Exclusive! IAC-2- Firm ideas by mid 2013, assures Navy Chief

Neelam Mathews

December 3, 2012

A transparent sounding Chief of Indian Navy,  Admiral DK Joshi, minced no words at the Navy Day press conference, spiced with doses of subtle humor. Joshi informed Aerospace Diary that work on the Indian Aircraft Carrier-2 had started two years ago and ‘all options were being evaluated including arresting gear and it would take a “final shape” by mid- 2013. “We (then) hope to start requirement approvals.”

This puts to rest all those critical of the IN saying no work had started on the IAC-2, a     sure recipe to another delayed program.

An AEWC lands aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman 

What is prime ofcourse, on everybody’s mind, is whether the carrier will opt for the catapult or ski-based design, which will determine the kind of aircraft that will be procured.

Joshi was clear: “”if we are going in for big programs, we want a capability for operating that will have usage for the next 50 years.” Words of wisdom