Projecting power and politics? Carriers in the Indian · PDF fileAt the end of the Second World War, only four navies - Germany, ... a larger number of carrier navies - Brazil, China,

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Jane's Navy International
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Projecting power ... and politics? Carriers in the Indian Ocean
Strike-capable aircraft carriers are growing in strategic significance in the force structures of a number of
navies, some of which have a strong presence in the Indian Ocean region. The region itself also is
growing in geostrategic importance. Shishir Upadhyaya discusses the combined impact of these two
developments
From front: The Italian Navy aircraft carrier ITS Cavour, the USN's Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, and the French Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, conducting operations in the Gulf of Oman in January 2014. (US Navy)
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The contemporary geostrategic environment in the Indian Ocean is shaped by a complex interplay of
several factors. Firstly, the region is endowed with an abundance of strategic raw materials, notably oil and
gas but also critical minerals. This has been a primary driver of the region's growing maritime trade. In
addition, while trade between Indian Ocean littoral states constitutes only 20% of the total volume of trade
moving across the region, the remaining 80% is destined for extra-regional markets - hence the long-term
interest of extra-regional states in the Indian Ocean.

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Secondly, the region has unique geostrategic features such as key maritime chokepoints. This, coupled with
enduring social, economic, and political instability as well as a range of resulting maritime security risks,
has created an environment in which the security of the region's shipping has been challenged once again
by pirates, with acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea re-emerging (after a gap of more than 100 years)
in the chokepoints of first the Malacca Strait and then the Gulf of Aden region.
Thirdly, the vulnerability of the Indian Ocean littoral states to natural disasters has been exposed in recent
years. The security implications of these disasters, such as the 2004 tsunami, have been compounded by
the lack of infrastructure and capacity for crisis management across these states.
These challenges are common across the region and can potentially throw up complex crises far beyond
the capacity of any single littoral state to manage. From a naval perspective, these non-traditional threats
are in addition to the realities of state-on-state security risks, thus increasing the demand for naval forces
to possess versatility in capabilities and operations.
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Aircraft carriers in the 21st century
A strike-capable aircraft carrier - seen by some as perhaps the ultimate symbol of naval and, indeed,
national power - also has the operational flexibility to support a range of other tasks. For example, the
USN's Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has conducted combat air
operations in the Indian Ocean and Gulf region over Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia; it also led the relief
operation following the 2004 tsunami when access from land to many remote areas of the region was
impossible.
The complex strategic challenges in the Indian Ocean region suggest that competition and co-operation will
develop as parallel strategic tracks in the region's maritime security balance. Furthermore, China's
attempts to forge stronger strategic bonds with a number of Indian Ocean region littoral states may result
in geopolitical jockeying amongst other maritime powers with interests in the region, such as India and
United States and its NATO allies.
These strategic questions may see the aircraft carrier gain increasing salience in the Indian Ocean in the
21st century. Reflecting the blend of military and diplomatic factors that shape the Indian Ocean security
balance, today's aircraft carrier is a formidable platform providing navies and their parent nations with the
capability to exercise a vast array of military and diplomatic options at sea and ashore.

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Aircraft carriers in service and in build. (IHS)
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At the end of the Second World War, only four navies - Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the
United States - were carrier-operating navies, although the total number operated between them was
more than 150. Today, a larger number of carrier navies - Brazil, China, France, India, Italy, Russia, Spain,
and the United States - have strike-capable carriers in service (as well as in build), but there are now only
33 vessels between them. The United Kingdom will re-join this elite club from 2017 with the commissioning
of two Queen Elizabeth-class vessels.
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A US Navy F-35C aircraft performs a first Electro-Magnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) launch using the land-based prototype at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, on 18 November 2011. Offering improved performance, fitting EMALS to US carriers could deliver a step-change in capability. (US Navy)
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Indian Ocean carrier operations
The Indian Ocean is the only ocean where many of the major carrier-operating navies have been present in
recent years. This list includes France, India, Italy, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It is expected
that China will be the next name added. It is therefore likely that the employment of carriers in the Indian
Ocean, against the backdrop of the region's emerging state and non-state security challenges, will help to
shape doctrinal frameworks for wider carrier operations in the 21st century. While strike operations
remain the primary focus, the broadening requirements and the flexibility of large deck carriers raises the
question of to what extent wider attributes, including supporting maritime security missions such as HADR,
will gain increased focus.

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The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) aircraft carrier Liaoning, seen here at Dalian shipyard on 25 September 2012 during its commissioning process. (Press Association Images)
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Liaoning , the former Ukrainian carrier Varyag , was commissioned into the PLAN in September 2012, and
is a platform that will help the service transition into a carrier-capable navy. This is part of plans to
introduce a force of several carriers by the 2020s, to enable one to be maintained at sea at all times. Some
reports have suggested China is already building a second carrier and may have as many as four by 2020.
Indeed, February 2015 saw UK newspaper The Guardian report that Chinese web discussions and images of
a second carrier in build had been deleted.
The continued deployment since 2008 of a PLAN naval escort fleet off Somalia to support counter-piracy
operations is indicative of China's determination to maintain a presence in the Indian Ocean. While port
visits or counter-piracy patrols could be considered routine operations for the PLAN, recent reports that
the Type 039 Song-class diesel-electric submarine Great Wall , accompanied by a support vessel, called at
Sri Lanka's Colombo International Container Terminal in September 2014 appear less so. Regular
submarine deployments to the Indian Ocean may mark the next step in the PLAN's regional deployment
strategy. This could also potentially presage the deployment of a carrier task force.
In January 2015, IHS Jane's reported that a Chinese Ministry of National Defense (MND) spokesman had
alluded to Beijing sending a broader range of ships to the Indian Ocean: "In the future, the Chinese military
will send different kinds of naval ships to take part in the naval escort mission in accordance with the
situation and the requirement to fulfil the task," said Senior Colonel Yang Yujun.

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From top: China's People's Liberation Army Navy ships the Type 052C Luyang II-class guided-missile destroyer Haikou, the Type 903 Fuchi-class auxiliary vessel Weishan Hu, and the Type 052B Luyang I-class guided-missile destroyer Guangzhou, sailing together. Deploying in December 2008, these vessels made up the PLAN's first naval

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Projecting power and politics? Carriers in the Indian · PDF fileAt the end of the Second World War, only four navies - Germany, ... a larger number of carrier navies - Brazil, China,