Indian Navy to set up Rs 1,500cr naval base
Our Correspondent / Visakhapatnam October 04, 2005

With the current naval base leaving no scope for further expansion, the Indian Navy has decided to develop a new naval base for the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) at an investment of about Rs 1,500 crore. The new naval base will come up at Rambili area, near the existing naval base.

Addressing mediapersons, vice-admiral OP Bansal, flag officer and commanding-in-chief, ENC, said, “The current naval base at Visakhapatnam has become congested and there is no space for further expansion. Hence, we are going to set up an alternative naval base at Rambilli. The Indian Navy is spending close to Rs 1,500 crore for the first phase of works.”

The Indian Navy requires about 3,000 acres of land to set up the alternative base. The land acquisition has been completed and the first phase of the project will be ready in three to four years, he added.

Bansal said that ENC is adding five more new warships to its fleet during the next fiscal. ENC currently has 15 warships in its fleet, and a couple of them will be decommissioned next year. “We will be adding two missile boats, two landing ship tanks and a fast attack craft to the eastern fleet,” he said.

The Navy is also constructing six submarines at Mezagon Dock with technical support from the French government. “These will be built at an investment of about $3 billion and the first submarine will join the eastern fleet by 2009,” Bansal said. ENC, at present, has six submarines.

Bansal said that the Vizag airport expansion would be completed during next year. “Of the total project cost of Rs 191 crore, Indian Navy is contributing around Rs 175 crore. Once the project is completed, Vizag would see a significant growth,” he said.

Due to poor response from private partners, the proposed Rs 5-crore warship museum project at Visakhapatnam beach has been called off for the time being, Bansal said.

“The Indian Navy and the Russian Navy will jointly conduct a three-day naval exercise at the Bay of Bengal in a big way this month. In February 2006, the Navy will be organising a Presidential Parade, for which President APJ Abdul Kalam will be in Vizag,” he informed.

Army, Air Force not keen on Prithvi missile
Sandeep Dik****

Have reservations about its accuracy

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Army may go in for Agni A-1 missiles
Air Force veering towards Brahmos missiles
Navy developing submarine-launched version of Prithvi
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NEW DELHI: The armed forces appear to have lost interest in the Prithvi ballistic missile — the first success story in the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme — and are in favour of inducting the short-range version of the Agni missile.

Apart from reservations over Prithvi’s accuracy, the Army is unhappy with the efficacy of its warheads and the cumbersome process of filling them prior to launch. As a result, it wants to go in for the “Agni A-1” missile that was tested successfully over a year ago.

Agni A-1 missiles are filled with a more stable solid fuel and do not require an easily detectable logistical train of vehicles and a complement of defence scientists to oversee the fuelling as in the case of the liquid fuel-based Prithvi I and II. Also, its range gives defence planners more options, sources said.

The Air Force too is not keen on acquiring the missiles though the Prithvi-II was developed for its exclusive use. The IAF recently decided to sendsome of its frontline Sukhoi fighters back to Russia to ascertain whether their wings could be strengthened to carry the Indo-Russian Brahmos cruise missile.

Only the Navy sees a future for the Prithvi in its battle plans. It is involved in the development of a submarine launched version called Sagarika, which was successfully tested earlier this year. But the project is still in the early stages.

USS Chafee — destroyer with a difference

Arunkumar Bhatt

A `day at sea’ for the two navies off Goa for displaying their finest skills in ship handling and seamanship

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All decks have anti-skid features
GPS for knowing the position of the Chafee and electronic maps to record her course
Women do all jobs that the male officers and men do
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— PHOTO: PTI

SPOT ON: An American anti-submarine helicopter, Seahawk, landing on INS Mysore during the second phase of `Malabar 05′, an India-U.S. naval exercise in the Arabian Sea, off the Goa coast on Thursday.

VASCO DA GAMA (GOA): The Indian and American warships on Thursday took a day off from their ongoing exercise, Malabar 05, to stage a `day at sea’ off Goa displaying their finest skills in ship handling and seamanship, one being second to none as guided missile destroyer USS Chafee bared her highly advanced design and equipment to Indians.

USS Chafee that displaces 9200 tonnes is much larger than its Indian counterpart, INS Mysore and like her operates two helicopters, SH-60 Sea Hawk for anti-submarine and surface warfare but she has two Mk-41 Vertical Launching Systems capable of launching a variety of missiles for anti-submarine, anti-aircraft, anti-shipping, self-defence and land strike purposes in fast reaction to multiple threat with concentrated and continuous firepower. The weapons include long-range ground attacking cruise missile, Tomahawk.

