indian navy-bluewater
Acquisitions in 2003 mark navy’s fledging bluewater capacities
MUMBAI, Dec 19/2003: The Indian Navy moved towards becoming the most powerful naval force in the Indian Ocean, with the fleet augmenting its power-projection capabilities after the induction of several advanced ships as well as indicating the finalisation of the long-standing deal to acquire its second aircraft carrier.
The Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Madhvendra Singh told UNI in New Delhi that the Navy, moving towards a true blue-water capacity, would need a strength of at least 200 ships, including three aircraft carriers, about 20 frigates and destroyers each and the requisite number of support and auxilliary craft.
The Navy, at the end of the year commanders’ conference, disclosed that its priority was to streamline its personnel policy to augment its technical and aviation manpower, in order to make optimum use of the advanced equipment entering service.
With an array of ships like the Krivak-class frigates — the only ones of their kind in the region — entering service, while the advanced versions of Delhi-class destroyers and the stealth-feature Shivalik-class frigates are under construction indigenously, the maritime balance is tilting towards the Indian side, Navy sources claim.
The recent visit by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Russia and the delegation level talks indicated that the much-awaited deal to acquire ex-Soviet aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov will be inked soon. Earlier in the year, Defence Minister George Fernandes and Admiral Madhvendra Singh had also visited Russia.
Price negotiations for the Kiev-class aircraft carrier are in the final stages and once the deal is signed, the ship , after refitting to meet Indian requirements, will be available to the Indian Navy in the next four to five years.
Currently, the Indian Navy has only one aircraft carrier ‘INS Viraat’, the only one in Asia, and the need for the second carrier is being felt for quite some time as the country has a long coastline and vital maritime interests.
The Navy is also proposing to have its own Air Defence Ship (ADS), a smaller version of an aircraft carrier. Intended to be constructed at the Cochin Shipyard Ltd, the designing process is still on.
The major equipment acquisition this year comprised the the two Krivak-class ships, built at the Russian ‘Baltiskiy Zavod’ shipyard. The ships with partly stealth features — ‘INS Talwar’ and ‘INS Trishul,’ which had been delayed following some problems in the weapon systems, have arrived and the third one in the series ‘Tabar’ is expected to be here by this year-end or early next year.
The first batch of four KA31 Kamov helicopter arrived from Russia in April and they have joined the western fleet. Some of these will join aircraft carrier ‘INS Viraat’.
More of indigenously developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) will also be inducted into the Navy in the near future and work to develop the naval variant of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is also in progress. This will make the air arm of the fleet much stronger.
The blue-water capabilities of the three-dimensional force will be further enhanced when by 2006, the three stealth ships of the Shivalik class will join the Navy. According to Admiral Singh, these would be the future ships of the Navy and stealth adds to the element of surprise, essential in modern warfare. The first of these ships ‘INS Shivalik’ was launched by Mr Fernandes at the Mazagon Dock Ltd in April.
In the last seven years, three destroyers of the Delhi-class — ‘INS Delhi’, ‘INS Mumbai’ and ‘INS Mysore’, which are the frontline ships of the Indian Navy had been built by Mazagon Dock Ltd, the premier defence shipyard of Asia and more ships of this class and more advanced ones at that, will be built by the shipyard in the next few years, according to information elicited from defence sources.
The Government, has meanwhile, also approved a 30-year Submarine Building Programme heralding a new era of defence indigenisation which is being considered a watershed in the indigenisation programme. ‘Brahmos’, the supersonic cruise missile jointly developed by India and Russia is expected to be inducted in the next few years.
As a major shift in its maritime policy, the Government has also decided to lay thrust on joint collaborations with other countries for production of naval vessels and equipment as well as promote defence exports. Some of these countries are Myanmar, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka.
‘Seabird’, the Karwar Naval base in Karnataka coast is expected to be operational by 2005 and some ships of the Western Naval Command (WNC) will be shifted there. The project taking shape in a sprawling area, is estimated to cost around Rs 1,300 crore and the draught will be much deeper here so that bigger ships like Admiral Gorshkov could be accomodated.
Meanwhile, planning for a new dry dock at the nearly three-century-old naval dockyard in Mumbai is also on and it will be able to accommodate bigger ships. The Directorate General for Naval Projects has made elaborate plans for it. Currently there are four dry docks and around 20 ships could undergo refit at a given point of time.
