On November 30, Admiral R. Hari Kumar, a Gunnery Missile specialist and an alumina of RCDS 2009, took over as the 25th Chief of Naval Staff from Admiral Karambir Singh. The Navy has 135 ships, which includes the 45,000 ton aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (formerly the Gorshkov) with Mig-29K fighters and KA-31 AEW helicopters, 16 conventional (8 Kilos, 4 HDW-1500 and 4 Scorpenes) submarines and two home-built nuclear SSBN submarines with 750-Km K-15 and 2,000-Km K-4 nuclear-tipped missiles, and a fleet of over 200 helicopters and aircraft, which includes 17 Hawks for lead in fighter training and 5 IL-38s with Sea Dragon suites and five squadrons of Dorniers-224 and 8 Antisu/SW P8I Boeing-737 for Maritime Reconnaissance (MR) operating from the INS Rajali in the East, and 4 from INS Hansa at Goa.
The P8I’s are armed with MK 84L Harpoons and MK 54 torpedoes and sonobuoys. The Navy operates a small number of Sea Searchers, Herons and two Sea Guardian drones on lease from General Atomics USA.
On November 21 last year, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh commissioned the INS Visakhapatnam, the first of four Type 15B 7,300 ton destroyers with 8 supersonic Advanced extended land and ship attack BRAHMOS (range increased to 500 km), and 32 Barak-8 missiles. Both missiles are manufactured in India with Russian and Israeli collaboration and the ship is fitted with the EL/M 2248 M/F Star all-purpose radar and improved EW and Indian Combat Information Systems with Orbit supplied satellite Links.
On December 25, Admiral Karambir Singh commissioned the INS Vela, the fourth of six Scorpene submarines with the French Subtics system, AM-39 Exocet missiles and SUT B German torpedoes, till a final selection is made. Both platforms are built by Mazagon Dock & Shipbuilders Ltd (MDSL) at Mumbai. The Navy has been practical and pruned its 2027 plan from 200 ships and submarines to 170. Vice Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Satish Ghormade said, “In pursuance of our national foreign policy initiatives, the Navy’s plan to become a 170-ship force (by 2027) is on track but some changes in the timelines for it are being made in view of certain delays.”
India celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 1971 Indo-Pak war in end-December as Swarnim Vijay Varsh (Golden Victory Year). The nation recalled the role played by the Armed Forces in the 14-day blitzkrieg war that was waged from December 3, 1971 to give birth to Bangladesh. The war was forced on India as the East Pakistani military repressed thousands of Bengali intelligentsia, academics and Hindus with killings and rapes in East Pakistan from 1971 March in ‘Operation Search Light’, chronicled by Gary J Bass in The Blood Telegram. Eight million refugees fled across to India’s West Bengal, straining India’s economy. The role of the Indian Navy in its first war set the pace for its growth with confidence.
Five Decades Of Navy’s Progress
In the last 50 years, India’s Navy has grown despite waxing and waning budgets. Creditably, Navy planners, engineers and constructors trained in India and abroad at the Krylov Research Institute in the Soviet Union, created a ship building ecosystem to make the Indian Navy a Builder’s Navy with ship, and now nuclear submarine, building capabilities in four large government and two private shipyards. The Navy’s Weapons & Electronics System Engineering Establishment (WESEE) has provided state-of-the-art technologies for ships and Command centres ashore, by cooperating with private software and technology savvy firms, on the principle that warfare and technology are almost synonymous, as one drives the other.
As of now, the Navy has 21 large platforms on order. These include three 7,300 tonne Type 15B destroyers like the INS Visakhapatnam and seven 6,200 tonne Type 17A Shivalik frigates, four Krivacks, two being built at the Yantar Shipyard Ltd in Russia and two at Goa Shipyard Ltd (with Russian consultancy), all with BRAHMOS and Barak missiles and Tata-Terma Scanter-6000 radars replacing the Garpun–B. Two Scorpene submarines and four survey ships are in advanced state of construction, and the 40,000 ton Indian designed and built aircraft carrier Vikrant is set to be commissioned on August 15 (India’s Independence Day). Besides, 21 smaller ships that include 12 Shallow Water ASW Vessels designed by Sandvik Asia Ltd are under construction at the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) at Kolkata and the Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) at Cochin. Five small torpedo recovery ships are being built at the Titaghar Wagon Factory at Kolkata.
Project Varsha, a greenfield strategic deep water protected submarine base is coming up at Ramboli South of Visakhapatnam to berth and support nuclear submarines and a carrier battle group in the long term, with underground pens and nuclear training, safety and support facilities set up by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). Ramboli will relieve the congestion at Visakhapatnam where two nuclear submarines INS Arihant (S2) and Arighat (S3) awaiting commissioning are based. Moreover, a larger S4 SSBN with K-4 long-range nuclear missiles was launched in November at the Ship Building Centre (SBC). Construction of the Navy’s nuclear boats is being executed in a Private-Public Partnership (PPP) by Larsen & Toubro Ltd and supervised by the Navy’s Project Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Russia provides consultancy for safety.
