Which is more important for Indian navy Aircraft Carrier or Nuclear Submarines

 History of carrier operations of the Indian Navy

Indian navy is the naval; arm of the Indian military The primary objective of the navy is to safeguard the nation's maritime borders, and in conjunction with other Armed Forces of the union, act to deter or defeat any threats or aggression against the territory, people or maritime interests of India, both in war and peace  

And the strength of Indian Navy was seen in the 1971 war with Pakistan when the Indian military divided the Islamic Republic of Pakistan into two and Bangladesh was born as a new nation and the role of the Indian navy was unforgettable due to its various operations launched during the war

Some of the operations lunched by the Indian navy against Pakistan was the OPERATION TRIDENT where the missile boats of the Indian navy destroyed the one and only Pakistani port in the city of Karachi which was and is the financial capital of The primary objective of the navy is to safeguard the nation's maritime borders, and in conjunction with other Armed Forces of the union, act to deter or defeat any threats or aggression against the territory, people or maritime interests of India, both in war and peace

(indian navy missile boat during operation trident)

The main naval force which was used during the war was in the eastern coasts of India from where the carrier operations where being carried out with the use of the one and only aircraft carrier of the Indian navy of that time which was INS VIKRANT and it provided the Indian army an additional air support from the southern part of East Pakistan (BANGLADESH)

(INS VIKRANT IN 1971 WAR)

If INS VIKRANT would have had not bee their during the war then then the duration war would have had extended by weeks so it is is clear the the Indian navy and the Indian military desperately needs aircraft carriers for any possible war and ever since the SINO-INDIA conflict i.e the Galwan valley conflict in LADAKH the Government of India and the Indian military are also increasing their capabilities specially ion the fields of air and naval power because the Indian military lags behind the Chinese navy in Quantity or in the numbers

And the Indian navy experienced the power of a aircraft carrier during 1971 WAR and also Indian navy has a  experience of operating a aircraft carrier fore more than 65 years which is just second to the JAPANESE NAVY if we consider the statistics of aircraft carrier history of Asia and ever since the independence of India the Indian navy has always preferred to use at least one aircraft carrier at any given point of time and in the result after the INS VIKRANT india have also inducted INS VIRATT (retired), INS VIKRAMADITYA (in service) , and INS VIKRANT the new made in India aircraft carrier(under sea trials as of July 2021)

IMPORTANCE  OF   A   AIRCRAFT   CARRIER

Aircraft carriers are the biggest asset of a military of any nation as it is a kind of floating airfield and is also the best medium for a country possessing aircraft carrier to portray its military might to its enemy countries and it can give any country a capability of making its navy a blue water navy which can operate on huge distances from its homeland

A aircraft carrier can  carry lethal force of fighter aircraft (both conventional and nuclear delivery), anti submarine helicopters , AWACS and many more on its deck and can bring a huge damage to the enemy  . And also a aircraft carrier does not sails alone but its sails with a huge carrier battle group which help to multiply the damage provided by the carrier to the enemy . A typical carrier battle group consists of destroyers , corvettes , frigates , submarines , replenishment ships , AWACS etc

IMPORTANCE   OF   NUCLEAR   SUBMARINE 

Nuclear submarines are the submarines which re powered by nuclear reactors installed in them and the min features of the nuclear submarines is that they can travel to infinite distances without taking a stop and the main nuclear submarines called the SSBN can carry missiles on them and can launch nuclear missiles and can cause heavy damage to the enemy because the nuclear ballistic missile submarine i.e SSBN can stay down the surface of the oceans for months which can reach at the shores of the enemy and can launch its nuclear ballistic missiles on the enemy and it takes much less time then the land based nuclear missiles

Nuclear submarine are some of the most lethal platform for the Indian navy if we consider the current conventional powered aircraft carriers of the Indian navy as the aircraft carriers of the Indian navy can travel upto 15000 km non stop but a nuclear powered submarine can travel up to 25 YEARS no stop and also if we consider the fire power of the nuclear powered submarine then we can observe that although aircraft carriers can carry more weapons than a submarine but the level of destruction that a nuclear submarine can cause can not be imagined from a aircraft carriers as a aircraft carrier can carry aircraft which can just drop conventional bombs on the enemy but even if  these kind of nuclear submarine carries a single nuclear missile instead of carrying 8 to 10 nuclear

nuclear missile tubes of SSBN

missiles which they usually carries it can provide more harm to the enemy then the entire ammunition which a aircraft carriers with its self 