The joint exercises this year with the American, Russian, Chinese, French and British Navies and the masted sail boat INS Tarangini’s global circumnavigation have marked the greater degree of achievement in terms of inter-operability and diplomatic initiative, Naval sources added.
Besides visits by several top Navy officials to various countries, the Western Naval Command (WNC) — the sword arm of the Navy, hosted a special guest — Prince Charles, the heir to British throne, who holds the rank of an Honorary Vice Admiral.
There was also a change of guard in the top hierarchy, with WNC Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Vice-Admiral Arun Prakash, who succeeded Vice Admiral John Colin De Silva as Vice Chief of Naval Staff in October and was replaced by Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh, at that time the Flag Officer Commanding Southern Naval Command. Vice Admiral Singh was replaced by Vice Admiral Yashwant Prasad, who was Chief of Personnel at the Naval Headquarters at New Delhi.
The Navy picked up another plum post with Vice Admiral Raman Puri, at that time Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Naval Command, taking over as the second Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff (CIDS). He was replaced in his command by Vice Admiral O P Bansal, hitherto head of the Tri-Service Command at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The defence of Mumbai, the HQ of the western fleet, being a prime concern for the armed forces in view of vital installations around the metropolis, a joint full-fledged mock drill to protect the city and its surroundings from a possible attack from a neighbouring country was staged.
For the first time, it was a red alert at both the ground level air defence and the air component as the deadly multi-role Suhkoi’s and interceptor Jaguars scrambled from the Mumbai and nearby bases to launch an attack on the incoming enemy planes with the ground batteries positioned in a mock rehearsal, conducted by the maritime air operations wing of the IAF.
India’s first aircraft carrier ‘Vikrant’ was decommissioned in 1997 and converted into a maritime museum amidst doubts over whether the Navy would be able to sustain the cost of maintaining it. Defence Minister George Fernandes recently assured that Central Government would pitch in to support the museum and the Maharashtra Government too has consented to share the cost.
The Indian Navy’s diving and special operations team and Archeological Survey of India’s (ASI) Marine Archaeology Team unearthed remains of a 18th century ship ‘Princess Royal’ in what is being described as the deepest underwater exploration carried out in the sub-continent. The wrecked ship was discovered in December last year near Bangaram islands off Lakshadweep islands. (UNI)
MUMBAI, Dec 19/2003: The Indian Navy moved towards becoming the most powerful naval force in the Indian Ocean, with the fleet augmenting its power-projection capabilities after the induction of several advanced ships as well as indicating the finalisation of the long-standing deal to acquire its second aircraft carrier.
The Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Madhvendra Singh told UNI in New Delhi that the Navy, moving towards a true blue-water capacity, would need a strength of at least 200 ships, including three aircraft carriers, about 20 frigates and destroyers each and the requisite number of support and auxilliary craft.
The Navy, at the end of the year commanders’ conference, disclosed that its priority was to streamline its personnel policy to augment its technical and aviation manpower, in order to make optimum use of the advanced equipment entering service.
With an array of ships like the Krivak-class frigates — the only ones of their kind in the region — entering service, while the advanced versions of Delhi-class destroyers and the stealth-feature Shivalik-class frigates are under construction indigenously, the maritime balance is tilting towards the Indian side, Navy sources claim.
The recent visit by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Russia and the delegation level talks indicated that the much-awaited deal to acquire ex-Soviet aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov will be inked soon. Earlier in the year, Defence Minister George Fernandes and Admiral Madhvendra Singh had also visited Russia.
Price negotiations for the Kiev-class aircraft carrier are in the final stages and once the deal is signed, the ship , after refitting to meet Indian requirements, will be available to the Indian Navy in the next four to five years.
Currently, the Indian Navy has only one aircraft carrier ‘INS Viraat’, the only one in Asia, and the need for the second carrier is being felt for quite some time as the country has a long coastline and vital maritime interests.
The Navy is also proposing to have its own Air Defence Ship (ADS), a smaller version of an aircraft carrier. Intended to be constructed at the Cochin Shipyard Ltd, the designing process is still on.
The major equipment acquisition this year comprised the the two Krivak-class ships, built at the Russian ‘Baltiskiy Zavod’ shipyard. The ships with partly stealth features — ‘INS Talwar’ and ‘INS Trishul,’ which had been delayed following some problems in the weapon systems, have arrived and the third one in the series ‘Tabar’ is expected to be here by this year-end or early next year.
