shuvo@y2k10
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i would also go for amur 1650 since it is extremely stealthy.also drdo can implement some of it technology in the future nuclear submarines.
Future indian navy by 2020
- Thread starter Parthy
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Nerpa and Arihant will augment Indian Navy's declining submarine strength
Submarine is the weapon of the future. The submarine alone can assure command of the sea: Admiral George Cabanier.
"Submariners are a special brotherhood, either all come to the surface or no one does. On a submarine, the phrase, 'all for one and one for all', is not a slogan but a reality: Vice Admiral Rudolf Golosov: Russian Navy.
On 7th December, 2010 the Indian Naval ensign was hauled down at sunset for the last time on INS Vagli, the last of the eight Foxtrot class boats and she was solemnly decommissioned after 37 years of service and put to rest at Vishakapatnam. The submarine Order Of Battle (ORBAT) of the Indian Navy thus dwindled down to 14 on that day, from a high of 21 in the 1980s. Of the 14 submarines listed, 10 boats are aging as they have already been in service for over 23 years, and the 20 year INS Sindhukriti has been opened up at Hindustan Shipyard for conversion to fire the Klub missiles.
Two old submarines are planned for decommissioning in the next five years. The outlook is bleak, and the Indian Navy has not acquired a submarine for the last 14 years, except INS Sindhushastra, the first Klub firing Kilo submarine which joined in 2000, but the good news is the nuclear propelled 12,000 ton Nerpa, which is a refurbished Akula Type 971 will join the fleet shortly in 2011, and be possibly based at Vishakaptanam.
The Nerpa will come on a $ 900 million lease for 10 years from Russia.
Meanwhile, India's own nuclear Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV) INS Arihant is expected to join in 2011-12. It will be armed with 12 nuclear tipped 700km K-15 missiles, to form India's TRIAD as indicated by the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma, at his customary Navy Week briefing on 2nd December, aptly under the banner, Glorious Past-Vibrant Future.
In any large navy, the submarine arm is a very critical and indispensable force. During the height of the cold war it was well articulated by Admiral HG Rickover, a submariner himself, and the longest serving legendary head of the American nuclear submarine department. He said: I believe it is the duty of every man serving on US Navy submarines to act as though the fate of the world depends on them.
Submarine power provides a nation combat and deterrence power, and submariners are baptized by fire as every man on the boat that dives, snorkels or surfaces has to be a professional, trained for any emergency and have a sociological attitude of mind to remain under water for prolonged periods and live in cramped quarters under great stress. No wonder submarines motto is 'Run Deep Run Silent".
In comparison with surface warships, submarines have small crews who are trained to multi task, while the cramped complexity of machinery and use of every inch of space, demands very exacting standards for maintenance.
The Indian Navy's journey of operating a long line of 25 submarines, began on 8th December, 1967 with the commissioning of the first Foxtrot class boat INS Kalvari after long and grueling periods of training at Vladivostok. Since then India's submarine arm has operated submarines with élan and professionalism accident free, a feat not many navies have equaled.
In those 44 long years, the Navy acquired and operated 8 Foxtrots, 10 Kilos and 4 HDW boats (two built in India) and ran the nuclear propelled INS Chakra from 1987 to 1991 on lease. The INS Chakra embarked a few safety Russian crew members, but soon the Indian Navy was certified by Admiral of the Fleet Sergei Gorshkov, a great friend of the Indian Navy, that it had the capability to operate all aspects of the complicated nuclear submarine. The Indian electrical officer who commissioned Chakra's reactor was certified as an independent 'Reactor in Charge'.
The Navy set up all the required nuclear support facilities in the congested inner Vishakapatnam harbour, which Admiral Gorshkov on his visit to India in 1974 had stressed would prove to be impractical in the long term as the entrance to the harbor is narrow and the commercial port would expand. He suggested a green field naval port at Bimlipatam. He was supported by Engineer Rear Admiral Daya Shankar who had joined the Ministry of Defence but funds were a constraint. Adm Gorshkov has been proved right, as nuclear submarines need pens, special segregated safe berthing facilities and the Navy is already planning for a green field naval port on the East Coast.
India had become the world's 7th submarine building nation by 1985, but had to stop production after constructing two HDW- IKL-1500 boats due to the HDW investigations and an alleged scandal. India lost a valuable art, but a lot has been recouped by the ATV INS Arihant project at Vishakapatnam.
Much is kept classified however, as India has secrecy agreements with Russia, whose naval officers are assisting India in the project with critical equipment and direction. A submarine's operational life hovers around 20 to 25 years as the steel begins to age. A single fissure in the hull can lead to catastrophe in a deep dive.
The government had approved the Navy's 30-Year Two Line Submarine Building Plan as early as 1999, but it saw no movement till 2005 for the Scorpene construction line.
It is no surprise that the submarine strength of the Navy's conventional submarine arm is set to fall to 8 or 10 by 2015 when the first Scorpene being constructed at Mazagon Docks is expected to enter service. Of the ten, only four or five can be expected to be operational for India's vast region for patrols at any given time as the refits of the Kilo class submarines are carried out in Servodnisk Russia and one boat is there.
INDIA'S SCORPENE SUBMARINE PROJECT AND BEYOND
On 6th October 2005, French Ambassador in New Delhi Dominique Girard and Indian Ministry of Defence's Additional Secretary (Acquisitions) D Banerjee signed the first of the long awaited 6 submarine $ 3.9 billion contract in the presence of the then Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Arun Prakash, with the now defunct company Armaris.
The licensed construction with 80 HLES high-yield steel for the pressure hull, which is the same as used for the French Navy's nuclear submarines, commenced at the Mazagon Docks in December 2006, December 2007 and August 2008, respectively, and the contract called for the first submarine to be delivered in December 2012 and one each year thereafter through 2017. The HLES steel allows unlimited diving to more than 300m while offering greater freedom for tactical manoeuvers. The first, second and third submarines will be equipped with MBDA supplied Exocet missiles and Thales Subtics command and control suites. The decision for the torpedo has not been taken, and the WASS Blackshark is the favoured choice. However the building and delivery of the first French-designed Scorpene submarines being built at Mumbai by DCNS of France and Navantia of Spain has now been delayed to 2015.
On 18th August 2009, Defence Minister A K Antony told parliament that delays were expected "on account of some teething problems, absorption of technology and delays in augmentation of industrial infrastructure and procurement of purchased materials" by Mazagon Docks. He added that the "delay in the scheduled delivery of submarines is likely to have an impact on the envisaged submarine force levels."
The Indian government has recently sanctioned an additional $ one billion for the Scorpene project, increasing the total cost to around $5 billion. The CCPA took time to clear the escalation and orders for engines and other imported equipment were then placed and the lead time for receipt of engines is around 24 to 30 months.
In the mean time, DCNS and Navantia have agreed to drop cooperation on the Scorpene conventional diesel-electric attack submarine and go their own ways in undersea warfare. DCNS has taken over sole rights to build and sell the Scorpenes, and has offered the Super Scorpene to the Indian Navy for its second line while Navantia has worked on its S-90 submarine with a combat system from Lockheed for India.
Mr Antony has assured that the government constantly reviews the security environment and looks at the latest and the best equipment to protect India's maritime interests.
Meanwhile, Atlas Electronix is re-equipping the HDW-Type 1500 Shishumar class with modern weapon control suites. The Indian Navy hopes to order six more submarines from foreign builders, under the 'Buy and Make In India' at a cost of around $11 billion, but production is unlikely to begin soon, as the Requests for Proposals have not been issued.
There is a lobby that India should import two boats to augment the India Navy's depleting strength, and build four in India and private shipyards Larsen & Toubro and Pipavav Shipyards have informed MOD of their desire to be allowed to bid.
Dr Manmohan Singh from his powerful Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has tasked Mr V Krishnamurthy, a veteran technocrat who heads India's National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC), to submit a report to assist the MOD in the final decisions. In the competition for the order are the designs tabled for collaboration in Indian yards by HDW with its 214, Spain's S-90, DCNS's Super Scorpene and a Russian Amur-Italian combine. There is talk that a sea launched BrahMos could form part of the weapon fit.
THE NERPA AND INS ARIHANT AND DSRV INDUCTIONS
The good news is that the Indian Navy is set to induct the 12,000 ton nuclear Akula, or the Nerpa, in the first half of 2011. The submarine is now undergoing, 'handing over preparations' at Vladivostok. An advance party has witnessed the trials and the boat will possibly be named INS Chakra. The other good news is the Indian built INS Arihant will join in 2011-12 with capability to launch from under water the 700 km DRDO-built K-15 nuclear tipped missile to form India's nuclear triad.
