ya allah, finally some traction on the MCMV front.

Goa Shipyard to build 8 mine-sweepers for Navy

[Times of India, 08 October 2004]

Mormugao: An advanced class of eight mine-sweepers called Mine Counter Measure Vessels will be built by Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) for the Indian Navy at a cost of about Rs 2,400 crore. Each vessel will cost Rs 300 crore and GSL is optimistic that the navy will place orders for three more vessels after the first eight are delivered. GSL Chairperson Rear Admiral Sampath Pillai (Retd.) stated that the new vessels were different from traditional mine-sweepers because their hulls were built of glass-reinforced plastic rather than steel. “This makes them unique because they will also have the latest sensors and equipment to detect and de-activate mines,” he said. According to him, most navies focus on buying destroyers and frigates but lack mine-sweepers. “After the Bangladesh war, we had to approach the former Soviet Union for help to clear the mines laid around our ports. Even the US and Australian navies do not have such vessels,” he said. The Portuguese set up GSL in 1957 as a small barge-building yard. “After independence, Mazagaon Dock Ltd (MDL) took over GSL, and it owns 48% of our shares today. The remaining 50% of equity is owned by the Centre and the balance by our workers and the locals,” he said. GSL concentrates on building small ships of up to 2,000 tonnes for the Indian Navy and Coast Guard. “We are modernising our yard and devoting more than half of our space to build these unique vessels,” he said. Three shipyards come under the defence ministry. While MDL builds big ships like destroyers and frigates, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers build medium-size ships and GSL concentrates on small and fast attack craft for the navy.

India sends warships to South China Sea:

[India News]: New Delhi, Oct 13 : India has sent five powerful warships to the South China Sea in keeping with its policy of using its navy to project power in regional waters and to forge closer defence ties with countries in the area.

The five warships of the Eastern Fleet, including two powerful indigenously built vessels, will also showcase India’s shipbuilding capabilities in countries like Japan, Vietnam and Indonesia the task force will visit.

The deployment of the vessels in the South China Sea comes just a little over a month after India sent five of its most powerful warships for deployment in the Gulf region.

During the nearly 45 days the force will spend in the South China Sea, the Indian warships, under the command of Rear Admiral Sunil K. Damle, will split into two groups to visit South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia, navy spokesman Commander Vinay Garg said.

“The primary aim of the visits is to enhance bilateral cooperation and strengthen naval ties,” he said.

“Apart from naval interactions whilst in harbour in these countries, the Eastern Fleet ships will carry out basic passage exercises with the host navies.”

Navy officials are looking at the deployment as an opportunity to enhance the maritime force’s ability to operate at great distances from Indian ports.

“The deployment will enable our fleet ships to operate and sustain far away from their base ports,” said Garg.

One group of warships will call at Pusan in South Korea, Tokyo, Manila and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam between Oct 15 and Nov 9. The second group will visit Jakarta, Manila and Ho Chi Minh City during Oct 21-Nov 9.

“The Indian Navy lays great stress on improving mutual understanding and these visits provide the ideal platform for greater professional interaction,” Garg said.

“The visits also act as the harbinger of friendship, with the objective of spreading the message of peace and goodwill amongst our maritime neighbours.”

In recent years, India has stepped up efforts to use its navy to project its influence in the Indian Ocean region.

Indian and US warships jointly patrolled the Malacca Straits for a short while last year and also the Indian Navy provided security for a summit of the African Union last year following a request from the host Mozambique.

The Indian Navy now has some 150 warships, and 19 more vessels, including frigates and corvettes, are currently being built in the country’s shipyards. It also has plans to build six Scorpene-class submarines under licence from a French company.

–Indo-Asian News Service

engine compressor failure at 18,000ft. they tried to glide back but
didnt make it to the runway hence ejected.

A Dassault engineering team has reached Gwalior already to
get to the bottom of all this.

The Indo-Singapore exercise is continuing. some pix should
be available in a few days.

Severodvinsk, I think its quite apparent even to stupid rice eating indian designers that if you want to play with the big boys in the deep pond, a SSN is no longer enough. every modern SSN is also a SSGN and thats what the ATV will be when it appears.

India doesnt have a SLBM program, so it cannot be a SSBN obviously.

theres a contest between a R37-mod and the KS-172. looks like Mig31 will stick with R37 while KS172 will be offered for export.