India and Japan have each launched new aircraft carriers. No doubt, this is a response to their mutual and justified fears about the rapid Chinese military build-up. Both nations are trying to “catch up” to China’s naval expansion.
India’s new carrier is especially noteworthy as it was built indigenously by India in India. The first link notes that this action makes India only the fifth nation on earth that has been able to design and build such a complex military warship. Other nations have carriers, but they have bought them from other nations. Interestingly, the link notes that only the USA, Russia, France and the UK have been previously able to build carriers. China is not on that list. China’s first carrier was actually a ship that was built by Russia and then bought by China who made it operational. India’s carrier would likely be classified as a medium-sized carrier that can carry 36 warplanes. This is much smaller than the USA’s Nimitz-size carriers, but it is a formidable addition to India’s navy.
Japan’s new “carrier” is classified as a helicopter-carrying carrier even though it has a flight deck 820 feet long (second link)! The report states it is designed to handle 14 helicopters, but I suggest a flight deck that long can handle far more helicopters than that number. The link adds that the new “carrier” can’t handle warplanes because it does not have a launch system [like US carriers] or a jump-jet ramp [like British carriers]. With a flight deck that large, how hard would it be to add a power-launch system for warplanes at some point in the future? Also, this carrier could handle V/STOL warplanes like the Harrier jump-jet right now (a point not mentioned in the link). Japan likely has to downplay what its warships can do due to its pacifist Constitution. I think this “carrier” also shows that Japan has joined the list of nations that can build aircraft carriers on their own.
Also, the Japanese navy has another class of warships that can handle a number of helicopters and even the eventual F-35 warplane (see third link). The first ship in this class was built in 2007, and they could also handle V/STOL warplanes in a crisis. So, the Japanese navy actually already has several “carriers” with the capability to project military force with V/STOL warplanes. They are not classified as carriers mostly due to semantics.
These naval additions greatly help India and Japan counter the growing capability of Chinese naval ships to project power far from China’s coasts. However, India’s navy has also suffered a setback.
The fourth link and fifth link report that an Indian submarine that had recently been modernized was mysteriously blown up in port. One link reports that there is a possibility of sabotage, but that cannot be confirmed. Alert responders kept the explosions from damaging a second Indian submarine. This may have been an accident, but it reminds me of the US nuclear submarine that was recently (and deliberately) destroyed by sabotage while it was in dry-dock (see previous post). Hmm. One should ask the question: Who benefits when Indian and American submarines mysteriously blow up or are sabotaged? China is the obvious beneficiary as its navy would have had to confront these submarines in any future war. Did China have a role in these two submarine disasters? No one knows. I’m sure the two destructions of these submarines were just mutual “coincidences” that just happened to greatly and accidentally help China, aren’t you?
I hope readers benefit from my periodic updates on the armed forces that will eventually confront each other in the global, prophesied Gog-Magog war (Ezekiel 38-39) at the end of our age. Much of this information will not be reported in the establishment US media. Much detail about this biblically-prophesied future war can be found in my article, What Ezekiel 38-39 Reveal about a Future World War III. If you have not read it yet, I urge you to do so. Indeed, I recommend all the free articles on my website for your reading. If you benefit from them, please share the links to them with your friends.