INS Arihant is presently berthed under a shed at the Ship Building Centre (SBC) near the Naval Dockyard in Vishakhapatnam and will undergo all the standard harbour and sea trials common to all nuclear submarines. The crew has been trained at the Kalpakkam training nuclear reactor and in Russia, and the large black pear shaped hull has reportedly completed the first of many trim dives alongside, an operation that requires very detailed trim calculations for the first of the class. This is a very critical operation for flooding and de-flooding the ballast tanks by the powerful pumps.
Like all the nuclear submarine building yards, SBC has all the facilities to produce external steam and power for the submarine. With external steam and power, a submarine's propulsion, steering gear and associated systems, electronics and generators can be set to work and tested in the harbour trials.
When all the systems have been cleared by the Submarine Overseering Teams, the full ship's complement joins the boat for very detailed safety and emergency training. This is a very critical part of the commissioning, and is overseen under directions by the specialist submarine Vice Admiral at the Naval Headquarters (NHQ) for nuclear safety. When all the harbour trials are completed, the 95mw nuclear reactor-powered Arihant, which has already been tested ashore, will go critical at low power and worked up to higher power to enable the hull to go to sea. When this happens, INS Arihant will report Underway on Nuclear Power, or words to that effect, marking a Red Letter Day in India's history.
The next steps will include the many Part II sea trials on surface at various speeds, and when the confidence of the crew is made firm, the submarine will carry out its first shallow dive, going deeper progressively at various speeds. On return from every diving trial, many checks on the hull and reactor performance will be carried out by specialists and the final deep dive to maximum operating depth will culminate in the submarine getting on to Part III for weapon trials with a concurrent work up.
All this sounds simple but it is very time consuming and trying process. Only when all these steps are completed, INS Arihant will be commissioned.
Submarine accidents are rare but they do occur with considerable losses and for one reason or the other the Indian Navy has not been able to acquire a Deep Rescue Submarine Vessel (DSRV) but has relied on a diving support vessel with a decompression chamber, and more recently has financial arrangements with the US Navy which would fly in a DSRV and take it to the site of the accident, and mate with the submarine to enable rescue.
The Shishumar class boats have a circular bell which can accommodate eight and can be released to come up to the surface. The Kilo class have rescue diving suits. On 18th March, 2004, INS Sindhuraj achieved the first successful 'underwater mating' with a submarine rescue bell (SRB) and two officers transferred from the bottomed submarine to be lifted in to INS Nireekshak's hyperbaric chamber to de be decompressed. The Indian Navy has sent out RFIs to acquire DSRVs and a tentative order had been contemplated on Ocean Works of Canada, a leading DSRV builder but it was not followed up. The Navy has also sent out RFIs for two large submarine support vessels to be built in an Indian yard and equipped with two imported DSRVs.
CONCLUSION
The submarine scene for the Indian Navy is looking bleak and expensive, till the submarines being built at MDL are delivered and the second line is ordered. It is essential that some steps are taken to acquire submarines from abroad as new greenfield submarine building projects in India may prove dilatory. The Scorpene project has proved to be more expensive but it is explained away by Government officials as "opportunity costs of indigenization".
The nuclear submariners see the year 2012 as a game changing year when INS Arihant joins, and it is reported that two more ATVs are planned. The second hull will have four large long range K-4 nuclear tipped missiles and the third may have an additional plug for a total of eight K-4 missiles.
http://www.indiastrategic.in/topstories886.htm
Submarine is the weapon of the future. The submarine alone can assure command of the sea: Admiral George Cabanier.
"Submariners are a special brotherhood, either all come to the surface or no one does. On a submarine, the phrase, 'all for one and one for all', is not a slogan but a reality: Vice Admiral Rudolf Golosov: Russian Navy.
On 7th December, 2010 the Indian Naval ensign was hauled down at sunset for the last time on INS Vagli, the last of the eight Foxtrot class boats and she was solemnly decommissioned after 37 years of service and put to rest at Vishakapatnam. The submarine Order Of Battle (ORBAT) of the Indian Navy thus dwindled down to 14 on that day, from a high of 21 in the 1980s. Of the 14 submarines listed, 10 boats are aging as they have already been in service for over 23 years, and the 20 year INS Sindhukriti has been opened up at Hindustan Shipyard for conversion to fire the Klub missiles.
Two old submarines are planned for decommissioning in the next five years. The outlook is bleak, and the Indian Navy has not acquired a submarine for the last 14 years, except INS Sindhushastra, the first Klub firing Kilo submarine which joined in 2000, but the good news is the nuclear propelled 12,000 ton Nerpa, which is a refurbished Akula Type 971 will join the fleet shortly in 2011, and be possibly based at Vishakaptanam.
The Nerpa will come on a $ 900 million lease for 10 years from Russia.
Meanwhile, India's own nuclear Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV) INS Arihant is expected to join in 2011-12. It will be armed with 12 nuclear tipped 700km K-15 missiles, to form India's TRIAD as indicated by the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma, at his customary Navy Week briefing on 2nd December, aptly under the banner, Glorious Past-Vibrant Future.
In any large navy, the submarine arm is a very critical and indispensable force. During the height of the cold war it was well articulated by Admiral HG Rickover, a submariner himself, and the longest serving legendary head of the American nuclear submarine department. He said: I believe it is the duty of every man serving on US Navy submarines to act as though the fate of the world depends on them.
Submarine power provides a nation combat and deterrence power, and submariners are baptized by fire as every man on the boat that dives, snorkels or surfaces has to be a professional, trained for any emergency and have a sociological attitude of mind to remain under water for prolonged periods and live in cramped quarters under great stress. No wonder submarines motto is 'Run Deep Run Silent".
In comparison with surface warships, submarines have small crews who are trained to multi task, while the cramped complexity of machinery and use of every inch of space, demands very exacting standards for maintenance.
The Indian Navy's journey of operating a long line of 25 submarines, began on 8th December, 1967 with the commissioning of the first Foxtrot class boat INS Kalvari after long and grueling periods of training at Vladivostok. Since then India's submarine arm has operated submarines with élan and professionalism accident free, a feat not many navies have equaled.
In those 44 long years, the Navy acquired and operated 8 Foxtrots, 10 Kilos and 4 HDW boats (two built in India) and ran the nuclear propelled INS Chakra from 1987 to 1991 on lease. The INS Chakra embarked a few safety Russian crew members, but soon the Indian Navy was certified by Admiral of the Fleet Sergei Gorshkov, a great friend of the Indian Navy, that it had the capability to operate all aspects of the complicated nuclear submarine. The Indian electrical officer who commissioned Chakra's reactor was certified as an independent 'Reactor in Charge'.
The Navy set up all the required nuclear support facilities in the congested inner Vishakapatnam harbour, which Admiral Gorshkov on his visit to India in 1974 had stressed would prove to be impractical in the long term as the entrance to the harbor is narrow and the commercial port would expand. He suggested a green field naval port at Bimlipatam. He was supported by Engineer Rear Admiral Daya Shankar who had joined the Ministry of Defence but funds were a constraint. Adm Gorshkov has been proved right, as nuclear submarines need pens, special segregated safe berthing facilities and the Navy is already planning for a green field naval port on the East Coast.
India had become the world's 7th submarine building nation by 1985, but had to stop production after constructing two HDW- IKL-1500 boats due to the HDW investigations and an alleged scandal. India lost a valuable art, but a lot has been recouped by the ATV INS Arihant project at Vishakapatnam.
Much is kept classified however, as India has secrecy agreements with Russia, whose naval officers are assisting India in the project with critical equipment and direction. A submarine's operational life hovers around 20 to 25 years as the steel begins to age. A single fissure in the hull can lead to catastrophe in a deep dive.
The government had approved the Navy's 30-Year Two Line Submarine Building Plan as early as 1999, but it saw no movement till 2005 for the Scorpene construction line.
It is no surprise that the submarine strength of the Navy's conventional submarine arm is set to fall to 8 or 10 by 2015 when the first Scorpene being constructed at Mazagon Docks is expected to enter service. Of the ten, only four or five can be expected to be operational for India's vast region for patrols at any given time as the refits of the Kilo class submarines are carried out in Servodnisk Russia and one boat is there.
INDIA'S SCORPENE SUBMARINE PROJECT AND BEYOND
On 6th October 2005, French Ambassador in New Delhi Dominique Girard and Indian Ministry of Defence's Additional Secretary (Acquisitions) D Banerjee signed the first of the long awaited 6 submarine $ 3.9 billion contract in the presence of the then Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Arun Prakash, with the now defunct company Armaris.
