google, there’s going to be a big issue with the ASW upgrade cost. The Bears are quite useless against any form of fighters or long range SAM, they can only attack merchant shipping or isolated small SAGs. so India might just decide to stick with the MKI+3 brahmos each concept. They are already practising long overwater missions now. Buddy-Buddy refueling is also on the verge of appearing, and these will be essential to extend the range of the pack. even 2x brahmos is a huge weight to cart around.

Its inevitable India has to order more IL78.

at 9000t full up they are 2500t bigger than Delhis. there’s no guarantee US will sell or maintain the Mk41, Sm2 and ESSM. a good US radar would be reqd too like the SPY-1F . all this makes it very costly…I bet it will cost as much as a new smaller ship built in india.

too much complications.

US maintainence is sometimes off the mark maybe. the
chief of USS kitty hawk or Enterprise lost his job last year
after badly failing a ship inspection.

Like Jonesy said, IN needs a 2500-3000t stealthy frigate
armed with a couple of helos and towed sonar to get a
lock on the shallows. the arabian sea, bay of bengal, northern indian ocean and malacca region are quite shallow I think, no major ‘trench regions’.

ex-USN ships are a tough buy. They are flogged very hard in service compared to other navies.

Elvis has re-entered the building.

Eastern Fleet ships deployed overseas for 45 days :

India News > New Delhi, Oct 13 : Five ships of the Eastern Fleet of the Indian Navy are on overseas deployment for about 45 days to make port calls in five countries on the South China Sea and interact with the regional navies, besides operating and sustaining far away from their base ports.

The ships, under the tactical command of Flag Officer Commanding (Eastern Fleet) Rear Admiral Sunil K Damle, would split into two groups and make port calls on these countries, a Defence Ministry spokesman said.

While the first group would visit Pusan (South Korea), Tokyo (Japan), Manila (Philippines), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) and Jakarta (Indonesia), the second one would also make calls at Jakarta, Manila and Ho Chi Minh City.

The fleet, which are scheduled to return to base port by mid-November, comprise two Kashin class missile destroyers — Ranjit and Ranvijay, missile frigate Godavari, offshore patrol vessel Sukanya, missile corvette Kirch and fleet tanker Jyoti.

The visit would not only act as a harbinger of friendship, peace and goodwill among the maritime neighbours, but also enable the Indian ships to operate and sustain far away from their base ports.

Apart from the naval interactions, the fleet would also carry out basic level passage exercises with the host navies on departure from particular ports, the spokesman said.

The visit would also showcase India’s ship building capabilities and the ability to keep pace with rapid technological advancements in the field of military hardware and systems. PTI

similar story here:
http://www.navyleague.org/sea_power/jul_04_44.php

n early May, the Indian Ministry of Defense approved a plan by the Indian Navy to begin its future mine countermeasures vessel (MCMV) program. The current plan is for the procurement of up to eight MCMVs to replace the 12 existing Pondicherry-class ocean minesweepers that have been in service since the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The estimated $1 billion program calls for the construction of glass reinforced plastic ships at India’s Goa Shipyard. A request for tender (RfT) for construction and/or technology assistance is currently scheduled for June. A request for proposal (RfP) for the mine-hunting and neutralization equipment will follow shortly, possibly as early as August.

The RfT would be forwarded to Intermarine of Italy, Kangnam Corp. of South Korea and IZAR of Spain, all current builders of MCMVs.

An RfP for the mine-hunting equipment will be sent to at, a minimum, Thales of France, Atlas Elektronik of Germany, FABA of Spain and ECA of France. Indigenous companies such as Bharat Electronics will provide the fire-control radar and 30mm gun with assistance from OTO Melara of Italy.

Currently, the Navy is calling for the delivery of the first unit by 2008, which coincides with the planned decommissioning of the first Pondicherry-class minesweeper.

Matt, ignore the hyberbole.

Severodvinsk, its quite clear from the description these will be minehunters. india already has a bunch of russian made minesweepers. 2400 cr for 8 => $500/8 mil each = approx $60 mil per boat.

there will be a foreign partner for ToT on this, most likely UK, Italy, France or Spain. A look at what these nations have on the table today would give some idea.

DefenceNews had a very detailed article on this issue a
couple of months ago but they mentioned the cost as $1 bil for 8.