Thank you for your inputs. When we can spare a bit & stretch ourselves for 4 Billion USD short for acquiring Gorky with AAD (rechristened now, still very short legs & payload) & still capable of paying for 2 more IAC's (total expense unknown), with IAC-2 air-arm complement totally up in the air (unknown), could such SSGN in case of construction within India set us back by many more billion dollars ?
What I was referring to a somewhat more balanced ship (than Ohio class) between Anti-Ship, Anti-Surface, Anti-Sub, Anti-Air.
A mini-Ohio class, if you will - with all-round capabilities, which is
very well-defended against under-sea & cruise Missile threat.
150 Cruise Missiles seems an overkill. We follow 16-24 SSM layout in our India, to bumping it up 48-50 CM's appear enough on a single such ship. Remaining real-estate & investment directed towards tackling SSN-SSGN threat, along with AAD & ACM capabilities.
A flotilla of 2-3 such ships can upset any equations in the theater. Aren't some of the latest PLAN destroyers going this way already ?
Something which doesn't requires a full fleet to support it in any kind of threat-but can rather provide cover to all kinds of fleet in India, independently. It will be everything that our IAC's can never be, due to their Mig29K, without splurging on prohibitively expensive French or American jets, while we can manufacture all Cruise Missiles ourselves.
After all, what is an Deck-based Jet, but a platform to deliver ammunition, & acting as sea-deterrent --- at an immense risk to itself, each Rs. 1600 crore platform (IAC2) , after ignoring all components & expenses that go into pilot training & aircraft maintenance) .
Why can't this kind of Arsenal ship do the same job without emptying IN coffers - like what IAC-2 is projected to do.
Such ships can be
designed form scratch indigeniously, a
ll its arsenal will be developed in India.
- Zero dependency on foreigners for its Air-Arm, unlike the all IAC's that catch IN-planners fancy
- saving previous foreign-exchange
- getting completed on time
- avoiding associated cost-escalation, thus saving even more foreign exchange
How can it be any less effective & costlier than like Vicky & IAC-1 which are practically sitting ducks when alone, sad they wouldn't even dare to venture out alone

. On the contrary, a well thought-out design should be lot less costlier than these fancy platforms, which are nowadays being aptly shown the door at the very outset.