N-submarine project finally moves ahead
SHIV AROOR
Posted online: Saturday, February 18, 2006 at 0035 hours IST

VIZAG/NEW DELHI, FEB 17: With some progress finally made on the compact reactors that will ultimately power the country’s indigenous nuclear submarines, the advanced technology vessel (ATV) project facility at Visakhapatnam is being expanded for crucial tests scheduled for later this year.

Speaking off the record, a government source in Visakhapatnam told The Indian Express, ‘‘Efforts to miniaturise the pressurised heavy water reactors that will power the submarines have made some progress, though lot of work is left. The nuclear establishment has conveyed to us that some preliminary tests could be carried out shortly.’’ He only indicated specific movement on the ATV’s dynamometer and drive turbine this year.

Unlike the highly concealed nature of the project itself, it is no secret that Russia is a key partner. However, after functioning under a somewhat unofficial advisory role, sources said Moscow has proposed the possibility of signing an advanced systems pact.

The Navy is keen to lease two Russian Akula-class nuclear submarines in the interim both as an operational platform and as a testing ground for certain indigenous technologies developed under the ATV project. South Block sources said the effort had ‘‘slowed down, but not died out’’. It is coincidence that President A P J Abdul Kalam at the Fleet Review said it was time for the country to build long range submarines, but sources indicated work was expedited in last 10 months .

India rejects proposal for ship-based Hawkeye
DATE:03/01/06
SOURCE:Flight International
India has rejected a proposal to acquire six ship-based Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye 2000s and has begun evaluating potential shore-based airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) solutions.

Industry sources say the Indian navy has ruled out buying the Hawkeye for embarked operations as it would have to make major compromises on the equipment that it could fit on the aircraft, but say the type is still being considered for operation from land bases.

The service received a detailed technical briefing on the Hawkeye 2000 from the US Navy last month and Northrop remains confident of securing an order, depite facing new competition. The USN says Washington first provided New Delhi with pricing and availability data on six Hawkeye 2000s in 2004, and that, while this has since expired, the governments “re-engaged” in mid-2005. New information could be supplied soon, possibly leading to a letter of intent, it says.

Embraer has also briefed the Indian navy on its EMB-145-based AEW&C system and is confident of selling several missionised aircraft. The company last year delivered five ERJ-145s to the Indian air force and border patrol for VIP duties and is also working with India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to deliver a new three-aircraft AEW&C solution for the Indian air force, including the local development of a phased array radar (Flight International, 15-21 February 2005). Embraer says it is still in technical discussions with the DRDO, but that a firm contract could be signed later this year.

Saab also hopes to enter the navy’s AEW&C competition, but is considered a long shot as it is concluding a deal to sell a Saab 2000-based solution to Pakistan, with at least five aircraft to be delivered from 2008.

The Indian navy must weigh its AEW&C programme against requirements for maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft, while the Indian coastguard is also evaluating potential maritime surveillance solutions under a tender process launched in 2004. Industry sources expect New Delhi to select two or three platforms to cover all four requirements, with a priority list now being prepared.

Manufacturers say the maritime surveillance/patrol requirement is likely to receive the highest priority, although it is unclear when the acquisition will move forward. The navy has already received briefings on several potential maritime patrol aircraft from companies including ATR, Dassault, Embraer and Saab, but has yet to issue a formal tender.

ISRO gets Rs 400 cr for naval satellite
DH News Service New Delhi:
The Central government on Friday granted an additional Rs 400 crore to the Indian Space Research Organisation, which is likely to be spent on India’s first naval satellite.

The clearance was given on Thursday night by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and attended by the defence, home and finance ministers along with their secretaries.

Though Union Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday that the allocation was for space development programmes, it is understood that the resources have been sanctioned for making India’s first naval satellite for which the navy has already prepared the ground work in consultation with ISRO. The budget document shows that there is no head called space development programme.

Though normally, ISRO budgets for civilian space projects are sanctioned either by the Union Cabinet or Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, this time the CCS has approved the funds.

According to naval sources, ISRO might take 30 months to make the satellite, which is likely to be used for communication among battleships and surveillance.

Navy to acquire three more Russian missile frigates
NEW DELHI, DEC 2 (PTI)
In a move to bolster falling force levels of warships, Navy has decided to acquire three more Russian Krivck class missile carrying stealth frigates and is in the process of floating proposals for purchasing more spyplanes and anti-submarine helicopters.

