News Analysis India

Tag: Indian Navy

  • Republic Day: Indian Navy tableau to reenact 1971 Karachi harbour attack

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Indian Navy this year has dedicated its tableau to highlight defining moments of naval operations during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. While Bangladesh Army Contingent will march on Rajpath as a special invitee the Indian Navy tableau will depict a missile boat firing the missile in the Republic Day parade on January 26 in Delhi.

    The forward part of the tableau will display the attack on Karachi harbour by missile boats while the rear section would illustrate the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant conducting flying operations with Sea Hawk and Alize aircraft.

    On December 3 and 4, Indian Navy’s boat missile carried attack on Karachi harbour as part of Operation Trident and Operation Python on night of December 8 and 9. This year’s theme is Indian Navy – Combat Ready, Credible and Cohesive. The nation is also commemorating the golden jubilee of the victory in 1971 war as Swarnim Vijay Varsh when Bangladesh became an independent nation.

    Vice Admiral SN Ghormade said, “The tableau is an attempt to highlight the most significant aspects of Naval operations conducted during 1971 war and pay rich tributes to those who were involved in these. I sincerely hope the Naval tableau would evoke the spirit of pride and patriotism amongst the audience witnessing the parade and a sense of nostalgia amongst those who participated in 1971 war.”

    “The air operations from INS Vikrant led to sizeable damage to ships and shore installations of East Pakistan and contributed immensely towards the liberation of Bangladesh,” Indian Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said.

    “While we celebrate our victory, we also acknowledge the courage and sacrifice of the Naval personnel who wrote this glorifying chapter of the Naval history. The tableau showcases photographs of eight naval awardees of Mahavir Chakra one of which was posthumous,” he said.

    On the sides of the trailer are murals depicting various ships that participated in the war, commando operations (Operation X) undertaken by the Navy along with Mukti Bahini and the surrender ceremony at Dhaka.

  • ‘Indian Navy needs fleet of SSNs, nuclear-powered general-purpose attack submarines’

    Express News Service
    CHENNAI: In a bid to transform Indian Navy into a true blue-water force, the navy requires a fleet of SSNs, a nuclear-powered general-purpose attack submarines, to meet its great power expectations in the Indo-Pacific and beyond, in the decades to come, according to Commodore  Roby Thomas.

    Commodore Thomas, a Senior Fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, in his paper Nuclear Attack Submarines: The Elixir for a True Blue-Water Navy published at Journal of Defence Studies, stated that notwithstanding the current Covid-19-related economic contractions, India needs to ‘keep its eye on the horizon’ and astutely plan its rise by facilitating the strengthening of its maritime capacities, like its SSN fleet, to meet its great power expectations in the Indo-Pacific and beyond, in the decades to come.

    While SSNs are known to be more expensive to build and maintain than original diesel-electric submarine, classified as SSK, which has undergone numerous iterations since World War II and is as relevant now as it was then, Commodore Thomas says on the metrics of life-cycle cost and equivalent effectiveness have proven otherwise.

    “Instead of comparing the life-cycle cost of a single SSK to that of one SSN, a study by US Navy considered it more prudent to compare the total life-cycle cost of the number of SSKs that would provide equivalent on-station capability to one SSN. The study indicated that it would require anywhere between 2.2 to 6 SSKs to have the equivalent effectiveness of one SSN. Therefore, by this metric, even with a lower single platform cost, an SSK fleet would cost 1.3 to 3.5 times more than a SSN fleet, to maintain the same on-station capability,” the IDSA report states.

    Currently, India has 16 diesel-electric submarine  (SSKs), one nuclear-powered general-purpose attack submarines (SSN), which is leased from Russia and one ballistic missile submarines (SSBN).

    “Nuclear submarines are national strategic assets and even the best of friends do not part with this technology. For example, notwithstanding theclosest of relations between the US and the UK post-World War II, the US only gave Britain the reactor to operationalise its first SSN, HMS Dreadnought, and subsequently the Trident SLBM, but never the entire submarine. Similarly, Russia provided India with SSNs on lease to gain experience and training, never to own. Conversely, if you pay the right price, you may buy or make in collaboration a conventional submarine,

    but never an SSN. As this technology takes decades to develop, nurture and maintain, it needs to be a very carefully thought through strategy by any country which seeks to make and maintain a presence on the world stage.,” the IDSA report states.

    Commodore Thomas said that Indian Navy leased the second nuclear-powered attack submarine from Russia, INS Chakra II, in 2012 for a period of 10 years. This is to be followed by the lease of another nuclear attack vsubmarine from Russia in 2025, to be christened Chakra III, also for a period of 10 years. “These on-lease nuclear attack submarines are critical towards providing vital operational experience and training to the submarine crew. However, to exploit the complete operational envelope of nuclear attack submarines, India would need have its own Indian made nuclear attack submarines. The construction of six of these was sanctioned by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in 2015,” he says.

