operates 2 Aircraft carriers:

INS Vikramaditya:

INS Vikramaditya is a modified Kiev-class aircraft carrier which entered into service with the Indian Navy in 2013. She has been renamed in honour of Vikramaditya, a legendary emperor of Ujjain, India.

最初的问题是：印度海军有多少艘航空母舰在服役?

目前，印度海军有两艘航空母舰:

INS Vikramaditya:

维克拉马迪亚号是一艘改进型基辅级航空母舰，于2013年进入印度海军服役。她的名字是为了纪念印度乌杰恩的传奇皇帝维克拉马迪提亚。

INS Viraat-

INS Viraat is a Centaur-class aircraft carrier in service with the Indian Navy. INS Viraat was the flagship of the Indian Navy before INS Vikramaditya was commissioned in 2013. It is the last British-built ship serving with the Indian Navy and was the oldest aircraft carrier in service.

INS那时Viraat也- - - - - -

INS Viraat是印度海军现役的一艘半人马座航空母舰。在“维克拉马蒂亚”号于2013年服役之前，“维拉特”号是印度海军的旗舰。这是英国建造的最后一艘印度海军舰艇，也是服役中最古老的航空母舰。

INS Vikrant (under construction)-

The Vikrant class (formerly Project 71 Air Defence Ship (ADS) or Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC)) is a class of two aircraft carriers being built for the Indian Navy. The two vessels are the largest warships and the first aircraft carriers to be designed and built in India. They are being built by Cochin Shipyard.

维克兰特号(在建)-

维克兰特(Vikrant)级(前项目71防空舰(ADS)或本土航空母舰(IAC))是为印度海军建造的两艘航空母舰的一个级。这两艘军舰是印度最大的军舰，也是第一艘在印度设计和建造的航空母舰。它们是由科钦造船厂建造的。

INS Vishal (Planned)-

INS Vishal (IAC-II) is the second Vikrant-class aircraft carrier currently in its design phase, which will be built by Cochin Shipyard Limited for the Indian Navy and the second aircraft carrier built in India. It is intended to be the first super carrier to be built in India. The proposed design of the second carrier features significant changes from INS Vikrant (IAC-I), including an increase in displacement and proposals to incorporate nuclear propulsion. An EMALS CATOBAR system is also under consideration, and could be used to launch heavier aircraft like larger fighters, AEW (airborne early-warning) aircraft and Mid-Air Refueling Tankers.

INS Vishal(计划)

INS Vishal (ia - ii)是目前正在设计阶段的第二艘vikrant级航空母舰，将由Cochin船厂有限公司为印度海军建造，也是第二艘在印度建造的航空母舰。它将成为印度建造的第一艘超级航母。第二艘航母的设计方案与“维克兰特”号(IAC-I)相比有显著的变化，包括增加排水量和纳入核推进的提议。EMALS CATOBAR系统也在考虑中，可以用于发射更重的飞机，如大型战斗机、预警机和空中加油机。

Indian Navy ideally wants to operate 3 well armed aircraft carriers.

印度海军最理想的是拥有3艘装备精良的航空母舰。

Vimal Joseph, A proud Indian

It's not that much easy to have 4-8 aircraft carriers. Acquiring an aircraft carrier is not only expensive but also maintenance is a big hurdle.. In fact expense for the maintenance for one aircraft carrier require 11 crore rupees per one day. Like that India operates 2 aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya and Viraat..

拥有4-8艘航空母舰并不那么容易。获得一艘航空母舰不仅昂贵，而且维修也是一个很大的障碍。事实上，一艘航空母舰的维护费用每天需要1100亿卢比。印度有两艘航空母舰，维克拉马迪亚号和维拉特号。

Soon INS Vikrant will induct before the decommissioning of INS Viraat. Before 2022 INS Vishal which will be a nuclear powered aircraft carrier will join the navy then India operates 3 advanced aircraft carrier.. Indian navy only require these 3 aircraft carriers for the protection of our nations interest. We don't want to invade anyone..

不久，维克兰特号将在维拉特号退役前服役。2022年之前，印度将拥有一艘核动力航空母舰，届时印度将拥有3艘先进航空母舰。印度海军只需要这三艘航空母舰来保护我们国家的利益。我们不想侵略任何人。

INS VIKRAMADITYA

维克拉玛蒂亚号航母

INS VIKRANT

维克兰特号航母

INS VIRAAT

维拉特号航母

INS VISHAL (PROPOSED)

维沙尔号航母（拟建）

Rishikesh Patil, Defence Tech Buff

Originally Answered: How many Aircraft Carriers does India need?

