India Responds to China Navy

The breakneck speed at which China has been moving to build up its naval might is causing concern in the international community, particularly in Japan, the United States—and here in India.

Recent decisions by China’s People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) have left China-watchers wondering where the Chinese juggernaut will stop. The latest decision to garner attention has been the apparent decision by the Central Military Commission—China’s highest military planning body—to give the green light to the building of two new nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

One aircraft carrier—the Kuznetsov class Varyag—is already being refitted after being taken off Russian hands. All three aircraft carriers will be available to China by 2017 and will be responsible for patrolling the South China Sea, Western Pacific and Indian Ocean, thus signaling to the world that China has indeed truly become a superpower.

So what is India doing to counter the growing Chinese naval might? The Chinese naval buildup is a matter of deep concern for Indian security managers. However, New Delhi is busy developing an effective counter. Two aircraft carriers—the INS Vikramaditya (Admiral Gorshkov of Russia) and INS Vikrant—are under construction. In addition, the Indian government in March 2009 approved Project 15B under which next-generation warships are in various stages of construction. Meanwhile, at least three Kolkata class destroyers are under construction under Project 15A.

But there’s more. The Indian Navy has also launched several new projects to develop a beefed up fleet of stealth frigates. The lead vessels will be the Shivalik class of frigates—India’s first such stealth vessels. The Sahyadri and Satpura are also in advanced stages of construction, meaning the Indian government is well on its way to achieving its goal of maintaining a force of more than 140 warships.

Meanwhile, construction work on at least four nuclear submarines is in full swing, while the indigenous Arihant nuclear-powered submarine has already been launched (India plans to have at least 30 submarines by 2030 (although this target may be tough to achieve with the submarine fleet expected to shrink to 16 by 2012 with the decommissioning of two Foxtrot submarines).

Clearly, China has set off a naval race in the region. Japan and the United States, which are set to lag far behind in the Asia-Pacific, need to stand by India if the international community’s unfettered access to the South China Sea, Western Pacific and Indian Ocean is to be maintained.

Source

BAE presses technology-transfer track record in Indian Typhoon campaign

“Enthusiastic support” for the Indian government’s 50% offset target and technology transfer ambitions are a cornerstone of the Eurofighter consortium’s bid for India’s $12 billion, 126-aircraft medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) competition, says BAE Systems.

Alan Garwood, business director of BAE – which along with Alenia Aeronautica and EADS is pitching the Typhoon for the MMRCA deal – says the consortium’s preparedness to meet India’s stipulations on technology transfer “absolutely distinguish” its bid.

BAE Systems, he notes, has had a presence in India “for some 50-60 years” and, with partners, has built “around 1,000 aircraft” there, a track record he considers “unique among the competitors”.

Garwood declares himself “very pleased” with the performance of the Typhoon in flying evaluations, while acknowledging that “it’s what the Indian air force think that counts”. Declining to speculate on the likely timescale for a decision by the air force, he notes: “They’re playing this as an absolutely straight-bat competition.”

The Typhoon is up against the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Dassault Rafale, Lockheed Martin F-16, RSK MiG-35 and Saab Gripen NG for the Indian contract.

The Typhoon is also participating in a Japanese fighter competition geared toward sourcing 40-50 aircraft to replace McDonnell Douglas F-4s. Its Japanese campaign is led jointly by Alenia and BAE Systems, and Garwood considers it to have “a very good chance” of success, again citing the consortium’s willingness to transfer technology. Competition for Japan’s business will come from the F/A-18.

In a bid to boost BAE Systems’ Japanese prospects, Tony Ennis was appointed to serve as its president of north-east Asia from a base in Tokyo. He took up the position on 1 January.

The company will shortly host an event aimed at showcasing its technological innovations to the Japanese market.

On the Typhoon’s prospects in Oman, BAE Systems comments: “The UK government announced Oman’s intention to procure Eurofighter Typhoon earlier this year, and BAE Systems is continuing to work closely with both governments to reach agreement for the supply of this new-generation fighter to meet Oman’s national defence needs for the next 20-30 years.”

Typhoon business is also being sought in Romania, Turkey and Qatar, and the type will be offered to Switzerland should that nation’s mooted fighter contest proceed.

Garwood says BAE Systems has received “an unprecedented level of prime ministerial support” from the UK since David Cameron took office in May, and notes a generally “increased tempo to the government’s support” since the Cameron-led coalition formed.

“The coalition wants to get the country out of recession and they see manufacturing and exporting as a way to do it,” asserts Garwood. “With the level of government support we’re getting now, I’m very confident we’ll get a lot more success over the next few years.”

Source

Teer has made some good points, but a lot of expertise can be bought with the sheer financial muscle of the private industry (I said a lot not all), with which no PSU can compete (in funding terms).

