I’m not sure I was skeptical it would ever join the Indian Navy exactly. I was hopeful that good military sense would prevail over nationalistic politics, but, the proof is manifest that it didnt.
I still do not believe, for one second, that the private opinions of the Indian admiralty reflect the statement released thats quoted there and I never will. Vikramaditya has held back the cause of IN naval aviation at least a decade locking them in to STOBAR, and the same basic limitations they had with STOVL, just with a flashier fighter than SHAR. They, the IN brass, are well aware of this…as that ‘white elephant’ article demonstrated back in the day. The one thing thats undeniable though is that this ship certainly looks impressive…as any white elephant would! :rolleyes::cool:
What has Vikramaditya to do with Indian preference for STOBAR? Vikrant is also going to be STOBAR because of Vikramaditya? Is QE holding back the RN locking them into STOBAR? Are the rest of the Navies, including USN, who are going to use STOBAR with F-35, held back? What does a “flashier” fighter mean? Are you saying that MiG is no better than SHAR and worse than F-35 or they are all equally bad? What prevents using MiG-29 with CATOBAR, if that would have been the preference of the Indian Navy?
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