INS Mysore (displaces 6,200 tonnes) is yet to be armed with cruise missiles such as Brahmos. The Indian designed and built destroyer does not boast of the Mk-41 VLS but has 16 Uran surface-to-surface missiles, anti-air missiles and torpedoes, showing that she is packed with a stronger punch compared to her size. But the striking difference is the advanced electronics and so many support equipment of the USS Chafee.

“But what we have onboard our warships is enough for our requirements,” argues Leading Radio Operator of the Indian Navy, Nilesh Pandey posted on the Chafee to understand the American way of communication. “Our weather conditions and environment do not call for such elaborate protection against wind and waves.”

The use of high technology, however, has not diminished the U.S. Navy’s trust in old ways of sailing and running a warship — very much like the Indian Navy. So one finds a sailor on the upper deck conveying a message to the Indian fleet replenishment tanker, INS Aditya that had come alongside `to supply’ oil and material. “The semaphore is the most reliable way in which we do not break the radio silence so we use it along with satellite communication,” chuckles Chief Petty Officer Martin, a cryptologist.

Similarly, lady Quarter Master Tamara Neff uses satellite aided GPS (ground position satellite) for knowing the position of the Chafee and electronic maps to record her course. But this does not mean that she has given up manual tracing of the ship’s course and positions on a paper chart, using a sextant, compass and geometry instruments. “Well, the Navy thinks it is good to have the manual back-up in case the equipment fail,” she tells The Hindu looking up from her chart table in the bridge, from where the ship is steered and controlled and navigated. The view in the Indian Navy is not different though one does not find a lady at a chart table of `desi’ warships.

Of the 283-strong complement of the USS Chafee, 45 are women. Interestingly, they are called female `seaman.’ The ship has all the sanitation and living facilities to cater to the needs of the female officers and `men’ but otherwise there is no difference. The women do all jobs that the male officers and men do.

An Indian naval captain was especially interested in parallel facilities created onboard for the women in anticipation of the needs of the Indian Navy in near future.

The replenishment at sea (RAS) stole the show of the day. The fleet tanker, INS Aditya moved in for a rendezvous with the warships.

USS Chafee speeded up to go on Aditya’s starboard side and adjusted her speed. Soon both ships were charting the same course and making the same speed, maintaining very close distance. Similarly, INS Mysore appeared on Aditya’s port side and so did INS Gomati on Mysore’s port.

A bullet was fired to extend a line across the Chafee and at its end came a rope. Similarly a hosepipe was extended to give oil. A test weight was launched to pass across another line — it contained Indian snacks (samosa).

While the ships practised replenishment, the aircraft of INS Viraat took off and patrolled the area as an Indian frigate maintained station ahead. Replenishing ships are most vulnerable to enemy attack.

ENC acquires 3000 acres near Vizag for expansion work
Visakhapatnam | September 28, 2005 6:38:06 PM IST

The Eastern Naval Command (ENC), would be taking up expansion of its facility by setting up an alternative naval base on the 3000 acre of land near Yelamanchali and Rambilli on the outskirts of the city.
ENC’s flag officer Commanding-in-Chief Vice Admiral O P Bansal, who lays down office on September 30, said there was a need to expand the command as its strategic importance in this part of the world was increasing.

He said an alternate naval base would come up in the proposed area at an estimated cost of Rs 1500 crore. This would be in line with the expansion work taken up by Western Command which had built a new naval base ‘Sea Bird’ near Karwar in Karnataka.

The ENC is likely to set up another base near Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, in view of the upcoming Setu Samudram Channel Project connecting Palk strait with Gulf of Mannar on the southern tip of the country. ”The project is of strategic importance for the Indian Navy,”he added.

Vice Adm Bansal said joint naval exercise with Russia ‘INDRA 05’ would be held off the Visakhapatnam coast for three days next month.

Five ships from each Navy would take part in the exercise. The latest exercise would be in a broader sophisticated scale, and take the defence relations between the two countries to new heights.

”It will be a special occasion for ENC as we will see different equipment and tactics. This would be very helpful for our Navy,”he said.

Second phase Malabar-05 joint Indo-US naval exercise begins
Abhijit Sathe, Vasco Da Gama (On board USS Chafee), Sep 29 (PTI) The Indian and US navies today began the second phase of Malabar-05 joint exercise in the Arabian Sea, with a series of manouvers aimed at building up confidence and inter-operability.
The exercise was participated by Indian naval aircraft carrier, INS Viraat, guided missle destroyer INS Mysore, and its fuel replenishment tanker, INS Aditya besides submarine, INS Shankul, while the US navy participated in the form of its guided missle destroyer, USS Chafee.

The vessels from both navies got engaged in search and rescue operations, submarine rescue, mid-sea refuelling and other tactical exercises.

