Navy may go for nuclear-powered aircraft carrier

The Navy today said it was working on the design of the second indigenous aircraft carrier which may be propelled by a nuclear-powered engine.
The design is at a conceptual stage, Director General of Naval Design Bureau Rear Admiral Atul Saxena said when asked if the force was considering using nuclear-powered engine for it.
The Navy is already constructing the 40,000 tonne first indigenous aircraft carrier at the Cochin Shipyard Limited and has plans of building one more such vessel which is expected to be more than 60,000 tonnes in weight.
He said the force will take some time before freezing the design of the aircraft carrier as several options are being considered for various aspects such as aircraft take-off and landing facilities.

India has plans of having a fleet of three aircraft carriers. One each would be deployed on the eastern and western sea-boards and the third would be used as a reserve.
Talking to reporters ahead of the golden jubilee celebrations of the Naval Design Bureau, Saxena said the Navy has developed immense capabilities in terms of ship designing and is focusing on cutting down the ship building time as part of its focus area.
He said in the times of changing face of warfare, the Navy design team is also looking at designing multi-role warships which can be used for diversified operations such as conventional warfare, disaster relief or anti-piracy operations.

Saxena said the force has increased the stealth feature on the ships designed by it and built indigenously by government shipyards in the last few years.