|
As is customary every year during the Navy Week
celebrations, the Navy announced a theme for the
coming year, aptly adopting the slogan: A Power
Packed Force for A Strong Nation. That clearly
indicated the Indian Navy’s blue water ambitions
for the future, albeit in a restricted area from
around the Gulf of Aden in the west to the Malacca
Strait in the east.
 The
Navy has plans to acquire missile packed warships,
submarines, aircraft, helicopters, and the paraphernalia
that goes to support large task forces at sea.
Long range missiles with sea and land attack capabilities
supported by air power at sea, surveillance assets
and submarine forces make a balanced naval force;
that is clearly the Indian Navy’s aim under
the capability plan outlined by Naval Headquarters.
It can be inferred that the Indian Navy is the
fastest growing maritime force in the region with
34 ships and 6 Scorpene submarines already on
order. It has two aircraft carriers in different
stages of production, eight sophisticated next
generation Boeing P8-I Maritime Multimission Aircraft
(MMA) already on order as well as 16 navalised
Mig 29Ks.
The Navy also has approval for 29 more Mig 29Ks
to operate from INS Vikramaditya (Gorshkov) being
taken from Russia and the first indigenously-built
carrier from the Cochin shipyard. Beyond these
two carriers, it is looking for perhaps a bigger
carrier and a newer generation of aircraft (see
box).
According to a former Chief of Naval Staff, the
Navy could eventually buy some 20 aircraft like
the Boeing P8-I.
Plans to build a second line of submarine construction
have already been announced.
Indian Navy set to join
the Nuclear Submarine Club of Five
This year was momentous for the nation. In a
landmark event on 26th July, 2009 Mrs Gursharan
Kaur, wife of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh,
ceremoniously launched India’s first nuclear
submarine and christened her INS Arihant (Destroyer
of enemies in Sanskrit), at the Matsya dry dock
at the Navy’s sprawling shipbuilding center
at Vishakapatnam. The hitherto classified Advanced
Technology Vessel (ATV) project, a misnomer for
a 6,000 ton nuclear submarine, became public.
Admiral Nirmal Verma, who was Commander in Chief
of the Eastern Naval Command at Vishakapatnam
at that time, and who coordinated the launch of
the ATV before taking over as Chief of Naval Staff
on 30 Sep 2009, has stated that the nuclear boat
should become operational by 2011.
Separately, DRDO scientists have announced that
the Arihant will be armed with the powerful home-crafted
700 km nuclear capable K-15 (Sagarika) under water
vertical launched missiles, now under production
by Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL). The Arihant’s
pressure hull is rated for diving down to a hull-crush
depth of more than 350 meters and the vessel will
have an endurance of 90 days and will be manned
by a complement of 23 officers and 72 sailors.
The Arihant can stay under water indefinitely
under power of its Russian designed 82 MW reactor
which was put together by the Indian industry
and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) under
the highly secretive Plutonium Recycling Project
(PRP) at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research
(IGCAR), Kalpakam. India is the sixth nation in
the world to master this advanced technology.
Next year in 2010, a larger 9000-ton Akula class
nuclear submarine from Russia, named Nerpa, will
join the Navy on lease, like the INS Chakra did
in 1987. It has been refurbished after an accidental
gas release, and has also recently completed trials.
The Akula crew have undergone specialised training
at the IGCAR, in nuclear facilities and onboard
Nerpa in Russia, and at the submarine training
facilities set up at Vishakapatnam. All this augurs
well for the nation and its Navy, as a shift in
the centre of gravity of power in this century
is taking place from the west to the east.
The shift is led by the spectacular rise of China
and its galloping economy and military strength
as well as a perceptible rise of India on the
world stage. The maritime contours and sea lanes
of communications (SLOCs) in the Indian Ocean
are going to be crucial for trade, and will need
guarding.
Indian Navy’s
Missile Induction Programme
 Looking
back, 2009 was also a successful missile year
for the Indian Navy. It witnessed the operational
induction of the powerful 350 km surface to surface
supersonic BrahMos missiles on INS Rajput, Ranvir
and Ranvijay refitted at Hindustan Shipyard Ltd,
while the nuclear tipped DRDO home-made 350 km
Dhanush missile became operational on the Offshore
Patrol Vessels INS Subhadra and sister ship Sukhanya.
The Navy carried out a successful user trial
on December 13 with Dhanush “meeting all
mission objectives.”
Already the Barak Anti Aircraft systems are in
place on board the frontline fleet ships, and
the long range MR-SAM Barak-8 is making progress
in a joint DRDO-Israeli programme.