At the rise of the sun, all the vessels sailed deep in the sea where they first joined in several strategic formations before engaging into joint tasks. Naval Chetak helicopters later landed on USS Chafee while the US strike helicopters SH-60 landed on INS Viraat.

The highlight of the event, however, was the mid-sea refuelling exercise in which Indian naval oil supply vessel INS Aditya performed the difficult task of going into simultaneous formations with INS Mysore and USS Chafee to help them replenishing their fuel stocks.

This was an important exercise for the two navies since refuelling mid-sea is a difficult task, particularly in a war and the tanker and the vessel could prove sitting ducks for the enemy, a senior Indian naval official told PTI here.

Malabar 2005 US and Indian Navy Exercise – Photo Essay

Aircraft carriers in Indo-US exercise
Posted online: Saturday, September 24, 2005 at 0132 hours IST

NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 23: Starting Sunday, the navies of India and the US, for the first time, will use two aircraft carriers in a joint exercise, which is being tipped as an unprecedented joint show of force on the western seaboard.

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Nimitz, will enter into a series of simulated threat scenarios in the Arabian Sea, cooperating real-time with INS Viraat, India’s sole carrier, for what will be the most advanced military exercise ever for the Indian Navy.

‘‘This will be the most advanced exercise in terms of assets committed,’’ said Rear Admiral D K Joshi, assistant chief in-charge of Information Warfare and Operations.

After this, the Indian group, comprising five vessels, will enter an ‘‘aviation interoperability phase’’ for three days, where American F/A-18 Hornets will be fielded against Viraat’s deck-based Sea Harriers.

The two groups will also engage in counter-terrorism, anti-submarine warfare, cross-deck chopper operations and opposed replenishment (in which the re-tanking of a ship mid-sea will be ‘‘protected’’ in a multi-threat environment).

The focus on getting to know each other’s air assets is clear. The US Navy will field its P-3 Orions and a fleet of SH-60 Seahawk multirole choppers and deck-based E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning and command/control aircraft.

Forces for Pacific island

The Navy, for the first time, will send a team of special forces divers to the Pacific island of Guam in January next year for a short joint exercise with the US Navy. While conventional Naval forces are yet to travel to the US shores for joint exercises, the idea is being discussed by the two sides.

Indian Navy holds talks with British firm

From Rahul Bedi DHNS,New Delhi:

Of the three Services, the Indian Navy was the first to use the penalty clause in the agreement when the supply of frigates was delayed by Russian sellers.

The Indian Navy is believed to have opened negotiations with British Aerospace (BaE) for 18 to 22 Hawk advanced jet trainers (AJTs) after the Indian Air Force (IAF) refused to “share” with it the 66 Hawks which the former acquired last year for $ 1.65 billion.

The AJTs are due to join the service in a phased manner from 2008.

Official sources said the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited that was building 42 of the AJTs at Bangalore was also part of the navy’s negotiations for the jet trainers.

The IAF’s remaining 24 Hawks are being constructed at BAE’s Brough facility in the UK. The navy needs the AJTs to train its pilots for the fleet of 20 Russian MiG 29 K fighters, including four trainers that will form air group on INS Vikramaditya, the 44,500-tonne Russian Kiev-class aircraft carrier (formerly Admiral Gorshkov) that is undergoing a refit by SevMash Naval builders for around $ 675 million at Severodvinsk in the White Sea.

Freeze the price

The Indian Navy, that presently trains its pilots on the basic Sea Harrier Mk 60s and Kiran Mk IIs, also plans to acquire an unspecified number of MiG 29 Ks for the 37,500-tonne air defence ship (ADS) it is building indigenously.

Senior navy officials said MiG 29 K makers RSK-MiG had agreed to freeze the price of the fighters for four to five years for the ADS.

Meanwhile, even as USA’s Defence Security Agency (DSA) held discussions with officials from the Indian Navy and the Ministry of Defence last week to lease to the Indian Navy two P 3C Orion maritime reconnaissance aircraft (MRA) that it desperately needs to plug an “operational gap”, the naval headquarters dispatched a request for proposal for the MRAs to Brazil, France, Italy and the United States.

Official sources said the Request For Proposal for providing the navy with 8-12 MRAs had been sent to Brazil’s Embrarer for the P 99, France’s Dassault Aviation for its Falcon 900 DX MPA, Italy’s Alenia Aerospazio’s ATR-72 ASW and Lockheed Martin, makers of the Orion.

Russia ignored

Significantly, the navy is not considering any MRA from traditional weapon platform suppliers, Russia.

This is because over the years it has suffered from deadline slippages in equipment delivery and “poor“ after-sales service.