The first batch of four KA31 Kamov helicopter arrived from Russia in April and they have joined the western fleet. Some of these will join aircraft carrier ‘INS Viraat’.
More of indigenously developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) will also be inducted into the Navy in the near future and work to develop the naval variant of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is also in progress. This will make the air arm of the fleet much stronger.
The blue-water capabilities of the three-dimensional force will be further enhanced when by 2006, the three stealth ships of the Shivalik class will join the Navy. According to Admiral Singh, these would be the future ships of the Navy and stealth adds to the element of surprise, essential in modern warfare. The first of these ships ‘INS Shivalik’ was launched by Mr Fernandes at the Mazagon Dock Ltd in April.
In the last seven years, three destroyers of the Delhi-class — ‘INS Delhi’, ‘INS Mumbai’ and ‘INS Mysore’, which are the frontline ships of the Indian Navy had been built by Mazagon Dock Ltd, the premier defence shipyard of Asia and more ships of this class and more advanced ones at that, will be built by the shipyard in the next few years, according to information elicited from defence sources.
The Government, has meanwhile, also approved a 30-year Submarine Building Programme heralding a new era of defence indigenisation which is being considered a watershed in the indigenisation programme. ‘Brahmos’, the supersonic cruise missile jointly developed by India and Russia is expected to be inducted in the next few years.
As a major shift in its maritime policy, the Government has also decided to lay thrust on joint collaborations with other countries for production of naval vessels and equipment as well as promote defence exports. Some of these countries are Myanmar, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka.
‘Seabird’, the Karwar Naval base in Karnataka coast is expected to be operational by 2005 and some ships of the Western Naval Command (WNC) will be shifted there. The project taking shape in a sprawling area, is estimated to cost around Rs 1,300 crore and the draught will be much deeper here so that bigger ships like Admiral Gorshkov could be accomodated.
Meanwhile, planning for a new dry dock at the nearly three-century-old naval dockyard in Mumbai is also on and it will be able to accommodate bigger ships. The Directorate General for Naval Projects has made elaborate plans for it. Currently there are four dry docks and around 20 ships could undergo refit at a given point of time.
The joint exercises this year with the American, Russian, Chinese, French and British Navies and the masted sail boat INS Tarangini’s global circumnavigation have marked the greater degree of achievement in terms of inter-operability and diplomatic initiative, Naval sources added.
Besides visits by several top Navy officials to various countries, the Western Naval Command (WNC) — the sword arm of the Navy, hosted a special guest — Prince Charles, the heir to British throne, who holds the rank of an Honorary Vice Admiral.
There was also a change of guard in the top hierarchy, with WNC Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Vice-Admiral Arun Prakash, who succeeded Vice Admiral John Colin De Silva as Vice Chief of Naval Staff in October and was replaced by Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh, at that time the Flag Officer Commanding Southern Naval Command. Vice Admiral Singh was replaced by Vice Admiral Yashwant Prasad, who was Chief of Personnel at the Naval Headquarters at New Delhi.
The Navy picked up another plum post with Vice Admiral Raman Puri, at that time Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Naval Command, taking over as the second Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff (CIDS). He was replaced in his command by Vice Admiral O P Bansal, hitherto head of the Tri-Service Command at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The defence of Mumbai, the HQ of the western fleet, being a prime concern for the armed forces in view of vital installations around the metropolis, a joint full-fledged mock drill to protect the city and its surroundings from a possible attack from a neighbouring country was staged.
For the first time, it was a red alert at both the ground level air defence and the air component as the deadly multi-role Suhkoi’s and interceptor Jaguars scrambled from the Mumbai and nearby bases to launch an attack on the incoming enemy planes with the ground batteries positioned in a mock rehearsal, conducted by the maritime air operations wing of the IAF.
India’s first aircraft carrier ‘Vikrant’ was decommissioned in 1997 and converted into a maritime museum amidst doubts over whether the Navy would be able to sustain the cost of maintaining it. Defence Minister George Fernandes recently assured that Central Government would pitch in to support the museum and the Maharashtra Government too has consented to share the cost.
The Indian Navy’s diving and special operations team and Archeological Survey of India’s (ASI) Marine Archaeology Team unearthed remains of a 18th century ship ‘Princess Royal’ in what is being described as the deepest underwater exploration carried out in the sub-continent. The wrecked ship was discovered in December last year near Bangaram islands off Lakshadweep islands. (UNI)
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