The Israeli supplied Derby BVR missiles and Elta
radars are being fitted on HAL’s upgraded
Vertical Short Takeoff and Landing (VSTOL) Sea
Harriers in the (Limited Upgrade Sea Harrier (LUSH)
programme which will operate from the aircraft
carrier INS Viraat.
The Viraat is now operational after a long refit
and has been given a new lease of life by the
Cochin Shipyard Ltd and the Naval Dockyard. The
ship has renewed cabling, improved habitability,
additional 300 tons of steel, new Bridgemaster
navigational and search radars and several improvements
in the command and control systems.
Connectivity
With the Link II net enabled system for digital
transmission of data and communications, Viraat
is well in preparation for a dedicated Navy satellite
centric system, which will be launched by ISRO
in 2010.
In addition many GPS and software innovations
have been instituted afloat by the Navy, and the
shore base has been strengthened.
Perspective
According to the CNS, the Indian Navy’s
Perspective Plan is now driven by a conceptual
shift, from numbers of platforms to one that concentrates
on capabilities.
“In terms of force accretions in the immediate
future, we are acquiring ships in accordance with
the Navy’s current Maritime Capability Perspective
Plan. There are presently 40 ships and six submarines
on order,” and of these, “34 ships and
submarines are on order from Indian shipyards”
as “our preferred choice of inducting ships
has been through the indigenous route.”
Notably, the Indian Navy has its own ship design
capability, and Admiral Verma told India Strategic
that even for sensors and weapons, the Navy would
look for building indigenous capability.
Initially though, technology has to be imported
but has to be absorbed within the industry in
India under Transfer of technology (ToT) arrangements.
With the commissioning of a sprawling 2,452 acres
Naval Academy at Ezhimala in Kerala near Mount
Delli by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on 6
Jan 2009, and the completion of berthing phase
one and the dockyard facilities at Karwar with
a ship lift for 12,000 tons, the Navy’s support
base has been augmented.
By 2020, forty ships will be based at Karwar.
Aviation Assets
Admiral Verma said that the acquisition of 8
Being P8-I aircraft beginning 2013 would give
the Indian Navy sophisticated maritime surveillance
and Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) capability.
For all-round capabilities, a blue water Navy
has to possess aerial assets to kill hostile submarines
and counter missile attacks. It also has to protect
its maritime domain and ensure situational awareness.
For long range maritime reconnaissance, the Indian
Navy operates 8 aging TU-142s, and has received
four IL-38s aircraft refurbished in Russia with
Sea Dragon radar and attack suite; the fifth is
expected back soon. For medium range, the Navy
operates the Dornier-228s in various configurations
including for information warfare, and UAVs Heron
and Searchers which can be controlled from ships.
In an ambitious programme, Hindustan Aeronautics
Ltd (HAL) has been charged with a project to convert
the Alloutee helicopters in to a ship borne UAV.
That project is still on.
Eleven more Dornier-228s have been ordered at
HAL and selection of 6 Medium Range Maritime Reconnaissance
(MRMR) aircraft is in process as these will be
procured through global tendering.
There have been hiccups in the ASW helicopter
replacement of the Seaking 42B and the Chief of
Naval Staff in his Navy Day press briefing stated,
that attending to this lacunae will be his priority.
 The
Type 17 INS Shivalik for instance will need a
compatible helicopter which can be operated organically
from its deck and fit the hangar.
Five Ka-31 AEW&C helicopters from Russia
have also been ordered, and according to Admiral
Verma, the Navy has an added emphasis on replacing
its old helicopters with newer versions and also
augmenting their strength.
At present, the Navy has 119 helicopters, and
71 fixed wing aircraft, mostly for reconnaissance
and maritime defence.
The firing and other flying trials of the powerful
MiG-29Ks on board the Russian aircraft carrier
Kuzenetsov have been completed, and four aircraft
have arrived at Goa on by an AN-134. They are
being assembled at INS Hansa.
An aircraft carrier arrestor gear, to replicate
deck landings will be ready at Goa for hook landing
training, and for the trials of the naval version
of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), which is progressing
at HAL. The second tranche of 29 Mig-29Ks for
the 37,500 ton Indian Aircraft Carrier(IAC) being
built at Cochin Shipyard Ltd will be ordered before
31st March, 2010.