For fighting a two front war, possibly with and Pakistan, India needs two aircraft carriers. One for the east front in Bay of Bengal to fight Navy (PLAN) and one for the west front in the Arabian Sea to counter Pakistani Navy.

最初的问题是：印度需要多少艘航空母舰?

为了可能爆发的与和巴基斯坦的两线战争，印度需要两艘航空母舰。一艘在孟加拉湾的东线对抗海军，另一艘在阿拉伯海的西线对抗巴基斯坦海军。

CNS Liaoning

already has Liaoning in service, and has started sea trails of Shandong. PLAN plans to maintain a fleet of six aircraft carriers including Liaoning and Shandong. To counter PLAN, we need atleast one aircraft carrier. Submarines would play an important role to counter PLAN’s aircraft carriers on the east front. Pakistan does not a aircraft carrier, and its remaining navy is not impressive. But having an aircraft carrier even in the west, will be an advantage.

Indian Navy has planned to acquire one more aircraft carrier, the INS Vishal, which would be a CATOBAR nuclear powered supercarrier. Design work has been started for INS Vishal.

航母辽宁号

已经有辽宁号航母了，山东号也开始试航。民解放军计划组建包括辽宁号和山东号在内的六艘航空母舰的舰队。为了应对民解放军，我们至少需要一艘航空母舰。潜艇将在东线对抗民解放军的航空母舰发挥重要作用。巴基斯坦没有航空母舰，其海军也没有给人留下深刻印象。但即便是在西线，拥有一艘航空母舰也会是一个优势。

印度海军计划再购买一艘维沙尔号航空母舰，这是一艘弹射式起飞与拦阻式降落式核动力超级航母。维沙尔号的设计工作已经开始。

INS Vikramaditya

There is a possibility that both the aircraft carriers of Indian Navy, INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant (IAC-1), will be used against PLAN, in case of a war. Pakistan Navy can be taken care of by destroyers, frigates and submarines of Indian Navy.

维兰玛迪雅号航母

印度海军的维克拉马迪亚号航空母舰和维克兰特号航空母舰(ac -1)都有可能在战争期间对抗民解放军。巴基斯坦海军可以由印度海军的驱逐舰、护卫舰和潜艇来对付。

INS Vikrant

In 1971-Bangladesh Liberation War, the Chittagong harbour was bombed by attack aircrafts from INS Vikrant (R11). Due to this bombing, no other naval ship could be used from chittagong harbour, and this gave naval supremacy to the Indian Navy in Bay of Bengal. An aircraft carrier is a combination of air power and naval power, which is very useful in strategic warfare.

维克兰特号航母

1971年孟加拉国解放战争期间，来自维克兰特号(R11)的攻击飞机轰炸了吉大港。由于这次轰炸，吉大港无法使用其他军舰，这使印度海军在孟加拉湾拥有了制海权。航空母舰是空中力量和海上力量的结合，在战略战争中非常有用。

Ankita Xalxo, Mistress of knowledge on the Navy, Surrounded by friends working in the Navy.

Hey Gaurav,

Talking about Aircraft Carriers

Currently there are two aircraft carrier which are active INS Viraat (the one at the Naval base in Bombay) and INS Vikramaditya (whose homeport is Karwar). After INS Viraat, INS Vikramaditya is the largest aircraft carrier and soon will be the largest aircraft carrier because by the year end INS Viraat will be decommissioned and sent to the scrapyard.

INS Vikrant 19,500 tons, Majestic-class carrier, (ex-HMS Hercules)- the first ever aircraft of India was decommissioned two years back and she played a very important role in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. Bajaj is melting the metals and making bikes out of the metal of INS Vikrant.

INS Vikrant 44,000 tons, Vikrant class carrier is being built at the Cochin Shipyard and will be in service in 2018.

INS Vishal is being planned and most likely by 2025 it will be in service.

There is no such limit that you should have this many number of Aircraft carrier.The U.S. Navy has 10 aircraft carriers being the largest Navy in the world and looking at this number we should have increase the number of aircraft carriers. There is nothing proposed as to the number of aircraft carriers. More the number the stronger it becomes.

