Indian navy commissions two new attack crafts

01 Jul 2010 8ak: Even as the Indian Army (IA) and Indian Air Force (IAF) continue to grapple with problems in its modernising program, which is taking place at a snail’s pace, the Indian Navy (IN) continues to add new ships to its fleet.

In the latest development, the navy has commissioned two indigenously built Water Jet Propelled Fast Attack Craft (WJFACs) christened INS Cankarso and INS Kondul on Wednesday at Visakhapatnam by Andhra Pradesh Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan. It may be noted that INS Shivalik had been commissioned into the fleet in April by Defence Minister A.K. Antony. The first commanding officer of the new attack crafts will be Arun Bahuguna (INS Cankarso) and Shashidhar R. Patil (INS Kondul). 

Live Mint reports that the ships are fifth and sixth in the series of ten WJFACs being developed at a total cost of Rs. 617 crores for which the contract to Kolkata-based Garden Reach Ship Builders and Engineers was awarded in 2006. 

The Hindu reports that INS Cankarso and INS Kondul, named after two islands off Goa and in Nicobar, have a displacement of 325 tons each and reach a speed of 35 knots. Each has a complement of four offices and 45 sailors. Both will be based in Goa.     

Sify reports that the WJFACs are fitted with a 30-mm CRN-91 gun and Igla missiles and light and heavy machine guns, the crafts will be tasked to detect, locate and destroy small but fast-moving enemy surface craft engaged in covert operations.    

However, in spite of adding new ships continuously to its fleet, IN is grappling with acute shortage in its submarine fleet. A very interesting article by DNA on the submarine crunch face by our water force. 

China's anti-ship missiles may make India's 2012 Gorshkov aircraft carrier unusable in war

02 June 2010 8ak: Indian Navy has expressed delight at the Sevmash Shipyard's progress in refurbishment of Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier towards a delivery in 2012. Unfortunately, being ignored is China's rapid development of its anti-ship (read aircraft carrier) ballistic missile program. In March 2010 Wired reported a US Admiral Robert Willard, the head of U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) told legislators that China was “developing and testing a conventional anti-ship ballistic missile based on the DF-21/CSS-5 [medium-range ballistic missile] designed specifically to target aircraft carriers.” The report further noted that since its development in 1990s, it is now at a testing stage. Due to the advanced technology in the missile even the U.S. may not have the technology to defend its carriers against such a strike, effectively meaning that aircraft carriers would be sitting ducks. 

This view was backed up by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates who in Apr 2010 confirmed that China's heavy investment in anti-ship capabilities will make aircraft carriers obsolete. Adding to the woes is the proliferation in Asian waters of Air-Independent Propulsion submarines as reported by Strategy Page. 

Back in India, the optimism in the Navy’s stance is visible after the return of a team led by controller of warship production and acquisitions Vice Admiral N.N. Kumar, which had gone to Russia to inspect the progress of work carried out on the much delayed aircraft carrier in May this year. 

“The pace of work has picked up significantly in the last six months. This can be attributed to the additional deployment of manpower in refurbishment of the aircraft carrier,” navy spokesperson Commander Satish told 8ak. Adding further he said, “An apex level committee has also been constituted between India and Russia at the highest levels to monitor the progress of work on the Gorshkov aircraft carrier rechristened INS Vikramaditya.”

A top naval officer told 8ak, “The additional deployment of manpower is due to the urgency of India to induct the aircraft carrier in its fleet, as India has been left without an operational carrier after the grounding of its ageing fleet of Sea Harrier aircrafts, which operated from INS Viraat and the recently inducted MiG-29K by the navy from Russia cannot be used from Viraat platform, hence pushing India into a unique position of having a carrier without operational aircrafts and aircrafts which are not compatible with the carrier we have, even the under production indigenous carrier has been delayed.”