The licensed construction with 80 HLES high-yield steel for the pressure hull, which is the same as used for the French Navy's nuclear submarines, commenced at the Mazagon Docks in December 2006, December 2007 and August 2008, respectively, and the contract called for the first submarine to be delivered in December 2012 and one each year thereafter through 2017. The HLES steel allows unlimited diving to more than 300m while offering greater freedom for tactical manoeuvers. The first, second and third submarines will be equipped with MBDA supplied Exocet missiles and Thales Subtics command and control suites. The decision for the torpedo has not been taken, and the WASS Blackshark is the favoured choice. However the building and delivery of the first French-designed Scorpene submarines being built at Mumbai by DCNS of France and Navantia of Spain has now been delayed to 2015.
On 18th August 2009, Defence Minister A K Antony told parliament that delays were expected "on account of some teething problems, absorption of technology and delays in augmentation of industrial infrastructure and procurement of purchased materials" by Mazagon Docks. He added that the "delay in the scheduled delivery of submarines is likely to have an impact on the envisaged submarine force levels."
The Indian government has recently sanctioned an additional $ one billion for the Scorpene project, increasing the total cost to around $5 billion. The CCPA took time to clear the escalation and orders for engines and other imported equipment were then placed and the lead time for receipt of engines is around 24 to 30 months.
In the mean time, DCNS and Navantia have agreed to drop cooperation on the Scorpene conventional diesel-electric attack submarine and go their own ways in undersea warfare. DCNS has taken over sole rights to build and sell the Scorpenes, and has offered the Super Scorpene to the Indian Navy for its second line while Navantia has worked on its S-90 submarine with a combat system from Lockheed for India.
Mr Antony has assured that the government constantly reviews the security environment and looks at the latest and the best equipment to protect India's maritime interests.
Meanwhile, Atlas Electronix is re-equipping the HDW-Type 1500 Shishumar class with modern weapon control suites. The Indian Navy hopes to order six more submarines from foreign builders, under the 'Buy and Make In India' at a cost of around $11 billion, but production is unlikely to begin soon, as the Requests for Proposals have not been issued.
There is a lobby that India should import two boats to augment the India Navy's depleting strength, and build four in India and private shipyards Larsen & Toubro and Pipavav Shipyards have informed MOD of their desire to be allowed to bid.
Dr Manmohan Singh from his powerful Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has tasked Mr V Krishnamurthy, a veteran technocrat who heads India's National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC), to submit a report to assist the MOD in the final decisions. In the competition for the order are the designs tabled for collaboration in Indian yards by HDW with its 214, Spain's S-90, DCNS's Super Scorpene and a Russian Amur-Italian combine. There is talk that a sea launched BrahMos could form part of the weapon fit.
THE NERPA AND INS ARIHANT AND DSRV INDUCTIONS
The good news is that the Indian Navy is set to induct the 12,000 ton nuclear Akula, or the Nerpa, in the first half of 2011. The submarine is now undergoing, 'handing over preparations' at Vladivostok. An advance party has witnessed the trials and the boat will possibly be named INS Chakra. The other good news is the Indian built INS Arihant will join in 2011-12 with capability to launch from under water the 700 km DRDO-built K-15 nuclear tipped missile to form India's nuclear triad.
INS Arihant is presently berthed under a shed at the Ship Building Centre (SBC) near the Naval Dockyard in Vishakhapatnam and will undergo all the standard harbour and sea trials common to all nuclear submarines. The crew has been trained at the Kalpakkam training nuclear reactor and in Russia, and the large black pear shaped hull has reportedly completed the first of many trim dives alongside, an operation that requires very detailed trim calculations for the first of the class. This is a very critical operation for flooding and de-flooding the ballast tanks by the powerful pumps.
Like all the nuclear submarine building yards, SBC has all the facilities to produce external steam and power for the submarine. With external steam and power, a submarine's propulsion, steering gear and associated systems, electronics and generators can be set to work and tested in the harbour trials.
When all the systems have been cleared by the Submarine Overseering Teams, the full ship's complement joins the boat for very detailed safety and emergency training. This is a very critical part of the commissioning, and is overseen under directions by the specialist submarine Vice Admiral at the Naval Headquarters (NHQ) for nuclear safety. When all the harbour trials are completed, the 95mw nuclear reactor-powered Arihant, which has already been tested ashore, will go critical at low power and worked up to higher power to enable the hull to go to sea. When this happens, INS Arihant will report Underway on Nuclear Power, or words to that effect, marking a Red Letter Day in India's history.
The next steps will include the many Part II sea trials on surface at various speeds, and when the confidence of the crew is made firm, the submarine will carry out its first shallow dive, going deeper progressively at various speeds. On return from every diving trial, many checks on the hull and reactor performance will be carried out by specialists and the final deep dive to maximum operating depth will culminate in the submarine getting on to Part III for weapon trials with a concurrent work up.
All this sounds simple but it is very time consuming and trying process. Only when all these steps are completed, INS Arihant will be commissioned.
Submarine accidents are rare but they do occur with considerable losses and for one reason or the other the Indian Navy has not been able to acquire a Deep Rescue Submarine Vessel (DSRV) but has relied on a diving support vessel with a decompression chamber, and more recently has financial arrangements with the US Navy which would fly in a DSRV and take it to the site of the accident, and mate with the submarine to enable rescue.
The Shishumar class boats have a circular bell which can accommodate eight and can be released to come up to the surface. The Kilo class have rescue diving suits. On 18th March, 2004, INS Sindhuraj achieved the first successful 'underwater mating' with a submarine rescue bell (SRB) and two officers transferred from the bottomed submarine to be lifted in to INS Nireekshak's hyperbaric chamber to de be decompressed. The Indian Navy has sent out RFIs to acquire DSRVs and a tentative order had been contemplated on Ocean Works of Canada, a leading DSRV builder but it was not followed up. The Navy has also sent out RFIs for two large submarine support vessels to be built in an Indian yard and equipped with two imported DSRVs.
CONCLUSION
The submarine scene for the Indian Navy is looking bleak and expensive, till the submarines being built at MDL are delivered and the second line is ordered. It is essential that some steps are taken to acquire submarines from abroad as new greenfield submarine building projects in India may prove dilatory. The Scorpene project has proved to be more expensive but it is explained away by Government officials as "opportunity costs of indigenization".
The nuclear submariners see the year 2012 as a game changing year when INS Arihant joins, and it is reported that two more ATVs are planned. The second hull will have four large long range K-4 nuclear tipped missiles and the third may have an additional plug for a total of eight K-4 missiles.
http://www.indiastrategic.in/topstories886.htm
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Indian Navy's second Submarine Line will witness strong competition
Mumbai. Indian Navy's submarine arm had clocked an impressive strength of 21 submarines in the 1980s and its Order of Battle (ORBAT) included the Charlie class nuclear propelled submarine INS Chakra, taken on lease from the Soviet Union from 1987 to 1991.
The Indian Navy (IN) successfully absorbed the Chakra's nuclear propulsion technology while it was based at Vishakapatnam. The submarine was seen exercising with a few selected fleet units of the Navy in Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) maneuvers.
Since then however, the Navy has witnessed a steady decline and its ORBAT of submarines is down to 14 boats, some of them on the verge of retirement.
India's Scorpene project is delayed, but the requirement of an additional six boats at least in a second line of construction is inviting keen competition from several countries, including Russia, Germany and France.
The existing boats include four Dr Gabler 1500 HDW/IKL designed submarines inducted between 1986 and 1994, and 10 Kilo class double decked boats from Moscow, supplied between 1986 and 2000. The Indian Navy has acquired just two submarines since 1990 in the last 21 years. Of the ten Kilos, the last, INS Sindhushastra (S 65), was commissioned in June 2000, as the fully converted submarine capable of firing Uran missiles.
Four more were later converted in Russia during long refits and, at present, the older six Kilos are 22 years old and ageing. The 20- year old INS Sindhukriti (S-61), the first submarine to be attempted to be refitted in India for conversion to fire Uran missiles with Russian help, has been languishing in refit at Vishakapatnam for the last three years.
To augment the Navy's submarine strategic capability, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) took over the loss making Hindustan Shipyard Ltd (HSL) from the Ministry of Shipping at Vishakapatnam, as it was right next to the Ship Building Centre (SBC) where India's nuclear submarines are being built. HSL was given the contract to refit INS Sindhukriti.
The inability to carry out refits of the Kilo class submarines in India is another debilitating factor leading to a degraded operational capability.
