India to Add 100 Warships

It's no secret China is building a modern navy to compete with the United States.

But now India is building its own modern force to keep pace.

That ought to give you the warm fuzzies.

India has plans to add about 100 warships to its navy over the next decade as it seeks to modernise its armed forces, and develop its low-cost shipbuilding capabilities.

Captain Alok Bhatnagar, director of naval plans at India’s ministry of defence, said on Thursday that 32 warships and submarines were under construction in the country’s shipyards. Work on 75 more ships, including aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates and amphibious vessels, would begin over 10 years.

New Delhi is sensitive to lagging behind Beijing's naval might in the region. China has three times the number of combat vessels as India and five times the personnel. Officials are wary of port developments in neighbouring Pakistan and Sri Lanka that offer Chinese warships anchorages and potentially greater control of the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.

However, India has one of the fastest growing navies in the world. Its fleet of about 120 vessels is the fifth largest.

Of course none of that naval construction will produce any CO2.

The United States Navy is the largest -- still -- with around 283 ships, including 11 aircraft carriers. But if you add 120 plus 100, that would at least put India in the same neighborhood.

No one seems to know exactly how many ships the Chinese have, although it is known they are developing aircraft carrier capabilities and have an estimated 20 nuclear subs.