嘿,Gaurav,

说道航空母舰

目前有两艘航空母舰“维拉特”号(孟买海军基地的那艘)和“维克拉马迪亚”号(母港在卡尔瓦)。继“维拉特”号之后，“维克拉马迪亚”号是最大的航空母舰，到今年年底，“维拉特”号将退役并被送往废料场。

威猛级航母(如前大力神号)维克兰特号排水量为19500吨——印度的第一艘航母在两年前退役，她在1971年印巴战争中发挥了非常重要的作用。巴贾吉正在熔化这些金属，并用维克兰特号的金属制造自行车。

维克兰特排水量44,000吨，维克兰特级航母正在科钦造船厂建造，将于2018年服役。

维沙尔号正在筹建中，极有可能在2025年投入使用。

没有所谓的某个国家必须拥有几艘航空母舰的最低要求。美国海军有10艘航空母舰，是世界上最大的海军，单看这个数字，我们应该增加航空母舰的数量。航母越多就越强大。

And the two Aircraft Carriers that exst in India as of now were never build in India. INS Viraat was built by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering, (Headquartered at UK), and INS Vikramaditya was built by Sevmash. (Headquartered at Russia). And now currently India is making its own Aircraft carriers. A lot of money goes in building these ships. And the Government spends a huge amount of money. I don’t know whether you are aware of it or not – If a Naval Personnel is transferred from one base to base a huge amount of expense is incurred by the Government and that’s the reason Navy does not have frequent transfer.

So, I guess Indian Government would have a burden of financial expense if it starts making aircraft carriers randomly. So i guess the monetary issue restricts the Government but there are plannings of Aircraft Carriers coming up.

目前印度拥有的两艘航空母舰都不是在印度建造的。“维拉特”号由总部位于英国的维克斯造船工程公司建造，“维兰玛迪雅号”由舍马什建造(总部位于俄罗斯)。现在印度正在建造自己的航空母舰。建造这些船花了很多钱。政府花费了巨额资金。我不知道你是否清楚，如果海军从一个基地转移到另一个基地，政府会产生大量的费用，这也是海军不经常调动的原因。

所以，我想如果印度政府不加计划地制造航空母舰，它将面临巨大的财政负担。所以我想是资金问题限制了政府的进度，但政府确实有航空母舰的计划。

Prashant Bhardwaj

Its hilarious to see how easily people say 8 carriers or 6!!!

what will we do with 8 aircraft carriers do we have even slightest of Idea about operating cost and manufacturing cost?

Responsible powerful states are respected not bully or threatening ones.

even 3 is an overkill! no one is going to take away our land, 3 are much more than enough for deterrence. Neither nor US will even thinking of messing with India if you already have 3 carriers, even a small conflict can be disastrous for both countries and no one will ever want to take that risk for fun.

If you have to fight Full scale war with even 8 will be fall short cuz there naval strength is many times in submarines, destroyers and frigates and it will keep growing by the time you have 8. What will those Nukes do? What would those 10 US carriers do if comes to attack us? US is just waiting eagerly to encircle . We have Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, US and other ASEAN countries,  have pak and Myanmar. Anyways going by logic of 8 to be global bully like US even 20 will be less.

看到人们轻飘飘地一张口就是8艘或6艘航母，真叫人忍俊不禁！

我们对操作成本和制造成本有一丝半毫的了解吗?

负责任的强国才能赢得尊重，那些依靠欺凌或威胁别人的国家赢不来尊重。

航母3艘都嫌多！没有人会夺走我们的土地，3艘就足够震慑了。如果你已经拥有3艘航空母舰，和美国就不会考虑与印度发生冲突，即使是很小的冲突对两国来说都是灾难性的，没有人愿意为了一时兴起而冒险。

如果一定要和爆发全面战争，8艘航母也不够，因为海军的潜艇、驱逐舰和护卫舰的力量超过印度许多，而且在你们拥有8艘航母前，海军的实力还会继续增长。那么核武器能干嘛？如果攻击我们，那10艘美国航母会怎么做？美国迫不及待地想要包围。我们有日本、韩国、越南、菲律宾、新加坡、泰国、美国和其他东盟国家，有巴基斯坦和缅甸。无论如何，按照8艘航母的逻辑，如果想成为像美国那样的全球头号霸主，20艘航母也不够。