Submarines require very robust checks for safety of their hulls, that have to withstand deep depths and no system like pumps and machinery can afford to fail, as it can be fatal.
The life span of Russian platforms has posed many challenges. There are problems in the supply of spares and documentation despite the setting up of Roboronservice Ltd in India by a group of Russian companies to provide better support to the Indian Navy. The L One (L1) syndrome of lowest cost tender acceptance system of procurement leaves little flexibility.
Some times, the L1 issue has become a challenge for logistic and acquisition managers in India's Armed Forces.
DECLINING SUBMARINE STRENGTH
The number of conventional submarines in the Indian Naval fleet to ensure adequate availability in numbers for operations, training, exercises and contingencies is likely to keep declining from the present 14, till the first Scorpene submarine rolls out of Mazagon Docks Ltd (MDL) in about four to five years.
The vexed Scorpene building programme has also seen an escalation of around $ 1.5 billion over the initial price tag of $ 3.8 billion, and in the words of Defence Minister AK Antony, for reasons that 'MDL could not procure items as per the contract from India'.
MDL has had to import engines and other equipment at higher prices than quoted in the negotiations, as the contract was hurriedly signed. The situation also worsened when there was a war room leak of information from NHQ's nerve centre, implicating retired naval officers and son of a member of Parliament.
LOOKING BACK
Historically, it was in 1997 that the Indian Ministry of Defence (MOD) had taken up the 'two line 30 year national submarine building programme' for the Indian Navy to boost itss submarine strength as well as India's indigenous manufacturing sector.
India did build Leander class frigates successfully at the Mazagon Docks.
Former Naval Chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, a proponent of submarine power for the Navy, and Rear Admiral Raja Menon, a former submarine captain who had trained in Germany at the HDW yard, scripted the Indian navy's long term vision.
Adm Bhagwat also pushed for the Dhanush nuclear capable missile, to be fitted on the OPV INS Subhadra and Sukanya in the interim for nuclear deterrence, despite detractors. It is not much known, that the in the 1960s, as a young Lieutenant, Bhagwat had volunteered for the Navy's budding elite submarine arm but did not fully qualify, as the competition was severe.
In the coming years though, he enrolled his son in to the Indian Navy, who is now a senior Commander and a qualified nuclear submariner.
Adm Bhagwat could not follow up on his aggressive thrust to make the Ministry of Defence give accent to maritime issues, especially submarines and an indigenous aircraft carrier in his time. His tenure was also cut short by a ministerial order.
It was a jolt to the Armed Forces, and the Navy's submarine plans suffered. It is well said, new brooms take time to settle and sweep differently. Only in 1999, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) formally approved and recommended the long term plan for the local construction of 24 submarines over 30 years in two lines.
The decision for the first line of submarine building programme languished for seven years. The vested interests of the three contenders were not easy to resolve. These included Armaris (now defunct), the French and Spanish combine DCNS which finally secured the $ 3.8 billion contract for six submarines, German HDW which had supplied two 1500 IKL/HDW boats from Germany and helped build two at MDL, and Rubin/Amur of Russia, which had also offered to build submarines.
India's Larsen & Toubro (L&T), which has engaged in building India's ATV nuclear submarine INS Arihant with Russian help, is confident that it can also deliver new submarines in cooperation with foreign shipyards.
South Korea, which had locally manufactured the 212 HDW submarines under license, has also offered its interest in the project.
Many professionals from 1998 onwards had suggested that one or two submarines should be urgently built abroad and inducted to adapt to the technology first, as was done from HDW in the 1980s, but it was not to be.
FUTURE OUTLOOK
The saving grace is that the IN has plans to induct two nuclear propelled submarines soon; the home built INS Arihant which will be armed with the DRDO's 700km K-15/Sagarika missiles by the end of next year, and Nerpa from Russia.
The initial snags reported in the Arihant's nuclear reactor operation have been overcome and the arduous harbour trials are reported to be going well at Vishakapatnam.
It will be a proud day for Indians, when the submarine's reactor is made critical and Arihant sails out on nuclear power. The other submarine, the 8,500 ton Akula class Nerpa, being christened INS Chakra, is expected to arrive on lease later this year.
Unconfirmed reports say that the Indian crew for it is already being trained in Vladivostok. In India, these officers and men would have had extensive training in nuclear reactor operations already at one of India's power reactors.
When commissioned, the two nuclear boats will be a formidable addition to the Indian Navy's declining strength. The base and safety facilities are being setup under the care of Vice Admiral P K Chatterjee, a submariner at NHQ who heads the Nuclear Safety Division.
For underwater communications, an agreement has been reported to have been signed with a private company to build tall transmitter towers for Very Low Frequency (VLF) Radio Waves to transmit messages to submerged submarines at 300 bits/sec.
VLF is a communication system that allows submerged submarines to receive messages without having to break the surface or through towed and tethered buoys or their periscope masts. This is an advancement on the earlier VLF station which was set up under the Navy's Project Skylark in Tirunaveli in South India with US help, akin to the Omega system which was proposed for Australia in 1972.
THE SECOND LINE
The progress for the approved second line of building submarines, pending since 1999, appears to be moving swiftly now.
In mid-July 2010, the Indian media stated that the programme for the next line six submarines was to be funded at about US $ 8 to 10 billion inclusive of technology transfers and offsets. The Navy had released the relevant RFI on 26 September 2008.
The replies continue to be reviewed by the Indian Navy and the Acquisition Wing of MOD, and most foreign builders have been called for consultations, so that a comprehensive RFP can be issued.
The plans call for import of two, and the construction of four in India, under what is called Project 75-I. An RfP is awaited, and may be issued within this year. In financial terms, this acquisition could nearly be as big as the Indian Air Force's tender for 126-plus order for Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA).
The responses to the Navy's 2008 submarine RFI include the five designs tabled below, which in all probability will include options for Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) systems as no leading navy can have submarines that surface often to charge batteries, acting like sitting ducks in today's technology of detection.
DCNS has offered the Super Scorpene design which is still on paper, with MESMA AIP with a sales pitch that since DCNS is building the Scorpenes in India at MDL, the second line will come out faster and economically. DCNS can also build simultaneously at another yard like HSL. (The French also claim the submarine design can be fitted with a nuclear propulsion package plug on the lines of the French nuclear submarine of the Rubis class).
Navantia is the Spanish submarine builder who was the partner with DCNS in Armaris for the current six Indian Scorpenes project progressing at MDL. Navantia has since broken off from DCNS, and has offered the Spanish S-80 design almost with the same argument of alacrity as the French, with a competitive ethanol based AIP. Navantia is constructing S-80 submarines for the Spanish Navy and has a very advanced open architecture design for fire control suites and also has a tieup with Lockheed Martin of USA, which should allow the Indian Navy to independently select fire control suites, missiles and torpedoes from either source.
Rubin has offered the Amur design which has also been on the cards for long. Many in the Indian naval community wish to see the Navy and MOD adopt a Russian design as Russians have good submarine technology and have proved alternate reliable strategic partners. The Amur designers claim they can fit eight vertical BrahMos missile launchers and Russia holds the BrahMos technology.
Fincantieri/Rubin has offered the S-1000 design. Fincantieri has emerged as a favoured reliable, and economical warship supplier that has delivered fleet tanker INS Deepak, an Oceanographic research vessel ORV Sagar Nidhi, and is a consultant to IN for its ambitious 37,500 ton aircraft carrier project at Cochin Shipyard Ltd.
ThyssenKrupp Marine has offered the HDW Type 214 with the sales pitch that the 214 is the only widely proven design in service and that the Indian Navy operates the earlier adaptation of the 209 class. HDW claims it can deliver submarines timely, as in the past.
AIR INDEPENDENT PROPULSION (AIP)
The Indian Navy is in the search for an AIP system and contemplating to upgrade one or two of the 1500 HDW boats with an AIP plug when the boats come up for refits. Singapore has adopted the Swedish Sterling engine with climate control for tropical waters for its Archer class from Kockums AB, which is now under the German umbrella of the ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. The Indian Navy and Republic of Singapore Navy relations are very close and Indian officers are seconded to Singapore, and have exchanged notes.
In the current Scorpene contract, the Indian Navy has the option to fit the French MESMA ethanol steam system, which the French firm DCNS has fitted on the Pakistan Navy's AgostaB submarines.
Little is known how the MESMA is progressing in the Pakistan Navy and this writer met the Vice Chief of the Pakistan Navy in Singapore during an OPV Conference and he claimed success. The German HDW submarines employ a fuel cell AIP technology and the Spanish have an adapted ethanol based AIP, which they claim is superior to the French. Russians claim they have an AIP design and it is reported India's DRDO has been experimenting with an AIP also.