Disclosing that 27 warships and submarines were on order, Naval Chief Admiral Arun Prakash said Government clearance was also in process for inducting 36 more indigenous warships of various tonnage ranging from fast petrol craft to missile carrying destroyers and frigates.

Addressing a news conference on the eve of the ‘Navy Day’ on Sunday, Prakash also said that Navy had completed the selection of buying a Deep Sea Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) for undertaking rescue of submarines in distress by identifying the vendor.

He said Navy would buy two of these DSRV’s and pending their induction in the next three years, it was in the process of formalising an agreement with the US Navy for its help in case of any of the Indian submarines getting into distress in the high seas.

Elaborating on the purchase of three more Krivck class frigates, the Naval Chief said an agreement to this effect was in the offing with the Russians. Indian Navy already has three such frigates and more were being brought to what Prakash described as to balance declining force levels.

On the acquisition of the Long Range Maritime Reconissance aircraft, the Naval Chief said Request For Proposals (RFP) for these would be floated soon and mentioned the US offer of leasing out its new P3C Orions in this connection.

Prakash made it clear that if India went in for the P3C Orions offer of the US Government, it would be an interim measure. “The outlay involved in leasing the Orions can’t be an interim arragement.” He also disclosed that Navy would be getting back its two IL-38 maritime spyplanes which had been sent to Moscow for midlife upgrades by the end of the year. “In the meantine, we are overcoming the shortcomings in the reconissance field by utilising just inducted Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV).” Declaring that in consonance with India’s primary role in the Indian Ocean region, the Naval Chief said Navy was in the process of building up a force level for this and mentioned that Gorshkov carrier acquired from Russia would be delivered on schedule by mid-2008, while the country’s first ever indigenous carrier to be built at Kochi was also progressing on schedule.

Hailing the Government move to ink the purchase of French Scorpene class submarines deal, Prakash said the project would be used as springboard for indegenisation of submarine building. “From the acquisition of the first of these Scorpene, we intend to work towards building indigenous capability and are sure that by the time the seventh submarine rolls out, it should be 100 per cent Indian content,” he said.

‘Navy must gear up for global role’
STRATEGY Plan to purchase US Navy landing vessel for Rs 200 crore

SHIV AROOR

Posted online: Thursday, October 20, 2005 at 0016 hours IST

NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 19: As India evolves a higher maritime security profile in the South Asian region, an immediate concern to the Navy is its lack of heavy sea-lift and mass landing capabilities to deliver forces at larger distances.

Highlighting this as a void that will define strategy and shipbuilding over the next decade, Navy Chief Admiral Arun Prakash said this was a lesson learnt from post-tsunami relief operations.

‘‘The Navy’s diplomatic role has expanded, not just in terms of the number of countries we deal with and the variety of issues we interact on, but also in terms of expectations that others have from us today, particularly in the wake of the tsunami. We stand to reap rich dividends from our active international role, particularly in our immediate neighbourhood,’’ the Navy Chief said today at the Naval Commanders’ Conference.

After the tsunami, the Navy’s internationally recognised role as a relief mobiliser has also thrown up the absence of largescale machinery and strategy to deliver forces and equipment quicker, to far-flung territories in the Indian Ocean region (IOR).

Consequently, the Navy has almost finalised the purchase of a 34-year-old, 16,590-ton US Navy landing vessel, the Austin-class USS Trenton for Rs 200 crore. A Navy spokesman indicated that the vessel, to be operated for 15 years, will be used as a platform for indigenous construction of landing platform dock (LPD) vessels, capable of landing large numbers of troops or relief workers and hosting a fleet of utility helicopters.
It will also be given a demonstration of the new French Mistral-class landing vessels, made by the firm that manufactures Scorpene submarines, early next year. The Navy currently operates two Magadh-class landing ship tanks (LSTs), though these are insufficient for the huge demands of an enlarged ‘‘strategic event horizon’’.

The Navy had actually begun displaying its upgraded post-tsunami profile in June this year when Admiral Prakash took his force’s sole aircraft carrier INS Viraat on its first ever trip to the South East on a ceremonial visit.

It was a subtle sign that the Navy had recognised its matured profile and responsibility as a regional maritime power and an exercise in strategic projection.

It is also significant that this recognition was followed by an expeditious consolidation of Naval access agreements with the Asean countries.

