No 'Third' Aircraft Carrier For Indian Navy? Second Indigenous Carrier To Be A Replacement For INS Vikramaditya, Says Report

The Indian Navy’s proposed second indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC-2) will replace INS Vikramaditya rather than serve as a third carrier, a report in the Hindustan Times says.

This marks a shift from earlier discussions about expanding the fleet to three carriers, ensuring that the Navy will continue to operate two carriers at a time.

At present, the Navy has two aircraft carriers—INS Vikramaditya, a Russian-origin vessel acquired second-hand, and INS Vikrant, India’s first domestically built carrier, which was commissioned in September 2022. The IAC-2 will be constructed in India, with the country’s warship-building ecosystem deemed ready to take on the project.

The 45,000-tonne Vikrant was built at Cochin Shipyard at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore. India remains among a select group of nations—the US, UK, Russia, France, and China—that have the capability to build aircraft carriers.

Meanwhile, the Navy is set to finalize two key defense deals with France—one for 26 Rafale-M fighter jets for INS Vikrant and another for three additional Scorpene-class submarines. The Rafale-M deal, estimated at Rs 50,000 crore, is an interim measure until India develops its own Twin Engine Deck-Based Fighter (TEDBF). The first TEDBF prototype is expected to fly by 2026, with production slated for 2031.