CONCLUSION
The Indian Navy has a grave responsibility in the coming years and if the Indian economy is to continue to grow at a steady rate then energy security, stability in the Indian Ocean, exploitation of the two million sq miles of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and protection of India's shorelines against 26/11 type of attacks will need a robust, large and well equipped, well trained, and well funded Navy.
The Indian Navy has a crucial role in ensuring that the trading Sea Lanes and choke points in the Indian Ocean and the littoral areas are secure at all times.
To patrol the seas, a large Navy needs a surface fleet and a sufficient strength of conventional submarines is a necessity for the Indian Navy in current scenario in the Indian Ocean.
India's maritime military strategy is predicated on preparing for a possible conflict whilst maintaining a deterrent posture that ensures peace. The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) has stated in Indian Navy's strategic document India's Maritime Military Strategy thus: "The direction appears abundantly clear – a compact but capable Navy. The emphasis would be on force multipliers, quality of weapons, sensors and networking of platforms. In other words, the focus would be on critical capabilities than on the number of ships or aircraft."
So be it, but all new projects, including the second submarine line, should also help bring new technologies and economic benefits to Indian industries.
..:: India Strategic ::.. Indian Navy’s second Submarine Line will witness strong competition
Mumbai. Indian Navy's submarine arm had clocked an impressive strength of 21 submarines in the 1980s and its Order of Battle (ORBAT) included the Charlie class nuclear propelled submarine INS Chakra, taken on lease from the Soviet Union from 1987 to 1991.
The Indian Navy (IN) successfully absorbed the Chakra's nuclear propulsion technology while it was based at Vishakapatnam. The submarine was seen exercising with a few selected fleet units of the Navy in Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) maneuvers.
Since then however, the Navy has witnessed a steady decline and its ORBAT of submarines is down to 14 boats, some of them on the verge of retirement.
India's Scorpene project is delayed, but the requirement of an additional six boats at least in a second line of construction is inviting keen competition from several countries, including Russia, Germany and France.
The existing boats include four Dr Gabler 1500 HDW/IKL designed submarines inducted between 1986 and 1994, and 10 Kilo class double decked boats from Moscow, supplied between 1986 and 2000. The Indian Navy has acquired just two submarines since 1990 in the last 21 years. Of the ten Kilos, the last, INS Sindhushastra (S 65), was commissioned in June 2000, as the fully converted submarine capable of firing Uran missiles.
Four more were later converted in Russia during long refits and, at present, the older six Kilos are 22 years old and ageing. The 20- year old INS Sindhukriti (S-61), the first submarine to be attempted to be refitted in India for conversion to fire Uran missiles with Russian help, has been languishing in refit at Vishakapatnam for the last three years.
To augment the Navy's submarine strategic capability, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) took over the loss making Hindustan Shipyard Ltd (HSL) from the Ministry of Shipping at Vishakapatnam, as it was right next to the Ship Building Centre (SBC) where India's nuclear submarines are being built. HSL was given the contract to refit INS Sindhukriti.
The inability to carry out refits of the Kilo class submarines in India is another debilitating factor leading to a degraded operational capability.
Submarines require very robust checks for safety of their hulls, that have to withstand deep depths and no system like pumps and machinery can afford to fail, as it can be fatal.
The life span of Russian platforms has posed many challenges. There are problems in the supply of spares and documentation despite the setting up of Roboronservice Ltd in India by a group of Russian companies to provide better support to the Indian Navy. The L One (L1) syndrome of lowest cost tender acceptance system of procurement leaves little flexibility.
Some times, the L1 issue has become a challenge for logistic and acquisition managers in India's Armed Forces.
DECLINING SUBMARINE STRENGTH
The number of conventional submarines in the Indian Naval fleet to ensure adequate availability in numbers for operations, training, exercises and contingencies is likely to keep declining from the present 14, till the first Scorpene submarine rolls out of Mazagon Docks Ltd (MDL) in about four to five years.
The vexed Scorpene building programme has also seen an escalation of around $ 1.5 billion over the initial price tag of $ 3.8 billion, and in the words of Defence Minister AK Antony, for reasons that 'MDL could not procure items as per the contract from India'.
MDL has had to import engines and other equipment at higher prices than quoted in the negotiations, as the contract was hurriedly signed. The situation also worsened when there was a war room leak of information from NHQ's nerve centre, implicating retired naval officers and son of a member of Parliament.
LOOKING BACK
Historically, it was in 1997 that the Indian Ministry of Defence (MOD) had taken up the 'two line 30 year national submarine building programme' for the Indian Navy to boost itss submarine strength as well as India's indigenous manufacturing sector.
India did build Leander class frigates successfully at the Mazagon Docks.
Former Naval Chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, a proponent of submarine power for the Navy, and Rear Admiral Raja Menon, a former submarine captain who had trained in Germany at the HDW yard, scripted the Indian navy's long term vision.
Adm Bhagwat also pushed for the Dhanush nuclear capable missile, to be fitted on the OPV INS Subhadra and Sukanya in the interim for nuclear deterrence, despite detractors. It is not much known, that the in the 1960s, as a young Lieutenant, Bhagwat had volunteered for the Navy's budding elite submarine arm but did not fully qualify, as the competition was severe.
In the coming years though, he enrolled his son in to the Indian Navy, who is now a senior Commander and a qualified nuclear submariner.
Adm Bhagwat could not follow up on his aggressive thrust to make the Ministry of Defence give accent to maritime issues, especially submarines and an indigenous aircraft carrier in his time. His tenure was also cut short by a ministerial order.
It was a jolt to the Armed Forces, and the Navy's submarine plans suffered. It is well said, new brooms take time to settle and sweep differently. Only in 1999, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) formally approved and recommended the long term plan for the local construction of 24 submarines over 30 years in two lines.
The decision for the first line of submarine building programme languished for seven years. The vested interests of the three contenders were not easy to resolve. These included Armaris (now defunct), the French and Spanish combine DCNS which finally secured the $ 3.8 billion contract for six submarines, German HDW which had supplied two 1500 IKL/HDW boats from Germany and helped build two at MDL, and Rubin/Amur of Russia, which had also offered to build submarines.
India's Larsen & Toubro (L&T), which has engaged in building India's ATV nuclear submarine INS Arihant with Russian help, is confident that it can also deliver new submarines in cooperation with foreign shipyards.
South Korea, which had locally manufactured the 212 HDW submarines under license, has also offered its interest in the project.
Many professionals from 1998 onwards had suggested that one or two submarines should be urgently built abroad and inducted to adapt to the technology first, as was done from HDW in the 1980s, but it was not to be.
FUTURE OUTLOOK
The saving grace is that the IN has plans to induct two nuclear propelled submarines soon; the home built INS Arihant which will be armed with the DRDO's 700km K-15/Sagarika missiles by the end of next year, and Nerpa from Russia.
The initial snags reported in the Arihant's nuclear reactor operation have been overcome and the arduous harbour trials are reported to be going well at Vishakapatnam.
It will be a proud day for Indians, when the submarine's reactor is made critical and Arihant sails out on nuclear power. The other submarine, the 8,500 ton Akula class Nerpa, being christened INS Chakra, is expected to arrive on lease later this year.
Unconfirmed reports say that the Indian crew for it is already being trained in Vladivostok. In India, these officers and men would have had extensive training in nuclear reactor operations already at one of India's power reactors.
When commissioned, the two nuclear boats will be a formidable addition to the Indian Navy's declining strength. The base and safety facilities are being setup under the care of Vice Admiral P K Chatterjee, a submariner at NHQ who heads the Nuclear Safety Division.
For underwater communications, an agreement has been reported to have been signed with a private company to build tall transmitter towers for Very Low Frequency (VLF) Radio Waves to transmit messages to submerged submarines at 300 bits/sec.
VLF is a communication system that allows submerged submarines to receive messages without having to break the surface or through towed and tethered buoys or their periscope masts. This is an advancement on the earlier VLF station which was set up under the Navy's Project Skylark in Tirunaveli in South India with US help, akin to the Omega system which was proposed for Australia in 1972.
THE SECOND LINE
The progress for the approved second line of building submarines, pending since 1999, appears to be moving swiftly now.
In mid-July 2010, the Indian media stated that the programme for the next line six submarines was to be funded at about US $ 8 to 10 billion inclusive of technology transfers and offsets. The Navy had released the relevant RFI on 26 September 2008.
The replies continue to be reviewed by the Indian Navy and the Acquisition Wing of MOD, and most foreign builders have been called for consultations, so that a comprehensive RFP can be issued.