Times of India reports a naval officer saying, “There has been substantial progress since the last examination in September 2009. Around 99% of the structural work and almost 50% of the cabling work has been completed on the carrier. Almost all large equipment, like engines, diesel generators and the like, has been installed.” 

Admiral Gorshkov had become a bane in the relationship of India and Russia, as the latter asked an additional US$1.5 billion for refurbishment of the carrier from the original price of US$974 million. The hike in price was due to the Russians underestimating the quantum of work required to refurbish the carrier, which was phased out from the Russian navy after it caught fire. The issue was settled this year after several rounds of tough negotiations, which saw the price being fixed at US$2.3 billion. The upgrade on the carrier will make it sea worthy for another three decades. 

Also read: China PLAN's ASBM Development (2009)

Sorting out DRDO - Armed Forces mutual distrust should be a national priority

28 May 2010 8ak: The simmering differences between the Indian Armed Forces and India’s premiere Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) have come out in open, with the chief of DRDO, Saraswat, accusing its main customer for opting for foreign equipment over homemade systems. 

Domain-B reports V K Saraswat, speaking at the National Technology Day awards function, took on the armed forces for relying on imported weapons and advised them to try and curb their "temptation" to continually import latest weapon systems from abroad.

The statement has not gone down well with the military top brass which was represented by the three service chiefs during the awards function. A serving Lt Gen told 8ak, “There may be merit in what the DRDO chief is saying in terms of dependence on weapons imports, but then it is because of the incompetence of Indian Defence PSUs like DRDO, HAL etc that the armed forces are forced to import military hardware to keep its inventory in shape.” Substantiating his statement further, the officer said, “Had we not taken three decades to develop the Arjuns (Main Battle Tank), there would have been no place for the Russian T-90s in the Army, as by now even the improved Mark-II version would have been developed. But for the DRDO to say that we should not import and wait for them to deliver is ridiculous because if the security of the nation is threatened, it’s the security forces who will be answerable to the people.”

Another senior IAF officer tore into the DRDO chief’s statement. “The belief that armed forces import because of the kickbacks involved has tarnished the forces reputation among the public. As a matter of fact, we import only because DRDO takes unacceptable time to develop military hardware. Therefore, by the time equipment is inducted into the forces, the GSQRs on which the product is developed become irrelevant and the product obsolete as other nations develop more advanced technology. Adding further, the officer said, that the role of military in deciding the vendor to buy from is limited, hence, the services have no personal gains to make. 

U.S under no threat of losing naval supremacy

13 May 2010 8ak: China's growing naval power and its aggressiveness in the South China sea are worrying the U.S. as much as it is worrying India, Japan, Vietnam and other countries in the region. (On the left a rarely seen picture of a Chinese SSBN from Feng).

At US$82.69 billion, America's April budget deficit is double the estimates and understandable why a worried Defence Secretary, Robert Gates said "...we have to ask whether the nation can really afford a Navy that relies on $3 to $6 billion destroyers, $7 billion submarines, and $11 billion carriers”. 

This has lead to many sites publishing doomsday scenarios where the Chinese navy attacks U.S. carriers. The best one is from the Diplomat "China set for Naval Hegemony" which compares the recent sinking of a South Korean warship by a North Korean torpedo. Since the North Koreans have denied involvement, the South Koreans are at a loss on what to do with a increasing nuclear-capable, erratic neighbour. The article also sets out the various times in the past few years that China has challenged the U.S. in the South China sea. 

