Originally Posted by Tourist
Italy, Spain, Russia, India, Thailand etc are just playing at it.
I'll agree about Italy, Spain, Thailand (especially)... and even Russia.
But India? They have maintained carrier capability continuously since 1962, and currently have 1 "second-hand" carrier in service, a second "second-hand" carrier on sea trials and scheduled for delivery at the end of this year, and a third "home-built" carrier about half-completed!
They are even in the design phase for their second home-built carrier, which is planned to bring their fleet to 3 active ships (since Viraat, ex-Hermes, will be decommissioned no later than the commissioning of their first home-built carrier). And serious consideration is being taken for this second home-build to have "cat&trap" fitting, although it might just be a repeat of the first, due to budget considerations.
That seems like a pretty darned serious devotion to a real carrier force to me!