The plans call for import of two, and the construction of four in India, under what is called Project 75-I. An RfP is awaited, and may be issued within this year. In financial terms, this acquisition could nearly be as big as the Indian Air Force's tender for 126-plus order for Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA).
The responses to the Navy's 2008 submarine RFI include the five designs tabled below, which in all probability will include options for Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) systems as no leading navy can have submarines that surface often to charge batteries, acting like sitting ducks in today's technology of detection.
DCNS has offered the Super Scorpene design which is still on paper, with MESMA AIP with a sales pitch that since DCNS is building the Scorpenes in India at MDL, the second line will come out faster and economically. DCNS can also build simultaneously at another yard like HSL. (The French also claim the submarine design can be fitted with a nuclear propulsion package plug on the lines of the French nuclear submarine of the Rubis class).
Navantia is the Spanish submarine builder who was the partner with DCNS in Armaris for the current six Indian Scorpenes project progressing at MDL. Navantia has since broken off from DCNS, and has offered the Spanish S-80 design almost with the same argument of alacrity as the French, with a competitive ethanol based AIP. Navantia is constructing S-80 submarines for the Spanish Navy and has a very advanced open architecture design for fire control suites and also has a tieup with Lockheed Martin of USA, which should allow the Indian Navy to independently select fire control suites, missiles and torpedoes from either source.
Rubin has offered the Amur design which has also been on the cards for long. Many in the Indian naval community wish to see the Navy and MOD adopt a Russian design as Russians have good submarine technology and have proved alternate reliable strategic partners. The Amur designers claim they can fit eight vertical BrahMos missile launchers and Russia holds the BrahMos technology.
Fincantieri/Rubin has offered the S-1000 design. Fincantieri has emerged as a favoured reliable, and economical warship supplier that has delivered fleet tanker INS Deepak, an Oceanographic research vessel ORV Sagar Nidhi, and is a consultant to IN for its ambitious 37,500 ton aircraft carrier project at Cochin Shipyard Ltd.
ThyssenKrupp Marine has offered the HDW Type 214 with the sales pitch that the 214 is the only widely proven design in service and that the Indian Navy operates the earlier adaptation of the 209 class. HDW claims it can deliver submarines timely, as in the past.
AIR INDEPENDENT PROPULSION (AIP)
The Indian Navy is in the search for an AIP system and contemplating to upgrade one or two of the 1500 HDW boats with an AIP plug when the boats come up for refits. Singapore has adopted the Swedish Sterling engine with climate control for tropical waters for its Archer class from Kockums AB, which is now under the German umbrella of the ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. The Indian Navy and Republic of Singapore Navy relations are very close and Indian officers are seconded to Singapore, and have exchanged notes.
In the current Scorpene contract, the Indian Navy has the option to fit the French MESMA ethanol steam system, which the French firm DCNS has fitted on the Pakistan Navy's AgostaB submarines.
Little is known how the MESMA is progressing in the Pakistan Navy and this writer met the Vice Chief of the Pakistan Navy in Singapore during an OPV Conference and he claimed success. The German HDW submarines employ a fuel cell AIP technology and the Spanish have an adapted ethanol based AIP, which they claim is superior to the French. Russians claim they have an AIP design and it is reported India's DRDO has been experimenting with an AIP also.
CONCLUSION
The Indian Navy has a grave responsibility in the coming years and if the Indian economy is to continue to grow at a steady rate then energy security, stability in the Indian Ocean, exploitation of the two million sq miles of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and protection of India's shorelines against 26/11 type of attacks will need a robust, large and well equipped, well trained, and well funded Navy.
The Indian Navy has a crucial role in ensuring that the trading Sea Lanes and choke points in the Indian Ocean and the littoral areas are secure at all times.
To patrol the seas, a large Navy needs a surface fleet and a sufficient strength of conventional submarines is a necessity for the Indian Navy in current scenario in the Indian Ocean.
India's maritime military strategy is predicated on preparing for a possible conflict whilst maintaining a deterrent posture that ensures peace. The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) has stated in Indian Navy's strategic document India's Maritime Military Strategy thus: "The direction appears abundantly clear – a compact but capable Navy. The emphasis would be on force multipliers, quality of weapons, sensors and networking of platforms. In other words, the focus would be on critical capabilities than on the number of ships or aircraft."
So be it, but all new projects, including the second submarine line, should also help bring new technologies and economic benefits to Indian industries.
..:: India Strategic ::.. Indian Navy’s second Submarine Line will witness strong competition
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Why can't we penalize them for delayed delivery and deviation in the contract?? They delay the project and over the time, COST gets escalated and they tell "They need more money" to deliver... and We give them what they needed without even penalizing them...
Same case with Adm.Gorshkov... Our MoD has to rethink about making an efficient robust procurement policy..
It's not such a simple task to just penalize them. We have so much invested, that we have more to lose if they simply refuse to do what is ordered previously.Why can't we penalize them for delayed delivery and deviation in the contract?? They delay the project and over the time, COST gets escalated and they tell "They need more money" to deliver... and We give them what they needed without even penalizing them...
Same case with Adm.Gorshkov... Our MoD has to rethink about making an efficient robust procurement policy..
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A separate clause should have been added in the signed contract defining the penalizing option.. At least that would make them think twice while scheduling and escalating the cost..
Always, Prevention is better than cure. Here, Defining a robust/efficient/flexible procurement policy (Prevention) and a Penalizing option (is our Cure for any escalations). Again cure is not going to be applied in short span. After all deliveries are done in the Production line penalize them, if they do not obey make them 'Black mark' so that they'll not be able to bid for any of the future contracts... End of the day, its all about business..
I understand that it is not going to be that easy to artifact it. But Indian culture in Defense procurement & Organizations badly need it...
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Future looks bright for IN when compared to other 2 services.
India to build 34 naval ships, submarines
Marking a modernisation spree, Indian Navy is constructing 34 ships and submarines and is in the process of acquiring aircraft, destroyers and missiles to equip it to meet all challenges.
Addressing top Naval Commanders here, Defence Minister A K Antony on Wednesday said thrust was being given to indigenous capabilities while modernising the force.
"Thirty-four ships and submarines are in various stages of construction at different shipyards. A large number of contracts have been concluded for acquisition of aircraft, destroyers, fleet tankers, jet trainers, missiles, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and radars," he said.
Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma on Tuesday said almost all the naval ships planned to be inducted in the next 15 years would be built in India.
Besides inducting new assets, India is also focusing on revamping its indigenous ship-building capabilities.
As part of this, Antony last week commissioned the first-of-its-kind and the biggest ship-lift system at Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL), which will significantly reduce the time and effort in repairing ships and constructing new ones.
With a Rs 800 crore and four-phased modernisation plan, GSL is expected to augment its capacity to fabricate and construct steel, aluminium and hull of the naval vessels to nearly three times.
India to build 34 naval ships, submarines - Brahmand.com
India to build 34 naval ships, submarines
Marking a modernisation spree, Indian Navy is constructing 34 ships and submarines and is in the process of acquiring aircraft, destroyers and missiles to equip it to meet all challenges.
Addressing top Naval Commanders here, Defence Minister A K Antony on Wednesday said thrust was being given to indigenous capabilities while modernising the force.
"Thirty-four ships and submarines are in various stages of construction at different shipyards. A large number of contracts have been concluded for acquisition of aircraft, destroyers, fleet tankers, jet trainers, missiles, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and radars," he said.
Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma on Tuesday said almost all the naval ships planned to be inducted in the next 15 years would be built in India.
Besides inducting new assets, India is also focusing on revamping its indigenous ship-building capabilities.
As part of this, Antony last week commissioned the first-of-its-kind and the biggest ship-lift system at Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL), which will significantly reduce the time and effort in repairing ships and constructing new ones.
With a Rs 800 crore and four-phased modernisation plan, GSL is expected to augment its capacity to fabricate and construct steel, aluminium and hull of the naval vessels to nearly three times.
India to build 34 naval ships, submarines - Brahmand.com
satish007
Senior Member
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Arman2REP, you are not the postion to know the indian budget, money is not problem. Indian are so smart, making top dollars in almost all fields. and French and China'd better agree with give India a UNSC seat, or India will kick their asses,possibly will take French African territories, they will have so many carriers , more than total of French and Chinese had will have. in the other hand, Chinese budget might more than India so far, but most of them for soldier's salary, now Chinese solders are hard to fool, they almost didn't need salary at all before, but now nobody want to join , they need at least have enough money to buy a house which is extremly expensive in China.