It may be noted that an agreement with Russia
on the price of Vikramaditya aka Gorshkov has
finally been reached although some fittings are
being worked out for delivery by 2012. India’s
first indigenous aircraft carrier, designed by
Italy’s Fincantieri, is also under a satisfactory
of construction, and is set to be delivered by
2013.
The Navy is in the final selection stages of
a line of five offshore patrol vessels (OPVs)
to be built in India by private shipyards with
foreign design and collaboration. The order has
been hastened by the need for greater coastal
security post after the beastly terror attack
on Mumbai from Pakistan on 26/11 last year.
The Indian Navy had transferred an OPV, INS Sharayu,
to Sri Lanka and converted two out of its total
five to Dhanush missile firing ships of the fleet.
So an urgent need for more OPVs has arisen post
26/11.
Seven foreign designed stealth frigates, four
to be built at Mazagon Docks Ltd at Mumbai and
three at Garden Reach at Kolkatta in the modern
modular system are also being selected from among
the competitors who replied to the naval RFIs.
The MOD’s defence production wing has set
up a team to nominate the Indian yard for the
order of the second line of submarine construction.
Admiral Verma, who addressed his maiden press
conference on the eve of the Navy Day, said that
with increasing technology induction, it has become
imperative to raise the level of training also.
Accordingly, in a significant step, the Indian
Navy had introduced the first B. Tech. course
at the Indian Naval Academy from June this year,
and that curriculum also included “a healthy
dose of humanities and naval history.” The
idea is to ensure high quality “transition
of an officer cadet to a Service Officer.”
Coastal Surveillance
Admiral Verma expressed concern at the ease with
which Pakistani terrorists had infiltrated into
Mumbai and said that a multi-pronged approach
had been initiated involving the Navy, Coast Guard,
Customs, local policemen and even fishermen to
identify any intruders.
A 1000-man strong Sagar Prahari Bal (SPB) for
inshore coastal patrol and surveillance, with
a fleet of 80 fast 50-knot Interceptor Boats is
being raised. The boats will be built by Goa Shipyard
Ltd (GSL) which is also setting up facilities
to build Mine Counter Measure (MCM) vessels.
Some Interceptors will be imported initially.
The Coast Guard, which forms part of the Navy
in hostilities, is also being expanded and its
strength of 7000 personnel, 70 ships and 40 aircraft
and helicopters is set to double. This makes the
Indian Navy and Coast Guard the fastest growing
naval force in the region.
While in the past the Himalayan passes gained
importance to the neglect of the seas, the scene
is swiftly changing. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan
Singh has assured the Navy that funds would not
be a constraint for its growth. In fact, in one
of the meetings of the Cabinet Committee on Security
(CCS) after the 26/11 terror attack, it reportedly
cleared some 30 pending files to procure equipment
for the Indian coast.
 A
decade ago the Government had sanctioned an ambitious
30-year two-line submarine and a 15-year ship
building progrmame to ensure the Navy’s order
of battle (ORBAT), projecting 165 warships and
400 aerial assets by 2022. The number of UAVs,
which the Navy is already using, is also set to
rise.
Generally, the political and bureaucratic delays
are regarded as the hallmarks of the Indian system,
but thanks to the Pakistani 1999 Kargil intrusions
and War as well as the 26/11 attack, the Ministry
of Defence has been triggered into overdrive to
make up for the delays to an extent.
The Government has also accepted the Navy’s
proposal for a three aircraft carrier fleet, to
ensure ‘two operational blue water carrier
task forces’ at all times, an idea that had
taken shape in the 1950s, when INS Vikrant was
ordered under Lord Mountbatten’s and Pandit
Nehru’s tutelage.
Some day, the Indian Navy though would like to
have a 5-carrier force, particularly as it makes
sense to have at least one carrier force in the
Arabian Sea, one south of the Indian coast, and
one in the Bay of Bengal.
It has to be observed that the carriers that
the Indian Navy is looking for will be much smaller
in size than the US carriers.
The costs of warships, submarines and fighter
aircraft are rising and navies and air forces
around the world are turning to capability-based
arsenal.
That is the thinking that the Indian Navy has
also adopted.
A new term ‘littoral warfare’ has gained
coinage, signifying that skirmishes of the future
will be fought in the littoral, and that a tri-service
mode of jointness here deserves attention.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had
once said that there can be no Navy without a
strategy, and that doctrine follows strategy.
The Indian Navy has issued strategy and doctrine
documents.
However, despite the odd joint exercises that
the Indian Armed Forces engage in, the nation
is still without theatre commands or a closely
knit engagement doctrine, or a CDS.
