“China is seen as a source of anxiety by some Asian nations, including India. There is concern about China’s revisionist agenda and this can rapidly morph into a threat ,” Bhaskar said.
Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh last month said India would soon commence building its third aircraft carrier. Analysts say a third aircraft carrier is essential for the Indian navy to match China’s capabilities.
Bhaskar, a director at the New Delhi-based Society for Policy Studies think tank and an honorary fellow of India’s National Maritime Foundation, said Japan and South Korea were seeking ways to engage Beijing to establish a practical and peaceful coexistence.
“These nations see their navies as insurance for the long term, if they decide to go down that path [engage in a war].”
Japan in April unveiled upgrades to its first aircraft carrier the Kaga that entered service in 2017 as a helicopter carrier, but has now been upgraded to carry Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II stealth fighters.
The Kaga will undergo a second round of modifications to its hull in 2026-27 to help support its role as a carrier of fixed-wing warplanes.
Kaga’s sister ship Izumo, commissioned in 2015, will also be modified in a process expected to finish in 2027. The two ships were commissioned as helicopter carriers that could be upgraded to carry fixed-wing fighters if needed.
After the upgrade, both ships will be able to carry 12 fighters and 16 helicopters.
South Korea announced plans to build its first aircraft carrier to operate F-35B jets with short take-off and vertical landing capabilities, in its 2021-2025 national plan.
Its plans have been delayed since, and the aircraft carrier project did not feature in its 2024-2028 midterm defence blueprint but was mentioned as a future project based on ongoing research results expected early next year.
02:17
China airs footage of Fujian aircraft carrier featuring advanced catapult launch system
China airs footage of Fujian aircraft carrier featuring advanced catapult launch system
Alexander Hynd, a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, said there were ongoing debates in some Asian countries about the extent of their investment in aircraft carrier programmes.
“Despite advances in anti-ship and anti-aircraft defence systems, aircraft carriers are still one of the biggest contemporary symbols of military power, and the ability to project that power,” said Hynd, whose research focuses on foreign policy strategies of medium-sized nations in the Indo-Pacific.
The US has historically provided naval power in the US-South Korea alliance, expecting South Korea to focus on land-based military capabilities, Hynd said.
This pursuit of aircraft carriers appears driven more by a desire for prestige and the trappings of great power status rather than purely military utility
Walter Ladwig, a senior international-relations lecturer at King’s College London, said the symbolic value of aircraft carriers could bolster a country’s regional and global influence.
“If countries were feeling seriously threatened, there would be a massive expansion of submarine acquisition programmes across Asia. This pursuit of aircraft carriers appears driven more by a desire for prestige and the trappings of great power status rather than purely military utility,” Ladwig said.
“The US is the leading naval power in the world. China’s attempts to emulate the US reflects a desire to be seen as quasi-peers on the global stage, enhancing their international standing.”