“India ready to export BrahMos”
Special Correspondent

Other countries also placing orders for cruise missile: Vice-Admiral Madanjit Singh

A file picture of BrahMos missile.

MUMBAI: India has finally cleared the high-tech supersonic cruise missile, BrahMos, and Chile could be among the first buyers.

“The export of military hardware is no longer an issue, and we have started exporting the BrahMos,” Vice-Admiral Madanjit Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, said on Thursday. He was addressing a seminar on “Navy-Industry Convergence: Challenges and Opportunities” here.

Later, he told reporters that Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the CEO of BrahMos Aerospace, A. Sivathanu Pillai, were in Chile and finalisation of the missile deal was on the cards. Other countries were also in the process of placing orders for the missile, a result of Indo-Russian joint research. He did not name any country but said some in South-East Asia could be among them.

Missile capabilities

The BrahMos, with a range of 290 km, is capable of delivering an over 300-kg conventional warhead at twice or even thrice the speed of sound. It is the only supersonic missile of its class. The Navy has armed several of its warships, notably the Rajput class destroyers, with the BrahMos, essentially a long-range anti-ship weapon, for a coastal attack role.

The missile is multi-platform capable and a plan is afoot to arm Su-30 multirole aircraft with it for air-to-land combat. Its Army version for land-to-land combat was tested last year.

At the seminar, jointly organised by the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai, and the Confederation of Indian Industry to mark the 270th anniversary of the dockyard, Vice-Admiral Singh told industry that the Navy did not like to depend on foreign suppliers, particularly after the post-Pokhran II sanctions that resulted in its helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft grounded for want of spares. He called upon industry to join the indigenisation process.

20 more warships

The Navy, with 20 warships under construction at different shipyards, offered many an opportunity to the private ship building industry.

Even in large weapon procurement deals, for instance the recently-signed French submarine agreement, there were offset clauses requiring the suppliers to buy Indian components and systems. Industry could avail itself of these opportunities. Foreign suppliers were being encouraged to find an Indian industry partner.

Vic-Admiral Singh told reporters that the offset clause got lost in the documents until recently and the domestic industry did not benefit from it. Now the offsets were being pursued attentively. The implementation of the clause could be linked to the payment stages. Industry could also have tie-ups with the Defence Research and Development Organisation and defence public sector undertakings. He wanted an institutionalised approach to such partnerships.

The Navy was keen on a submarine programme, besides the just-concluded Scorpene deal. “We have operated several types of submarines all the time and now also we are having Russian and German submarines in our inventory.” Other submarines were being evaluated for the second programme. To a question, Vice-Admiral Singh said the Navy examined and found the Russian Amur a good submarine but it all depended on the offer.

Asked about the indigenous Trishul surface-to-air missile, he said the Navy needed missiles four times more powerful in terms of range and strike capability. Unlike the BrahMos, the Trishul could not hit a supersonic cruise missile.

Captain won’t go down with ship

Jumana Shah
Wednesday, October 26, 2005 23:14 IST
DIU: The captain never abandons his ship. For years this has been the unwritten rule in the navy, but the Indian top brass at least, begs to differ.

It’s been 35 years since Captain Mahendra Nath Mullah lit his last cigarette and settled on the deck of his ship INS Khukri during the 1971 war. The Khukri was torpedoed by a Pakistani submarine and became the only Indian ship to sink.

Now the Indian navy seems to have decided that the captain and his experience are much more important than valour. As per Rear Admiral IK Saluja, a captain may abandon his ship and save his life”.

Speaking exclusively to DNA Saluja said, “Now a captain can officially abandon his ship if it is sinking. It takes 26 years to build a captain, and he is a valuable resource for the country as a whole. If an unfortunate event occurs, he should save his life.”

Senior naval officers agree with Saluja’s views. “Valour is important, especially in the armed forces, but it is stupid to lose a captain along with a ship. It’s not practical to waste resources in this manner,” said an officer on board INS Tabar in Diu.

Interestingly it is after 35 years that the Indian Navy has decided to honour the martyrs of INS Khukri which sank 40 nautical miles off the coast of Diu taking down a crew of 18 officers and 176 sailors.

A memorial constituting a full-scale model of INS Khukri, 15-m long, two meters wide and seven feet tall, has been built in Diu.

“INS Khukri is the only ship that we lost in the history of Indian Navy. This is the first time in 35 years that we have commemorated the lost ship,” said defence spokesperson TK Singha.