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Warship INS Kabra joins Indian Navy
India's latest warship 'INS Kabra' was commissioned at Naval Base here by Vice Admiral K N Sushil, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command on Wednesday.
Speaking on the occasion, the Vice Admiral stressed the importance of relatively smaller ships like Fast Attack Crafts for a blue water navy, pointing that these were essential inventory for low intensity conflicts and anti-piracy operations.
The ship is named after an island in Andaman and Nicobar archipelago.
Rear Admiral K C Shekhar, Chairman and Managing Director, Garden Reach Ship Builders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata, said INS Kabra was a cost effective and fuel efficient platform.
INS Kabra is the eighth of a series built at GRSE. With a top speed of over 35 knots and manoeuvrability offered by her water-jet propulsion, the ship was ideally suited for high-speed interdiction of fast-moving targets and useful in search and rescue operations, he said.
INS Kabra complies with the latest regulations of International Maritime Organisation on sea pollution control.
The main armament of the ships is an indigenous 30 mm CRN-91 gun along with an Optical Sight manufactured by Ordnance Factory Medak and Bharat Electronics Limited, Chennai. It has an overall length of 49m, beam of 7.5m and a standard displacement of 320 tons.
The ship has a crew of three officers and 39 sailors.
Warship INS Kabra joins Indian Navy - The Times of India
India's latest warship 'INS Kabra' was commissioned at Naval Base here by Vice Admiral K N Sushil, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command on Wednesday.
Speaking on the occasion, the Vice Admiral stressed the importance of relatively smaller ships like Fast Attack Crafts for a blue water navy, pointing that these were essential inventory for low intensity conflicts and anti-piracy operations.
The ship is named after an island in Andaman and Nicobar archipelago.
Rear Admiral K C Shekhar, Chairman and Managing Director, Garden Reach Ship Builders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata, said INS Kabra was a cost effective and fuel efficient platform.
INS Kabra is the eighth of a series built at GRSE. With a top speed of over 35 knots and manoeuvrability offered by her water-jet propulsion, the ship was ideally suited for high-speed interdiction of fast-moving targets and useful in search and rescue operations, he said.
INS Kabra complies with the latest regulations of International Maritime Organisation on sea pollution control.
The main armament of the ships is an indigenous 30 mm CRN-91 gun along with an Optical Sight manufactured by Ordnance Factory Medak and Bharat Electronics Limited, Chennai. It has an overall length of 49m, beam of 7.5m and a standard displacement of 320 tons.
The ship has a crew of three officers and 39 sailors.
Warship INS Kabra joins Indian Navy - The Times of India
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Delivery of INS Kamorta next June
INS Kamorta, the first in a series of four anti-submarine corvettes being built by the Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), a defence shipyard, will be delivered to the Navy in June 2012.
Talking to The Hindu here recently, Rear Admiral (retd.) K.C. Sekhar, Chairman and Managing Director of the shipyard, said the construction of the ASW vessels was on schedule. "We are also gearing up to launch the second vessel in the series this September."
The shipyard, he said, was also constructing eight inshore patrol vessels for the Coast Guard. "We have also concluded negotiations with the Navy for construction of eight-Landing Craft Utility (LCU) for which contract will be signed shortly."
On the offshore patrol vessel being designed and built for the Mauritius Police, he said the laying of keel for its first block would take place in September. "Although the contractual delivery period for the 75-metre-long, 1,200-tonne vessel is 42 months, we are trying to advance it."
According to Rear Admiral (retd.) Sekhar, the construction of the Car Nicobar-class fast attack crafts (FAC) for the Navy would end this month when the shipyard would deliver the last vessel — the 10th — in the series. The shipyard was also eager to bag the contract from the Navy to build, in tandem with Mazagaon Dock Ltd., seven stealth frigates under project 17 A.
"They will be bigger than the Shivalik [class of stealth frigates], with more advanced weapon fit and better stealth features. The clearance for this is expected by year-end. We are also anticipating a follow-on order from the Navy for FACs. The FACs we have delivered have done exceedingly well and are of tremendous use in anti-smuggling, anti-poaching and anti-piracy operations," he said.
He said the ongoing modernisation drive would help the shipyard speed up the construction of vessels. "We do integrated modular construction and with the new facilities, we can double our capacity to simultaneously build bigger ships."
The yard, he said, had strengthened its Engineering Department, which had patented an easy-to-install portable steel bridge. "It's in high demand from the Border Roads Organisation as well as in the power sector. We got a turnover of Rs. 60 crore from this last year."
The fully automated indigenous Common Helicopter Traversing System that the shipyard developed with technical support from the U.K.-based Mactagart Scott would be installed on the helicopter deck of the ASW corvettes under construction.
The Hindu : News / National : Delivery of INS Kamorta next June
INS Kamorta, the first in a series of four anti-submarine corvettes being built by the Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), a defence shipyard, will be delivered to the Navy in June 2012.
Talking to The Hindu here recently, Rear Admiral (retd.) K.C. Sekhar, Chairman and Managing Director of the shipyard, said the construction of the ASW vessels was on schedule. "We are also gearing up to launch the second vessel in the series this September."
The shipyard, he said, was also constructing eight inshore patrol vessels for the Coast Guard. "We have also concluded negotiations with the Navy for construction of eight-Landing Craft Utility (LCU) for which contract will be signed shortly."
On the offshore patrol vessel being designed and built for the Mauritius Police, he said the laying of keel for its first block would take place in September. "Although the contractual delivery period for the 75-metre-long, 1,200-tonne vessel is 42 months, we are trying to advance it."
According to Rear Admiral (retd.) Sekhar, the construction of the Car Nicobar-class fast attack crafts (FAC) for the Navy would end this month when the shipyard would deliver the last vessel — the 10th — in the series. The shipyard was also eager to bag the contract from the Navy to build, in tandem with Mazagaon Dock Ltd., seven stealth frigates under project 17 A.
"They will be bigger than the Shivalik [class of stealth frigates], with more advanced weapon fit and better stealth features. The clearance for this is expected by year-end. We are also anticipating a follow-on order from the Navy for FACs. The FACs we have delivered have done exceedingly well and are of tremendous use in anti-smuggling, anti-poaching and anti-piracy operations," he said.
He said the ongoing modernisation drive would help the shipyard speed up the construction of vessels. "We do integrated modular construction and with the new facilities, we can double our capacity to simultaneously build bigger ships."
The yard, he said, had strengthened its Engineering Department, which had patented an easy-to-install portable steel bridge. "It's in high demand from the Border Roads Organisation as well as in the power sector. We got a turnover of Rs. 60 crore from this last year."
The fully automated indigenous Common Helicopter Traversing System that the shipyard developed with technical support from the U.K.-based Mactagart Scott would be installed on the helicopter deck of the ASW corvettes under construction.
The Hindu : News / National : Delivery of INS Kamorta next June
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Instead of listing a total number of each vessel type, let's think of fleets. How many fleets do IN need post 2020? What vessels should they have? How many in each fleet?
Taking a leaf out of RN from the last century and USN from the last 50 years, let's think of four types of fleets -
1. Homeland defense fleet
2. Blue water defense fleet
3. Land attack fleet
4. Expeditionary fleet
1. Homeland defense fleet, as the name suggests, is mostly ASW. ASW frigates (8-10), missile-boats (10-12, AGM/AA), Land based naval Recon planes (10-12) and fighter-bombers (two Squadrons of Mig-29K, 2X10) should form the backbone of the homeland defense fleet for IN.
2. Blue water defense fleet will be two AC battle groups. Each group should have 1 A/C containing ~30 aircrafts (20 N-LCA for fleet defense and 10 N-MMRCA/ AMCA for attack) and 10-12 Helis, 5-6 Destroyers, 6-8 frigates, 6 Missile boats (AA/ AGM), 1 tanker and 2-3 diesel subs.
3. Land attack fleet - primarily 3-4 nuclear sub mini-fleets. Each with 1-2 SSBNs and 2-3 SSNs. So, a total of say 6 SSBNs and 12 SSNs.
4. Expeditionary fleet - 1 AC battle group. Should have at least 1 (maybe 2) A/C containing ~30 aircraft each (again the same 20 N-LCA for air-defense and 10 N-MMRCA/ AMCA for CAS/ land attack and 15-16 multi-role Mig-29K), 10-12 Helis with at least 5-6 gunships with ATGMs. 3-4 Destroyers, 3-4 Frigates, 2 Tankers and 6 (AA/AGM) missile boats and 3-4 diesel subs for fleet defense. 4-5 LPDs, 2 LHDs and 2 troop carriers.