The loser is definitely (according to John Guardiano) the U.S.'s "aggressive foreign policy backed by the exercise of U.S. military power". So while it may mean that the U.S. may not be able to intervene in future Asian regional conflicts, it is not the end of the world. Because:-

• U.S. foreign policy isn't the best. In case of Pakistan, it continues to have negative consequences on the stability of the region
• U.S. still has the largest, most powerful navy in the world and its ability to inflict damage anywhere in the world is under no doubt. The U.S. Navy is also the 4th largest air force in the world. 
• U.S. defence spend is still as big as the rest of the world combined. It also has a long history of high R&D investments which give it force-multiplier weaponry. Take a single company, General Atomics and just in the last month the rapid progress in weapons development can be seen in two products - its aircraft carrier based Predator C unmanned airbourne surveillance and attack craft (see Air Attack) and stuff out of science fiction, a 200 mile electromagnetic rail cannon for the navy. 
• While China remains a threat, U.S. navy deputy secretary Bob Work, quoted in DoD Buzz.com, with an apparent reference to China, said that it would bankrupt itself if it got in to an arms race with the U.S. And while it may be hard to see in the current economic crisis, it would be true in the long run. Unlike the U.S., China's only friends are either rogue nations or bought over with money.
• After fighting two world wars with Germany, today they have a 0% probability of going to war. The U.S. has many friends in the Asian region like Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Korea, India etc with whom it can continue to strengthen relations through a common ideology on many fronts and they would together mitigate any real or perceived loss in U.S. naval supremacy while achieving similar objectives.

It should be remembered that neither the U.S., nor any other country in history, have held the prized role as the planet's unchallenged sole superpower for long. Less than two decades for the U.S. since the fall of the USSR. A foreign policy that accommodates others, may turn out to be, in its own best interests in the long run. 

Image of Gorshkov at Severodvinsk, Russia

11 May 2010 8ak: An 8ak reader submitted this google image of what he claims is the Gorshkov at Severodvinsk in Russia. 

Initially, it was not published since this could be considered a state secret and in the ~3,000 articles on this website, 8ak has never published anything that would harm the interests of the nation. After much debate we decided to publish this because both Russian and Indian authorities should be aware that the Gorshkov upgrade is highly visible even with commercially free tools and that other states with access to advanced satellite imagery would have much more detailed views, in real time and from multiple angles. This may also lead the authorities to take steps to reduce visibility of projects of strategic national interest.

Indian Navy's Searcher UAV crashes

07 May 2010 8ak: An Unmanned Ariel Vehicle (UAV) operated by the Indian navy crashed between Vathuruthy and Katari Bagh short of the runway at INS Garuda at the Southern Naval Command here at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday. The Hindu reports that the accident occurred just short of the runway, as it was approaching for landing. There are no casualties or injuries. A detailed inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident. Pictures of the crash are on Shiv Aroor's blog.

The Israel-made, Searcher Mark-II UAV, was on a routine training sortie and was approaching the runway for landing when it came down crashing. The Indian Naval Air Squadron (INAS) 342 ‘Flying Sentinels', Southern Naval Command-based first UAV squadron of the Navy, operates a dozen Herons and Searcher Mark-II. 

All reports on India's experience with Israeli UAVs have been positive. However, Turkey's experience has not been very good, since the signing of a US$183m deal for Heron UAVs with IAI & Elbit. The issues were around technical integration of the payload and terms of the contract. There has been a lot of bad blood between the two nations recently that lead to an interesting report by Strategy Page "Why Israel has cut military supplies to Turkey". Two reasons the artilce say are the increasing role of Islam in its politics and also the closer relations with Iran. 

Within India, the role of UAVs has gone up after the formation of coastal command headed by the navy as an outcome of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. The Director of Aeronautical Development Establishment, P.S. Krishna had noted in December 2009 that the role of UAVs will enhance in tackling low intensity conflicts. India is also in the process of setting up a hi-tech dedicated UAV test range in Chitradurga by 2011 as announced by the Chief Controller (Research and Development) Dr. Prahalada. For more see the earlier 8ak report. 

Asia Online reports that as per the current plan, within the next two years India should possess a fleet of at least 25-30 attack UAVs compared to fewer than 5 now with such capabilities. In the past decade, India has inducted over 100 UAVs from Israel for detecting incoming missile attacks or border incursions. Zee news reports that India recently tested UAVs from Honeywell (US) in anti-Naxal operations.