Outside defense look at Tata who used to manufacture sub-standard cars taking a quantum leap by buying Jaguar and LandRover and FIAT’s India operations, now they make cars with better engines, drive-train and what not !.

And there is also a middle way. We can conclude that.

1. The Private Sector Cannot Match the Current Expertise of the PSUs.

2. The Private Sector runs business more efficiently.

Why not Privatize the PSUs at least partly ? Allow rival bidders to take HAL and NAL for example. Healthy competition will only be good.

The problem is HAL have to work in a specific time frame or risk losing orders altogether. This is why they use a high level of foreign content, if the GOI is so insistent on making everything indigenous then they must also insist the Armed forces to buy slightly inferior domestic product and give it time to mature.

You cannot have it both ways. The current strategy is better in the short term but not in the long term.

Indian warships on goodwill visit to Africa

Four Indian warships – INS Mysore, INS Tabar, INS Ganga and INS Aditya – have been deployed on a goodwill visit to several maritime nations of Africa and the Indian Ocean.

The warships will hold naval exercises with the navies and coast guards of Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, Seychelles and Mauritius besides making port calls at Reunion Island and Mozambique, a defence spokesperson said.

Wide-ranging professional discussions and a number of sports and social engagements will take place with the host navies while in harbour, and it will be followed up with naval exercises, he said.

The visit will also include the biennial naval exercise ‘IBSAMAR’ among the navies of India, Brazil and South Africa.

The naval exercises are meant to promote greater inter-operability and foster synergy between the Indian Navy and other participating navies.

The Indian Navy has already been conducting formal exercises annually with several foreign navies since several years, such as the Varuna series with the French Navy, the Indra series with the Russian Navy and the Konkan series with the U.K.’s Royal Navy.

The professional skills and experiences exchanged during these interactions would go a long way in enhancing cooperation and understanding the nuances of naval operations, as well as disaster management and combating maritime threats of terrorism and piracy, he said.

The visit also seeks to demonstrate the Indian Navy’s blue water capability to deploy, operate and sustain a maritime task force well away from home for an extended duration.

The current interaction will feature advanced aspects of naval warfare, including anti-air, anti-surface and anti-submarine operations.

The visiting ships are part of the Navy’s Western Fleet under the Western Naval Command based at Mumbai.

The Task Group is headed by Rear Admiral R.K. Pattanaik, Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet.

Over the decades, India has made substantial advances in terms of designing and building warships indigenously, the spokesperson said.

Three of these four ships have been designed by the Design Bureau of the Indian Navy and built at the public sector shipyards — the Mazagon Dockyard (Mumbai) and the Garden Reach Ship Builders and Engineers (Kolkata).

Destroyer INS Mysore and frigates INS Tabar and INS Ganga are equipped with state-of-the-art weapons and sensors, while replenishment ship INS Aditya is capable of sustaining the warships for prolonged durations at sea.

India’s naval assets have been increasingly involved in the region’s maritime issues, such as hydrographic survey, search and rescue, anti-piracy operations and also in providing humanitarian assistance.

Source

Nod for stealth destroyers to boost Indian Navy strength

The government has given its nod for the acquisition of a new class of stealth destroyers for the Indian Navy that will augment its force levels and replace ageing warships. The nod for four of the new Project 15 B stealth destroyers was given by the Cabinet Committee on Security meeting on Thursday that also discussed projects for fencing along the International Border. The four Project 15 B destroyers, which will be fully designed and manufactured indigenously, are estimated to be valued at over Rs 20,000 crore and will be another feather in the cap for Indian shipyards, which have over the past few years reduced dependence on foreign yards to a minimum.

The warships will most likely be built by the Mazgaon Docks Limited (MDL), which is currently rolling out the Shivalik Project 15 A stealth destroyers and has achieved expertise in modular construction. The new warships, with an expected displacement of 6,800 tons will be an improvement over the Shivalik class, the first class of stealth warships to be built in India. The navy is on a modernisation drive with several new warships, including two aircraft carriers, to be added to its fleet over the next five years.

Source

Indian Navy For New Rotory-UAVs

The photos above show Austrian firm Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER® S-100 unmanned helicopter during a demo for the Indian Navy aboard one of its Sukanya-class offshore patrol vessel. This was October 2007 in the Arabian Sea. Three years forward, the Navy today published an RFI to support a potential buy of VTOL UAVs — really, rotory-wing shipborne UAVs. The Navy supports the IAI-HAL Chetak-based NRUAV programme, but has identified the need for the capability before the tentative timeframe offered by IAI and HAL to operationalise the NRUAV. The Northrop-Grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout is a certain contender.

Source