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 Antony,
accompanied by Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma
and Eastern Naval Command chief Vice Admiral Anil
Chopra, got a glimpse of INS Viraat’s potential
to serve the Indian Navy till the end of this
decade when it dodged fifighter jets attempting
to attack it in the high seas during the Tropex,
as the exercise was called, in the Bay of Bengal.
INS Viraat demonstrated the power of a networked
force when it beamed live feeds of data, satellite
images and other technical battlefield awareness
inputs for the benefit of the naval personnel
managing the battle scenario, as part of the theatrelevel
annual exercise.
This platform was used by the Indian Navy to
direct its warships for sea battles and for optimal
use of the on board weapons of the battle ships.
Its complement of maritime fighter jets, the
upgraded Sea Harriers, proved their lethality,
having obtained p range extension in the form
of midair rr refueling and beyond visual range
missile capabilities.
The 28,000-tonne Centaur class warship’s air
defence capabilities ww ere tested by the Indian
Air Force’s wp potent Su-30MKI, Mirage-2000 and
Jaguar combat planes, which flew out into the
sea to take on the battleship for the first time
ever, even as the warships were operating in a
multi-threat scenario.
During the exercise, Antony witnessed first-hand
the potency of the upgraded Sea Harriers, Sea
King choppers and Chetaks helicopters, particularly
in the networked environment.
All the air operations were directed by an Indian
Air Force airborne early warning and control system
(AWACS).
A critical part of anti-missile defence was the
demonstration of the surface-to-air missiles (SAM)
that successfully intercepted a fast, low flying,
surface-to-surface missile that was targeting
INS Viraat. This demonstration was done at night.
Among the sophisticated operations of the Indian
Navy was its commandos or Marcos demonstration
on board INS Viraat when they did a precision
landing on the flight deck using combat free fall
technique.
He also witnessed a successful launch of the
BrahMos supersonic long-range anti-ship missile
from on board INS Ranvir, a Rajput class destroyer,
in an affirmation of the quality of the indigenous
weapons development.
Over 40 surface combatants of various classes,
submarines and a large number of aircraft, including
unmanned aerial vehicles participated in the exercise.
Antony also went on board INS Shivalik, one of
the newly inducted stealth frigates of the Navy,
from where he witnessed a coordinated operation
with INS Shakti, a tanker inducted four months
ago.
(IANS)
Pix credit: DPR/Sitanshu Kar
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