The widely spread commands of the three services,
except in the Andamans, is a lacuna, whose effects
were noted in the Kargil committee report in 1999.
The Indian Navy however executed the ‘Naval
Maneouvre’ as a threat to blockade Karachi.
This led to the final withdrawal of Pakistan,
aided by President Clinton’s counsel to then
PM Nawaz Sharrif in the Oval office on 4th July,
1999.
India’s Western Fleet had called in the
Eastern fleet missile ships and submarines from
Vishakapatnam to generate the numbers, called
the Long Grey Line, to execute the classical maneuver
defined in standard naval doctrines.
IN’s Long Grey Line
of Ships on Order
 Besides
the 37,500 ton aircraft carrier being built indigenously
at the Cochin Shipyard, the Navy is set to venture
into building large landing dock ships (LPDs)
like the recently acquired 17,500 INS Jalshawa
to carry armed troops with armaments, and to provide
humanitarian aid and disaster relief (HADR) when
required.
The Navy was at a loss in this regard when the
December 2004 Tsunami happened but did exceptionally
well to help the stricken not only on the Indian
coast but also in the neighbouring countries.
Later, it rescued Indians and innocent civilians
from Beirut in the Lebanon Israeli war of 2006.
Three 3,700 ton Krivack frigates of the followon
Talwar class with 300 km supersonic vertical launch
(VLS) Brahmos and Shtil AA systems are progressing
at Russia’s Yantar Shipyard in Kalingrad
for $ 1.6 billion.
To be delivered by 2011, they have been named
as Teg (Sword), Tarkash (Quiver) and Trikand (Three-pronged).
Two multi-purpose tankers cum supply ships at
$ 200 million a piece, so essential for fleet
support, are being constructed by Fincanteiri
of Italy and will join from next year, while other
warships on order are in India with follow on
plans. They include the three 4,000 ton Type 17
Shivalik stealth class Club missile fitted frigates,
the first of which INS Shivalik, is on trials
off Mumbai and will commission soon. Construction
of three 7,000 ton Type 15A improved Delhi class,
called Kolkatta class destroyers, with VLS BrahMos
missiles and the latest Israeli supplied Aegis
equivalent M-Star radar, and 6 Scorpene submarines
from Mazagon Docks Ltd is progressing.
Four navy designed armed Naval OPVs are being
constructed at the Goa Shipyard. It has invariably
delivered OPVs ahead of time and the first would
commission in 2010. Three improved Type 15B guided
missile destroyers will be ordered soon and in
a unique experiment, Alcock Ashdown Ltd at Bhavnagar
is constructing six 600 ton Catamaran survey ships
of the Austal design, funded by the Ministry of
Shipping.
The first two will be delivered in 2010.
The Indian Navy’s professional hydrographic
arm has immensely helped the island nations in
the Indian Ocean and neighbors for charting their
waters and will soon advise Saudi Arabia. It will
be the third navy after Australia and Italy to
employ catamaran ships for survey.
Conclusion
 To
bring up operational readiness, the Indian Navy
has exercised with foreign navies in waters off
India and abroad in Japan, south east Asia and
in the Atlantic. It has provided 706 training
billets to foreign navies and was in the forefront
to come to the aid of civil power in floods and
emergencies.
Post 26/11, the Navy and Indian Coast Guard (ICG)
have launched three joint coastal security operations
on the West coast, when information of increased
threat perception was available. Such operations
were launched specifically for 03 days in Jul
09 and 28 days in Sep-Oct 2009. During this period
ships and aircraft of the Navy and Coast Guard
kept the West coast of India under continuous
surveillance and thorough investigations and checks
of various ships, boats and fishing vessels were
carried out.
During one such operation conducted on the West
coast, about 165 merchant vessels and 260 fishing
vessels were interrogated and investigated by
IN and ICG units. Surveillance of the Offshore
Defence Areas has also been enhanced.
Nearly 100-200 boats are examined/ interrogated
every month in the Western Offshore area by naval
ships to bring about security awareness. Coastal
areas are being toured by Navy teams to improve
intelligence by teaching residents how to report
untoward happenings to the Multi Agency Centres
(MACs) and alert the Joint Operations Rooms of
the newly instituted Coastal Commands.
The Navy’s template for the early 21st century
is set, and the Navy’s top brass have articulated
their vision for a Mission Denominated Capability
in a classified document titled Maritime Capability
Perspective Plan-2022.
The Navy grows, and with pride.
Pics: DPR
|