Jebin Cherian, works at Don Bosco Institute of Technology, Mumbai

First of all lets understand the total number of fleets India possesses. Up to the 1971 war India possessed one fleet, which was commanded by a Rear Admiral whose designation was Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet. This was changed in the run up to the 1971 war where 2 fleets were created the Western Fleet and the Eastern Fleet each commanded by Rear Admirals designated Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF) and Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF). Each of these fleets should have a carrier task force based around a supercarrier. As you will notice there is no Southern Fleet as the SNC is a mainly a training command and there has been no need for a fleet over there. To maintain 2 supercarriers at any given time we will need 3 supercarriers, because there will be times that the ship is undergoing a refit or an overhaul. When all 3 supercarriers are available, one supercarrier can be used for power projection and maritime diplomacy. We may need a 4th supercarrier if the GoI decides to accept Vietnam's offer of a naval base i.e. Cam Ranh Bay base which was used by the Americans and the French. The purpose of the fleet based over there will be primarily to irritate the and remind them that aggression on land will have them paying a price at sea and to take the fight to them. We will also need, according to me 2 light or a baby carrier that supports S/VTOL air units, one of which would be based in the Andaman & Nicobar Command (which is a tri-service command) to give that region a limited floating airfield to carry out operations and to guard the archipelago at all times, the other one would sit as a reserve with the Southern naval Command and be transferred to ANC if needed. if there is no need for it then it can be used for training.

So to sum up I think we would ideally need 6 carriers

4 supecarriers

2 baby carriers or light carriers

I do realize that this is an expensive proposition because I always talk of carrier taskforces so not only do the carriers have to be built but the other ships that are part of the taskforce like destroyers, submarines etc. Plus there are also operational costs

首先让我们了解一下印度拥有的舰队总数。在1971年战争之前，印度拥有一支由一名海军少将指挥的舰队，他被指定为指挥印度舰队的司令。这在1971年的战争中发生了改变，当时印度成立了两支舰队，一支是西线舰队，另一支是东线舰队，由海军少将指定的司令分别指挥西线舰队(FOCWF)和旗官指挥东线舰队(FOCEF)。每个舰队都应该配备一艘以航母为基地的航母特遣部队。你会注意到没有南线舰队，因为南线主要是一个训练指挥部，那里不需要舰队。为了在任何时候都能保持2艘超级航母的战斗力，我们需要3艘超级航母，以备航母改装或大修的需要。当3艘超级航母全部投入使用时，一艘航母可以用于实力投射和海上外交。如果印度政府决定接受越南提供的海军基地，也就是美国和法国使用的金兰湾基地，我们可能就需要第四艘航母了。在当地派驻舰队的主要目的就是激怒，并提醒他们，陆地上的侵略会让他们在海上付出代价，并向他们开战。根据我个人看法，我们还需要2艘能支持垂直起降的轻型或小型航母，一艘驻扎在安达曼和尼科巴司令部，给该地区一个有限浮动机场进行操作并保护这个群岛，另一艘作为储备坐镇南方海军司令部，可以用于培训。

综上所述，我认为理想情况下我们需要6艘航母。

4艘超级航母

2艘小型或轻型航母

我知道这个提议造价昂贵，因为我经常谈论航母编队，所以不仅要建造航母，还要建造其他舰艇，比如驱逐舰、潜艇等等。除此之外，还有不菲的操作成本。

Prangyavit Sahu, studied at Asia Pacific Institute of Management New Delhi

India has long history of maintaining Aircraft carrier. Due to its long cost line it always require a huge naval force to defend it and the navy proved its worthiness in last 3 wars with Pakistan. But the time has changed now. Till today most of the Indian thinks Pakistan is the enemy from whom defence force must defend, but the real problem is .

To improvise the strength of Navy they require different type of warships. And the most valuable, amazing , powerful and majestic is Aircraft carrier . Aircraft Carrier is nothing but a small floating airbase which can relocate any where in the world. Right now India has only aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya and it is purchased from Russia.

As per many Defence analyst India must have 4 Aircraft carriers. I will explain why. The reason behind 4 Aircraft Carrier is 3 for defending 3 defence side of cost and 1 is for reserve or can be use in strategic positions.

Before we proceed further let check which areas navy assigned to protect. The total Cost length of India is 7515 Km.

印度拥有航空母舰的历史很悠久了。航母的维护成本很高，需要庞大的海军力量来保卫它，海军在过去三次与巴基斯坦的战争中证明了它的价值。但现在时代变了。直到今天，大多数印度人认为巴基斯坦是军方必须防御的敌人，但印度真正的敌人是。

为了提高海军的实力，他们需要不同类型的军舰。而最有价值、最惊人、最强大、最雄伟的就是航空母舰。航空母舰就是一个小型的浮动空军基地，可以部署在世界上任何地方。目前印度只有维克拉马迪亚号航空母舰，而且是从俄罗斯购买的。

正如许多国防分析家所说，印度必须拥有4艘航空母舰。我会解释一下这么说的原因。4艘航母背后的原因是印度需要3艘航母用于防御3个前线，1艘用于储备或用于战略位置。

在我们继续讨论之前，先查一下海军需要保卫哪些地区。印度的海岸线总长为7515公里。

The mainland is around 5423 Km and coastal length of all islands is 2094 Km. Now this is a huge area to cover even for Aircraft carrier.

