With the goal of constructing and sustaining a fleet of more than 200 warships and submarines by 2035, the Indian Navy has outlined an ambitious expansion program that aims to make it a true blue-water force.
This underscores the critical operational and strategic requirement to tackle escalating maritime challenges in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and constitutes a considerable scaling-up from its current strength of roughly 140 vessels.
With China steadily increasing its presence through carrier strike groups, nuclear-powered submarines, and overseas bases, India faces a more contested maritime environment. Meanwhile, Pakistan is modernizing its own naval inventory, especially its submarine fleet, with Beijing’s help.
In this regard, New Delhi understands that maintaining dominance across its sea lines of communication (SLOCs), guaranteeing access to international trade routes, and deterring and preparing for conflict all depend on having a numerically superior, technologically sophisticated, and networked naval force.
In keeping with the Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat programs, this long-term maritime capacity strategy places a high priority on domestic shipbuilding.
About 55 ships, comprising both state-owned and private establishments, are presently being built at Indian shipyards. These ships include a variety of combatants, including frontline destroyers, stealth frigates, anti-submarine corvettes, and support platforms.
The government has authorized the creation of an additional 74 platforms in addition to those currently under construction, guaranteeing a consistent order flow for the ensuing ten years.
India’s naval expansion is guaranteed to be structurally incorporated in long-term force modernization rather than being ad hoc in nature because to this dual-track strategy of authorized future programs mixed with current construction.
Design bureaus, shipyards, and auxiliary suppliers are continuously involved in the production of warships and submarines thanks to the strategy’s creation of economies of scale and maintenance of industrial capabilities.
This expansion’s composition is especially suited to operating requirements and local threats. In order to improve India’s underwater warfare capabilities against Chinese nuclear submarines operating in the Indian Ocean as well as incoming Chinese-supplied submarines headed for Pakistan, diesel-electric submarines with sophisticated air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems are a crucial component.
Project 17A and Project 15B would greatly improve surface attack and air-defense capabilities in addition to submarines by deploying stealth frigates and next-generation destroyers. These vessels will provide carrier battle groups with layered protection while retaining offensive capacity with long-range cruise missiles.
To maintain sea-lane security, safeguard high-value units, and ensure freedom of navigation in choke points like the Strait of Malacca and the Persian Gulf approaches—where shipping is at risk from both conventional threats and asymmetric hazards like mines—anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvettes and mine countermeasure vessels (MCMVs) are being prioritized.
The strategy emphasizes the development of a fully networked naval force that can conduct integrated operations across domains, going beyond the simple numerical expansion of warships.
This includes spending on long-range maritime patrol aircraft, unmanned aerial and underwater vehicles, satellite-based communication links, and data-fusion structures that enable smooth, real-time operations for surface ships, submarines, and shore-based forces.
In a period of high-speed operations and multi-theater issues, this kind of networking is crucial for maritime domain awareness (MDA). In addition to having a larger fleet, the Navy hopes to have a technologically robust, operationally adaptable, and fully integrated fleet by constructing a unified and layered defense and strike architecture.
The strategic vision also has significant ramifications outside of the defense domain. Several indigenous sectors, including steel, electronics, propulsion, armament systems, and software integration, must be mobilized in order to increase India’s naval shipbuilding.
By putting more than 120 ships in the works through authorized and continuing projects, the Navy successfully establishes shipbuilding as a vital component of India’s defense industry.
Significant job prospects, the development of technological know-how, and an improvement in economic activity are anticipated in coastal states that are home to important shipyards. This emphasis on indigenous production will eventually lessen reliance on foreign suppliers and designs, providing India with operational independence and a potentially competitive export portfolio to offer friendly countries.
In the end, India’s decision to expand its navy must be interpreted as both a national security imperative and a larger geopolitical statement.
With Pakistan trying to deny India local maritime supremacy through submarine acquisitions and China expanding its influence in the Indo-Pacific through projects like the Belt and Road-linked port construction, New Delhi’s aim to have a fleet of more than 200 warships by 2035 shows its determination to protect expanding international trade, preserve freedom of operations in vital sea zones, and project power where needed for national interests.
The Indian Navy is poised to become a strong, internationally significant maritime force in the next ten years by utilizing domestic manufacturing and a strategic force structure designed to confront both conventional and asymmetric threats.