So, all total 3-4 A/C, 12-15 Destroyers (anti-surface-vessel), 24-28 frigates (ASW), 24-28 Missile boats (half for AGM and half for AA role), 12-15 Diesel subs, 6 SSBN and 12 SSN, 4-5 LPDs, 2 LHDs and 2 troop carriers. In addition 10-12 land based recon planes and all the naval combat aircraft mentioned already (~40 air-defense fighters like N-LCA, 20-25 N-MMRCA and 40 Mig-29K).
Does this make sense?
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India to get Nerpa Akula-II N-submarine by December: Official
India would receive its first new generation Nerpa Akula-II class nuclear attack submarine, which is undergoing sea trials in Russia, by the end of this year, a top Russian official has said.
"The Nerpa will be handed over to the Indian Navy on lease by the end of this year," Director of Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSVTS) Mikhail Dmitriyev was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.
"Currently the submarine is undergoing sea trials, where the Indian crew is checking the functioning of its all systems and mechanism and are honing their skill for operating the vessel," said the official dealing in foreign military cooperation.
Under a USD 650 million confidential deal, part of the aircraft carrier 'Admiral Gorshkov' package, Russia is to give India the Nerpa on a 10-year lease, to be inducted as INS Chakra.
The Soviet-designed Shchuka B (Pike), NATO codenamed Akula-II, is claimed to be Russia's 'quietest' submarine avoiding detection by enemy sonars.
The Nerpa was to join the Indian Navy as early as 2008. However, an accident in November 2008 delayed the induction of the submarine.
During the sailing trials in the Sea of Japan, 20 people sleeping in the sailors compartment were killed by the deadly mixture of Freon gas due to the unauthorised manipulation of automatic fire extinguishing system.
It led to delay in the formal induction of the submarine by the Russian Navy for subsequent lease to the Indian Navy.
A court of inquiry had established that a cheaper lethal mixture of Freon was filled in the system, which instantly killed the sailors and technical staff of the shipyard.
Had there been normal more expensive Freon gas in the system, the crew would have enough time to put on gas masks and safely leave the sleeping compartment, the probe had revealed.
India to get Nerpa Akula-II N-submarine by December: Official - Brahmand.com
India would receive its first new generation Nerpa Akula-II class nuclear attack submarine, which is undergoing sea trials in Russia, by the end of this year, a top Russian official has said.
"The Nerpa will be handed over to the Indian Navy on lease by the end of this year," Director of Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSVTS) Mikhail Dmitriyev was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.
"Currently the submarine is undergoing sea trials, where the Indian crew is checking the functioning of its all systems and mechanism and are honing their skill for operating the vessel," said the official dealing in foreign military cooperation.
Under a USD 650 million confidential deal, part of the aircraft carrier 'Admiral Gorshkov' package, Russia is to give India the Nerpa on a 10-year lease, to be inducted as INS Chakra.
The Soviet-designed Shchuka B (Pike), NATO codenamed Akula-II, is claimed to be Russia's 'quietest' submarine avoiding detection by enemy sonars.
The Nerpa was to join the Indian Navy as early as 2008. However, an accident in November 2008 delayed the induction of the submarine.
During the sailing trials in the Sea of Japan, 20 people sleeping in the sailors compartment were killed by the deadly mixture of Freon gas due to the unauthorised manipulation of automatic fire extinguishing system.
It led to delay in the formal induction of the submarine by the Russian Navy for subsequent lease to the Indian Navy.
A court of inquiry had established that a cheaper lethal mixture of Freon was filled in the system, which instantly killed the sailors and technical staff of the shipyard.
Had there been normal more expensive Freon gas in the system, the crew would have enough time to put on gas masks and safely leave the sleeping compartment, the probe had revealed.
India to get Nerpa Akula-II N-submarine by December: Official - Brahmand.com
debasree
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its too expensive,and the carrier has been built to opperate f-35 naval version,and india have no plan to buy it so queen is not destined for kings land.
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There's no military plan where you'll design your carrier to operate only F-35 naval version.. It can operate any STOVL variant aircraft.. How about a STOVL variant FGFA?? that sounds quite ambitious but can't say its impossible...
Even the 1st AC Queen Elizabeth, they're installing CATOBAR too which has escalated the cost to 6.3Billion pounds.. Same way we can change the second AC to have CATOBAR which will be of same length as Queen Elizabeth...
We are paying 2.3Billion for the refitted Vikramaditya which is steam turbined, why can't we go for queen class which can as much as 40 fighters in addition to carrier operated AWACS...
IMO, the factors for which we can't go for the Queen
1. We have our hands full with IAC1, IAC2 (construction is yet to be planned).
2. The delivery is planned someway after 2023, again which is just an approximate date.
3. Cost - yes a bit. but not a major factor when compared with our other acquisitions.
Acquiring this second Queen class AC can be planned for FAR Future... may be after 2025....
agentperry
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nothing like 20 and 25 frigates and destroyer can be acquired. many of the current will go and newer one are coming out very slowly. more than that govt ddidnt ordered that many Ds and Fs alltogether. 45 warships by 2020... not gonna happen. 8 ssbn and 8 ssn, at max 5 or 6 not more than tht. rest diesel electric. hope for AIP ones.
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^^^ Russians are planning for giving another delayed project on Submarine to escalate the cost to run their defense industry work horse... Will be the same case of INS Vikramaditya.. But gotta accept that they mastered this technology....
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Russia delays delivery of three more warships
Wait for the Indian Navy to acquire Russian-made warships seems like a long one, as three stealth frigates due from the Russians likely to exceed the scheduled delivery date.
In July 2006, New Delhi decided to purchase three Krivak class stealth frigates from Moscow under a Rs 5200 crore contract. The contract is actually a follow up order on three similar warships known as INS Talwar, Trishul and Tabar, which the Navy purchased in the 1990s at a cost of Rs 3800 crore.
The follow-on order is unlikely to meet its delivery schedule, a naval source said adding that the delay could be in the range of a few months. "INS Teg is unlikely to join the Navy this year," he said.
The first ship in the follow-on contract INS Teg was launched in the water in November, 2009 followed by INS Tarkash, which was launched in June, 2010. The last one INS Trikhand was launched only in May, 2011.
Reviewing the delivery schedule of the stealth frigates is on the agenda of the Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma who had embarked on a six-day tour to Russia on Monday.
The frigates have been constructed to suit India's specific requirements and would contribute greatly to Indian Navy's blue water ambition. The capability of these warships has been upgraded based on the Navy's experience with three Talwar class ships.
The delay happened because of Moscow's decision to shift the ship-building exercise to Yantar shipyard near Kaliningrad, sources said. Even though Yantar had built Krivak class ships in the past, there was a gap leading to a break in warship production. The three Talwar class ships were built at Sevmash shipyard.
During his tour, Verma will review the progress made in the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov and MiG-29K projects so far. The carrier, rechristened as INS Vikramaditya, has started the "basin trial" and is likely to be delivered by the end of 2012.
Russia delays delivery of three more warships
Wait for the Indian Navy to acquire Russian-made warships seems like a long one, as three stealth frigates due from the Russians likely to exceed the scheduled delivery date.
In July 2006, New Delhi decided to purchase three Krivak class stealth frigates from Moscow under a Rs 5200 crore contract. The contract is actually a follow up order on three similar warships known as INS Talwar, Trishul and Tabar, which the Navy purchased in the 1990s at a cost of Rs 3800 crore.
The follow-on order is unlikely to meet its delivery schedule, a naval source said adding that the delay could be in the range of a few months. "INS Teg is unlikely to join the Navy this year," he said.
The first ship in the follow-on contract INS Teg was launched in the water in November, 2009 followed by INS Tarkash, which was launched in June, 2010. The last one INS Trikhand was launched only in May, 2011.
Reviewing the delivery schedule of the stealth frigates is on the agenda of the Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma who had embarked on a six-day tour to Russia on Monday.
The frigates have been constructed to suit India's specific requirements and would contribute greatly to Indian Navy's blue water ambition. The capability of these warships has been upgraded based on the Navy's experience with three Talwar class ships.
The delay happened because of Moscow's decision to shift the ship-building exercise to Yantar shipyard near Kaliningrad, sources said. Even though Yantar had built Krivak class ships in the past, there was a gap leading to a break in warship production. The three Talwar class ships were built at Sevmash shipyard.
During his tour, Verma will review the progress made in the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov and MiG-29K projects so far. The carrier, rechristened as INS Vikramaditya, has started the "basin trial" and is likely to be delivered by the end of 2012.
Russia delays delivery of three more warships
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