    Commodore Roby Thomas says that Indian Navy’s planned expansion, with a focus on ‘capabilities’ instead of ‘numbers’, was detailed in the Indian Navy’s Maritime Capability Perspective Plan (MCPP). This was further deliberated during the Naval Commanders Conference held in April 2019, where the need to boost operational capability was highlighted with a view to expand the Indian Navy’s overall influence in the strategic maritime zones. This required the Indian Navy to have a force level of 200 ships, 500 aircraft and 24 attack submarines. This was further reiterated by the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Karambir Singh, in the vCommanders Conference in October 2019, when he stressed the need to bridge the capability gaps, especially in light of the increasing mandate of the Indian Navy in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), says Commodore Thomas.

    Commodore Thomas also said that  first Indian-made nuclear-propelled ballistic missile submarine, INS Arihant, in August 2016 completed its first deterrent patrol in November 2018. The second in the class, INS Arighat, was launched in November 2017 and is expected to join the submarine fleet after its trials.

    Factfile:

    1. SSBNs or ballistic missile submarines, are nuclear propelled. They carry multiple sets of submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), tipped with single or multiple nuclear warheads. Their

    primary mission is to fulfil the vital third leg of the nuclear triad. Undetected ballistic missile submarine would assure a devastating retaliation or an assured second strike capability.

    2. SSGN or guided-missile nuclear submarine carry both conventional and nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. These submarines are regarded as tactical rather than strategic weapons. Though operated mostly by the  Soviets during the Cold War, the US has currently four such submarines.

    3. SSNs or nuclear attack submarines, are designed for speed and agility and are considered the most versatile of all submarine classes. Due to their innate advantages of

    almost unlimited underwater endurance and high sustained speeds, they are capable of multitasking on numerous critical missions while out of base port on a single prolonged duration patrol.

    4. SSK or original diesel-electric submarine, has undergone numerous iterations since World War II and is as relevant now as it was then. Though designed and constructed by

    only a handful of countries, today the conventional submarine is operated by over 35 navies and these numbers are expanding. These submarines are operationally limited by the need to charge their batteries, using their diesel engines for a certain period of time every day at sea, which is termed as their ‘indiscretion rate’.

    (India has 16 SSKs, 1 SSN, which is leased from Russia, and one SSBN)

  • Effectiveness of India’s maritime preparedness tested in two-day mega exercise

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: India’s preparedness to deal with all possible challenges in the maritime domain, including contingencies from peace to war-time, was tested in a two-day multi-agency military exercise that covered the 7,516 km-long coastline and exclusive economic zone, officials said on Thursday.

    The second edition of exercise ‘Sea Vigil’, which concluded on Wednesday evening, particularly focused on the efficacy of the measures initiated to plug gaps in the coastal security set up following the Mumbai terror attack in 2008, they said.

    The Indian Navy said the “envisaged objectives” of the exercise were met by the whole-hearted participation of all stakeholders.

    The exercise involved deployment of the entire coastal security apparatus and more than 110 surface assets of the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard participated in the exercise that was billed as India’s largest coastal defence drill, the officials said.

    “The conceptual and geographical expanse of Sea Vigil included the entire coastline and exclusive economic zone of the country and contingencies from peace to war-time were exercised. In addition, mitigation measures, on shore, in case of any breach in coastal security were also validated,” the Navy said in a statement.

    The Indian Navy and the Coast Guard have taken a series of measures to bolster India’s coastal security after the Mumbai terror attack in which over 166 people, including 28 foreigners from 10 nations, were killed by a group of Pakistani terrorists.

    The group of 10 Pakistani terrorists carried out the coordinated attack on a railway station, two luxury hotels and a Jewish centre on November 26, 2008, after they sneaked into India’s financial capital using a route in the Arabian Sea.

    The inaugural edition of the Sea Vigil exercise took place in January 2019.

    In addition to assets of the Indian Navy, a large number of platforms of the Marine Police and the Customs Department were also deployed during the second edition of the mega drill.

    “The entire coastline was kept under surveillance by the Indian Navy and Coast Guard aircraft, and helicopters were also pressed into service to reinforce special operations personnel operating onboard offshore platforms,” the Navy said.

    It said the security mechanism of ports was validated and their crisis management plans were assessed to tackle emergencies.

    State police teams, Indian Navy Marine Commandos and Commandos from the National Security Guard carried out drills to tackle possible acts of “maritime terrorism”, the Navy said.

    “This exercise also validated the technical surveillance infrastructure called the National Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence (NC3I) Network. The Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) at Gurugram and its various nodes across Indian Navy and Coast Guard stations were exercised for coordinating the surveillance and information dissemination mechanism,” the Navy said.

    It said the cooperation and coordination among various agencies involved in the maritime domain is a “reassuring sign” of progress made in the realm of coastal defence.

    “The exercise would go a long way in enhancing coastal defence and national security in the maritime domain,” the Navy said.

    The Sea Vigil exercise took place at a time when India and China are locked in a bitter border standoff in eastern Ladakh.

    In sync with the national security doctrine, the Indian Navy significantly increased its deployment of warships, submarines and other assets in the Indian Ocean Region, in an attempt to send across a message to China that Indian armed forces are fully prepared to deal with any challenge.