Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba revealed at an annual press conference of the Indian Navy that India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier will be ready by 2020 end. He said that the indigenous aircraft carrier is progressing well and the ship will be ready and inducted into the Navy by the end of 2020.

Lanba also informed that the ‘form and fit’ of the second indigenous carrier with a conventional propulsion has been finalised. It will be around 65,000-tonnes vessel. It will have catapult-assisted take-off and arrestor recovery.

He added that the procedure to purchase 57 fighter aircraft to operate from an aircraft carrier had been initiated. Regarding this purchase, a Request for Information was issued and the Navy had received a response from four vendors. An RFP (Request for Proposal) would likely be issued by mid-2018.

The Navy chief stated that they are committed to indigenization. They have supported the LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) Navy project and is committed to it. He said, “It is a good plane to fly, but what I need is a deck-based fighter that is combat- capable. We are committed to this project. As and when the Defence Research and Development Organisation and Aeronautical Development Agency produces an indigenous deck-based fighter jet, we are willing to induct it. The first indigenous aircraft carrier is designed to operate MiG29K and LCA, so we need deck-based fighters for it also.”