Now, lets check what is the endurance of our only active Aircraft Carrier INS Vikramaditya and it is 13000 NK. With this range it can only defend one side of the Coast other sides. So one aircraft carrier for each side of India, one is Indian Ocean and the forth one will be used for strategic roles like back up plan or blockage at Andaman sea or straight of Malacca.

Planning for 4 Carriers is easier compare to reality. A carrier never travel alone . It is always move with its Carrier battle group. And maintaining one CBG cost around 11–12 Crore per day. So it brings a lot of cost upon us. But cost never is a problem when comes to defence. The major problem is the combination of CBG . The CBG generally consists of two destroyers, 3 frigates , 1 anti submarine warfare corvettes, 1 submarine and 1 support ship. So apart from Aircraft Carrier , there are requirement of another 8 to 9 different ships.

大陆约5423公里，所有岛屿的沿海长度为2094公里。这是一个巨大的区域，就算对航空母舰而言也是如此。

现在，让我们来看看我们唯一的现役航母维克拉马迪亚号的续航能力：13000。在这个范围内，它只能保卫海岸的一边。所以印度国土的每一边都需要配备一艘航空母舰，一艘驻扎在印度洋，第四艘用于战略任务，比如后备计划，或执行安达曼海或马六甲海峡的封锁。

相对现实而言筹建4艘航母要容易得多。航母从不单独航行。航母必须和航母战斗群一起行动。航母战斗群每天的航行成本约为1.1-1.2亿卢比。所以它给我们带来了很大的成本压力。但在国防方面，成本从来都不是问题。主要问题是航母战斗群的组合。航母战斗群一般由两艘驱逐舰、三艘护卫舰、一艘反潜护卫舰、一艘潜艇和一艘支援舰组成。所以除了航空母舰，还需要8到9艘不同的船舰。

Wes Frank, Freelance Writer and Historian

The prestige, political, and dramatic aspects of aircraft carriers tend to obscure some fundamental cautions you have to be aware of.

First, aircraft carriers are hideously expensive to build, support, and maintain. They require a separate, small air force, with all the land based infrastructure of a national air force , in addition to being the largest, most complex ships in your navy, by a factor of thre or five.

Second, and this is where American history tends to obscure things, they are of strictly limited use against any enemy that can fight back. Any use of an aircraft carrier fails a risk-benefit test if the opposition has respectable land-based air power or a decent submarine force. You can only use them from a distance—as the British did in the Falklands—or in overwhelming numbers—as the Americans did in World War II—or against an opponent that cannot strike back at them. The latter situation is what most navies use their aircraft carriers for nowadays.

In any limited international military crisis or confrontation, such as counter-terrorism, civil uprisings, or coup de etates, the nation with an aircraft carrier on hand has a powerful tool present in the zone of conflict. It can intimidate, rescue, or act, as needed.

In the unlikely event of India getting into a major war, its air force is going to be a key factor and it’s excellent navy is going to be out at sea, avoiding the enemy air force. Trading shots with modern missiles launched from modern aircraft is not good risk-benefit strategy.

But, for everything else, one or two carriers is all you need.

航空母舰的名气、政治和戏剧效果往往掩盖了一些你必须注意的原则问题。

首先，建造、供养和维护航空母舰的成本高得惊人。他们需要一个独立的小型空军，拥有国家空军的所有陆基基础设施，并且会是你们海军中最庞大、最复杂的舰船。

其次，这就是美国历史往往掩盖的东西，它们对反击敌人的作用都是有限的。如果敌军拥有可观的陆基空中力量或像样的潜艇力量，那么航空母舰也无法避开风险。你只能把航母停靠在远离战场的地方——就像英国在福克兰群岛所做的那样——或者以压倒性的数量——就像美国在二战中所做的那样——或者用航母来对付一个无法反击的敌人。后一种情况是目前大多数海军使用航空母舰的原因。

在任何有限的国际军事危机或对抗中，如反恐、国内起义或政变，拥有航空母舰的国家在冲突地区拥有强大的工具。可以根据需要进行恐吓、营救或行动。

在印度不太可能发生重大战争的情况下，印度空军将成为一个关键因素，优秀的海军将在海上作战，避开敌人的空军。用现代飞机发射的现代导弹互相攻击并不是一个好的策略。

一艘至两艘航母就足矣。