WHICH IS BEST SUITED FOR THE INDIAN                                         NAVY

Considering the defense budget of the Indian navy it is very difficult to say that Indian navy can afford a third aircraft carrier after INS VIKRAMADITYA and INS VIKRANT but if the budget if the Indian navy is increased then there is a great chance that the Indian navy can operate a third aircraft carrier

if we consider an aircraft carrier and a nuclear submarine both advantages and disadvantages in them which can be as follows

1.         USES     OF    BOTH   

In the offensive domain or the attacking domain if we consider both the aircraft carrier and a nuclear submarine , a nuclear submarine cant be used against all the nations if we consider the nuclear doctrine of INDIA as it has pledged to not attack with the nukes first and also not to use its nukes against any country which do not possesses nuclear weapons 

but on the other hand if we consider the attacking capabilities of an aircraft carrier its very clear that since the aircraft carriers uses conventional armament so it can be used against any nation if India goes to war with it 

Or in other words  if we consider the uses of a aircraft carrier and a nuclear SSBN we can say that a nuclear SSBN is a dooms day weapon and it can only be used if either the entire military is collapsed or a country like India with NFU policy is itself on the verge of extinction

2.                                                            ATTACKING  ROLE

Since nuclear submarines are far more smaller than a aircraft carrier and have much less armament with it but the damage which it can provide to the enemy is  unimaginable to be provided by a aircraft carrier`s fighter aircraft's as a nuclear SSBN carries

nuclear missiles with it and it does not carry a single nuclear missile it carries more or less than a dozen of these kind of nuclear missiles which can almost destroy any country for forever 

where on the other hand if we consider the aircraft`s deployed on a aircraft carrier they can be only used to achieve tactical goals like destroying enemy`s bunkers , headquarters , ammunition depots , oil supply lines, etc 

3.                DEFENCES  OF   AIRCRAFT  CARRIER  AND   NUCLEAR    SUBMARINE

if we see the growing aircraft carrier fleet of the Chinese navy

initially it forces the Indian navy to construct more aircraft carriers but when we consider the stealth capabilities of a aircraft carrier and a nuclear submarine it forces us to rethink of a nuclear submarine because a aircraft carrier sails with a whole fleet of different ships

with it which can be easily detected by a ordinary satellite 

but if we consider the nuclear submarine on other hand we find out that a nuclear submarine can remain under the water for months undetected as no satellite in the world can see under water 

But since the aircraft carrier sails with a whole group it have more anti submarine capabilities as compared to the carrier itself so if a submarine has has to destroy a carrier it would have to reach in the middle of the carrier battle group because the maximum range of a torpedo can be just 70 km 

which makes it as almost impossible for the submarine to be undetected  enter into the carrier battle group and destroy a aircraft carrier as they can be detected by the carrier battle group from hundreds of miles away

a submarine can only destroy a carrier in a scenario if the entire support group ships are destroyed and the carrier only remains with no anti submarine capabilities

where as a single nuclear submarine cant destroy the entire battle group until and unless the submarine launches a nuclear missile on the carrier battle group       

     

                    CURRENT   STATUS

Currently the indian navy is focusing more on nuclear SSBN (subs which can launch nuclear missiles) and also nuclear SSN (subs which have nuclear reactors but cannot fire nuclear missiles) and also the indian navy is constructing more SSK (the conventional diesel electric submarines)

which means that the indian navy more sort of preparing for the defencive or sea denial role which means that if the chinese battle groups enter into the indian ocean we could have more submarines which we could throw on the enemies carrier battle group in large numbers 

and also the indian navy is constructing more anti ship capabilities so that the carrier battle groups of the chinese navy could be destroyed with minimum losses to the indian navy

Its not like that the indian navy has dropped the plan to make the second indigenous aircraft carrier but the indian navy have said that the indian navy will soon develop new aircraft carrier

after placing the orders of the submarines which would consists of all categories i.e SSBN, SSN, SSK

                          CONCLUSION

If we consider the attacking capability a single nuclear submarine is enough to destroy the enemy but if we consider the defensive capability aircraft carriers have pretty hard defence  to be destroyed by a submarine 

both the nuclear submarines and the aircraft carriers are important for navy to become a blue water navy

so we can say that in current situations if we consider the budget of the indian navy it would be more viable to construct more nuclear and conventional submarines thaen to buy a aircraft carrier as the carriers takes decades to be completed and also the navy would have to make an entire ecosystem of carrier battle group ships to protect a aircraft carrier as the aircraft carriers in today's world takes billions to be constructed  and within that expenses if the indian navy decides to build  nuclear SSBN submarine the navy could get more than 10 to 12 such kind of submarines whi9ch would have a much damage providing capabilities than a single aircraft carier

But if the indian navy decides to make aircraft carrier the navy could place an order now and keep providing funds on installments to the builder so that after 10 to 12 years the carrier could be completed