Aircraft
Indians Discuss Future Carrier Plans
The naval version of the light combat aircraft (LCA), designed and built in India, needs many changes before it can go to sea. (Photo: Neelam Mathews)
The naval version of the light combat aircraft (LCA), designed and built in India, needs many changes before it can go to sea. (Photo: Neelam Mathews)

With India’s first indigenous carrier (IAC-1) now under construction at the Cochin shipyard, there is speculation surrounding future aircraft carriers, and Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Verma told AIN that the design of the second carrier has not been decided. IAC-1 has a ski jump, but it has not been decided yet whether a planned second indigenous carrier (IAC-2) would be similarly equipped with a ski jump for short-takeoff but arrested recovery (Stobar) operations. Russia has proposed joint development of an advanced carrier design to India.