INDIAPOSITIVE
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2014
- Messages
- 9,318
- Reaction score
- -28
- Country
- Location
On Tuesday, alarm bells went off in Delhi after a blip on a coastal radar screen. It was an unidentified vessel close to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. An alert was sent to the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) immediately but by then the ship was already under surveillance. It was a submarine tender of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The presence of this supply and support ship made Indian Navy officials suspect that one or more PLAN submarines were prowling in the Area of Responsibility (AoR) of the ANC.
"We were monitoring the movement of the Chinese vessel. This is not the first time that PLAN ships have been detected around the islands. In fact, there is greater focus on defences of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as the situation has changed. There is frequent movement of certain navies in the AoR of ANC. There are both surface and sub-surface vessels. This is all the more reason why we should tighten our belts," Vice Admiral P K Chatterjee, commander-in-chief, ANC (CINCAN), said when asked about the Chinese ship.
Over the last couple of years, the CINCAN's efforts for better infrastructure in the Andamans have borne fruit. A lot of development has occurred over the last 8-9 months and the defence minister has himself accepted that the Andamans is the eastern maritime frontier and not the Coromandel coast as had been thought previously.
"It will be a different story in the next five years. Over the last 12 months, there has been more infrastructure build-up than ever before. No wonder the best engineer's trophy among 33 zones has gone to the ANC. The mindset is changing now. Additional forces have been promised. There are efforts to develop both military and civil infrastructure. The missile corvette INS Karmuk will be sent to the ANC from April 1 and a P8I is already operating. We have also got additional radars. There has been a lot of improvement along our strategic sides. More radars are in the pipeline. Efforts are also on to convert the base at Car Nicobar into a permanent one. In the next few years, the archipelago will have formidable defences," Vice Admiral Chatterjee said.
While the missile corvette is a welcome addition, ANC requires at least two other command ships. These will be located in the north, south and central sections of the archipelago. The Andamans is nearly 1,200 km from the mainland where the bulk of India's military assets are based. At any point of time, PLAN ships and submarines are within a 500 km radius of the islands, increasing their vulnerability. The runways at the air bases in the north and south also need to be extended. Even the Indian Air Force (IAF) is looking to develop better infrastructure on the islands. Land acquisition was a major issue but this was resolved a few days ago. Given the improvement of infrastructure, more Indian Navy ships are now stopping at ANC for repairs. According to a source, even strategic vessels have visited the command and carried out launches of missiles.
"We have submitted infrastructure plans for the next 10 years. In the next financial year, we shall surpass our target for inftrastructure development," Vice Admiral Chatterjee added.
PLAN ships continue to prowl around Andamans - Times of India
"We were monitoring the movement of the Chinese vessel. This is not the first time that PLAN ships have been detected around the islands. In fact, there is greater focus on defences of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as the situation has changed. There is frequent movement of certain navies in the AoR of ANC. There are both surface and sub-surface vessels. This is all the more reason why we should tighten our belts," Vice Admiral P K Chatterjee, commander-in-chief, ANC (CINCAN), said when asked about the Chinese ship.
Over the last couple of years, the CINCAN's efforts for better infrastructure in the Andamans have borne fruit. A lot of development has occurred over the last 8-9 months and the defence minister has himself accepted that the Andamans is the eastern maritime frontier and not the Coromandel coast as had been thought previously.
"It will be a different story in the next five years. Over the last 12 months, there has been more infrastructure build-up than ever before. No wonder the best engineer's trophy among 33 zones has gone to the ANC. The mindset is changing now. Additional forces have been promised. There are efforts to develop both military and civil infrastructure. The missile corvette INS Karmuk will be sent to the ANC from April 1 and a P8I is already operating. We have also got additional radars. There has been a lot of improvement along our strategic sides. More radars are in the pipeline. Efforts are also on to convert the base at Car Nicobar into a permanent one. In the next few years, the archipelago will have formidable defences," Vice Admiral Chatterjee said.
While the missile corvette is a welcome addition, ANC requires at least two other command ships. These will be located in the north, south and central sections of the archipelago. The Andamans is nearly 1,200 km from the mainland where the bulk of India's military assets are based. At any point of time, PLAN ships and submarines are within a 500 km radius of the islands, increasing their vulnerability. The runways at the air bases in the north and south also need to be extended. Even the Indian Air Force (IAF) is looking to develop better infrastructure on the islands. Land acquisition was a major issue but this was resolved a few days ago. Given the improvement of infrastructure, more Indian Navy ships are now stopping at ANC for repairs. According to a source, even strategic vessels have visited the command and carried out launches of missiles.
"We have submitted infrastructure plans for the next 10 years. In the next financial year, we shall surpass our target for inftrastructure development," Vice Admiral Chatterjee added.
PLAN ships continue to prowl around Andamans - Times of India