On The Cusp of Transformation
The Indian Navy had always aspired to become a Builder’s Navy and towards that goal it received a boost in what Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed as Atmanirbharta (self-reliance). Today, the Navy is on the cusp of a transformation to become a capability-driven service, not quantity driven. It has employed the Navy Schedule of Financial Powers—2021 issued by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), which permits the Vice Chief of Naval Staff through the Navy’s Internal Financial Adviser (IFA) to order systems, each up to Rs 500 crores for operational needs and upgrades. On January 12, Simon Pryce, Ultra UK’s Chief Executive, announced the award of the Integrated Anti-Submarine Warfare Defence Suite (IADS) programme for the Navy’s frontline warships under construction worth approximately £60 million to Mahindra Defence Systems Ltd to supply the systems. Deliveries are due to commence in 2024 and to be completed by 2030, for ships under construction. The IADS includes low frequency towed sonars and provides a powerful multi-sensor ASW capability using an in-line active and passive towed Low Frequency Variable Depth Sonar (VDS) as well as Torpedo Decoys.
On June 3, 2021 the MOD had signed a contract with Mahindra Telephonics Integrated Systems Ltd, Mumbai, that supports P8i Telephonics APS-143C(V)3 radars, for procurement of 11 Airport Surveillance Radars with Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar for Indian Navy and Coast Guard. The procurement worth $85 million will be made under the ‘Buy & Make’ category. The installation of these radars will increase the air domain awareness around airfields and enhance safety and efficiency in flying operations of the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard.
From 2022 the Navy will induct 24 MH60R Sikorsky multi-role helicopters with the Telephonics AN/APS-147 multi-mode (ISAR) radar, AGM-114 Hellfire and 120-km range Konsberg missiles, and light torpedoes, to replace the ageing Sea Kings on ships. In the New Year the Navy tested the Rafale-M (Marine) for use on INS Vikramaditya as well as the indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant undergoing trials at Navy’s shore-based test facility (SBTF) at Goa, which has a 14 degree ramp for take offs, and arrestor wires for Short Take off and Arrested Recovery (STOBAR). The F-18s will be tested later for a final decision.
Tasks and Challenges
The realisation has come that India’s maritime geography is India’s asset to meet the challenge posed by the Pakistan-China nexus in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The Indian Navy has been given Rs 47,590.99 crore ($7 billion) for capital spending in 2022-23 and is tasked to be the net security provider in the IOR, described by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the acronym SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region), well aware that China’s 360-ship PLA (Navy) is collaborating with Pakistan with its 61 ships and five submarines for a footprint in the IOR. The Pakistan Navy received its first of four Chinese 054 Frigates, INS Tughril, in December 2021, equipped with supersonic CM-501(YJ-12) anti-ship and LY-80N anti-air missiles and Z-9E helicopters that could be fitted with anti-ship missiles. Four 034 Yuan submarines will be supplied by China and first of four Yuan hulls, has commenced construction at Karachi’s Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd yard. Pakistan’s naval plan includes two OPVs from Damien Shipyard in Romania and four Milgem corvettes from Turkey. The PLA (Navy) has established a base in Djibouti with a jetty and has maintained an uninterrupted three-ship anti-piracy patrol off the Gulf of Aden since 2008.
In 2021 PLA (Navy) commissioned 18 large platforms and the list includes, one 094A SSBN, two large Type 75 LPDs, 10 Type 055 and 052 destroyers and seven other platforms, including frigates, and has a third aircraft carrier 03 under construction. In this backdrop, CNS Hari Kumar in his Navy Day briefing said, “We are aware of the developments in the PLA (N). They have built over 138 ships in the last 10 years, which roughly translates into 13-14 combat platforms every year”, and added, “It is not all about (warship) numbers. It is also about how you exploit the weapons that you have, your strategies, operational plans, and all the effort that we can bring to bear at a point.” He tabled an assurance that the Indian Navy remained a well-balanced Combat Ready Credible Overseas Force”. Redressing the power imbalance with China is India’s most important uphill security task in 2022. The Navy supports India’s projects like Chabahar in Iran, Agalega in Mauritius, and to develop and maintain Uthuru Thila Falhu (UTF) port and a Dornier base in the Maldives with a $50 million line of credit. The Indian Navy provides hydrographical support to IOR nations, but like Banquo’s ghost in Macbeth, the aggressive actions of China the world over, including the Indo-Pacific and South China Seas, hangs like a shadow over the current state of bilateral ties between India and China.
–The writer is an alumina of RNSC and the author of A Nation and Its War At Sea (Lancers ISBN). He curates a Maritime Museum and Library at C 443 Defence Colony, New Delhi. The views expressed are personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
