Why India may need a third aircraft carrier as China expands its fleet
The article discusses the strategic necessity for India to consider a third aircraft carrier to counter China's expanding naval fleet. It highlights the US Navy's maintenance challenges and the 'system of thirds' operational model to explain the strain on global maritime power projection.
Why it matters
As naval power dynamics shift in the Indo-Pacific, the balance of carrier strike groups directly impacts regional security and geopolitical influence.
Aircraft carriers are the primary means of projecting power away from friendly shores. The United States, by law, requires eleven operational aircraft carriers. Currently, the US Navy has eleven aircraft carriers, across two classes, on its register. With four ships undergoing maintenance, three at port, four deployed and one ship undergoing training. Navies across the world work on what is called a system of thirds. This means that for any one ship to be deployed for a mission, the force will have one ship on deployment, one undergoing training and the third of these ships would be at port undergoing maintenance. There are currently four Carrier Battle Groups (CBGs) deployed.Two of these CBGs, headed by USS George H.W. Bush and USS George Washington, are actively deployed with the US 5th Fleet in the Central Command's area of operations in west Asia.
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