Indian Navy

The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the Indian armed forces. With 58,350 men and women, including 7,000 personnel of Indian Naval Air Arm, 1,200 Marine Commandos (MARCOS) and 1,000 personnel of the Sagar Prahari Bal, it is one of the world's largest navy.
In recent years, the Indian Navy has undergone modernization and expansion with the intention of countering growing Chinese maritime power in the Indian Ocean and reaching the status of a recognized blue-water navy. New equipment programs include; the lease of a nuclear-powered submarine INS Chakra from Russia, the ex soviet carrier INS Vikramaditya and the first of the indigenously built Arihant class ballistic missile submarines by 2012, the first of the Scorpene class submarines by 2015 and the indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant by 2017. The plan in the near future is to have two aircraft carriers at sea at all times, with a third docked up in maintenance. Other programs include the Talwar and Shivalik frigates and the Kolkata class destroyers, all of which will be equipped with the BrahMos cruise missile.
The production of INS Arihant makes the Indian Navy one of six navies world wide that are capable of building and operating nuclear powered submarines - others include China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.