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'2 of Coast Guards latest vessels faulty'

Two of the latest and largest Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessels (AOPVs) of the Coast Guard, built to operate with helicopters, have been found incapable of doing so because of a faulty equipment on the ship.

The Halo Traction Gear (HTG) on-board the two OPVs -- ICGS Sankalp and Samrat -- does not allow helicopters to land, Coast Guard sources said here.

The HTGs, they added, fitted on the helicopter deck to take the choppers into their hangers were built without proper sanctions and planning and their raised height prevented helicopters from landing on these two ships.

ICGS Sankalp is the latest ship of the Coast Guard's OPVs and even after about 18 months of its commissioning, it has not been able to operate light-weight Chetak choppers from it.

fullstory
 
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December 4th, 2009
By Arun Kumar Singh


As is well known, after 26/11 the Indian Navy (IN) was given the additional responsibility of coastal security. It is a common military principle that the “security of own base” is paramount. It is foolhardy to conduct distant blue water operations only to find that your unguarded base (eg, Mumbai) has been devastated by terrorists, or by a surprise enemy strike. Navy Day, on December 4, 2009, is an appropriate occasion to talk about the “blue water” requirements of the Navy.

Any Navy takes about 15 to 20 years to build a capability based on crystal-ball-gazing for the next half-a-century. Unfortunately, this crystal ball is not always accurate and urgent changes become essential sometimes. The Indian Navy, already saddled with blue water anti-piracy patrolling off the distant Gulf of Aden, needs to factor in the threat of maritime terror, while its limited budget needs to be optimised to also cater for the Chinese Navy’s blue water threat, expected by 2025, along with the needs of nuclear-submarine-based second-strike capability.

Medium naval powers like Britain and France maintain a fleet of a dozen tactical nuclear submarines (SSNs) and four strategic nuclear submarines (SSBNs), but have decided to keep only one aircraft carrier each. The Chinese (when they get their carrier in 2012) will have a similar ratio, while the Russians have a much higher ratio of nuclear submarines to carriers. America, with global expeditionary warfare capabilities, is an exception — it has 62 nuclear submarines and 11 aircraft carriers. I was, therefore, surprised by a foreign media news item which said that “India has recently lodged a firm expression of interest to buy one of the two state-of-the-art 65,000 tonne carriers, which are still being built by in the UK” (due for delivery in 2016, but deemed “unaffordable” by the British since the F-35 fighter jets meant for it would cost $150 million each at 2009 prices).

Large aircraft carriers, though vital for blue water sea control operations, are very expensive to buy ($3-4 billion each, depending on the size), operate and maintain. A carrier needs to operate a minimum mix of 30 to 50 or more expensive aircrafts, (fighters, air early warning aircraft, helicopters). Each carrier, in addition, requires a protective screen of about six expensive destroyers or frigates and a replenishment tanker for refuelling.

Notwithstanding the high costs, it is a fact that the Indian Navy requires two aircraft carriers for blue water operations, which only carriers can perform. These would be the INS Vikramaditya (ex-Gorshkov) due to be commissioned in 2012, and the INS Vikrant (being built at Kochi shipyard), due for delivery after 2016. Each of these could carry a mix of about 30 aircraft and helicopters. Any proposal of buying a third aircraft carrier would come at the expense of badly-needed platforms like submarines, frigates, destroyers etc. An aircraft carrier has a life of 50 years. However, given the estimated 20-year-life of the second-hand INS Vikramaditya, and the fact that it would take us 20 years to get government sanction, design and build it, there is a need to begin the process for a replacement indigenous aircraft carrier now.

Coming to other blue water operations, the first involves anti-piracy patrols off the Gulf of Aden, which are being carried out since August 2008 by destroyers and frigates costing about Rs 5,000 crores and Rs 3,000 crores each, respectively. A cheaper and more-cost effective option would be to use long-range offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), costing around Rs 300-500 crores each. A dozen such platforms are needed for anti-piracy patrols and also for protection of offshore oil rigs (three OPVs are already being built in Goa, and nine more need to be ordered).

The second aspect of blue water operations involves controlling or denying (during wartime) the “choke points” through which all ships must pass before entering or exiting the Indian Ocean region. This task is best performed by conventional submarines, SSNs, frigates/destroyers and Long-Range Maritime Patrol (LRMP) aircraft .

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India report of August 2008 brought out the shortcomings of our ageing conventional submarine force and submarine rescue capabilities. Since the 30-year indigenous submarine building plan is running a few years behind schedule, the government needs to consider outright import of six conventional submarines with air independent propulsion system, and two submarine rescue systems. Three imported destroyers, with BMD (ballastic missile defence) capability and three imported frigates are also needed, since Indian defence shipyards are overbooked, and force levels are declining.

If media reports about a Russian-built Akula SSN being inducted into the Navy in 2010 are indeed true, than it’s welcome news, but more would be needed, and ideally ones that are indigenous.

Next, I come to the SSBN Arihant which was launched on July 26, 2009. Here too, for deterrence to work, more indigenous SSBNs would be needed, with missile ranges of about 5,000 km. To monitor shipping in specific areas of the Indian Ocean region, there is a need to import long-range (1,500 miles) high frequency “sky wave” coastal radars. Similar radars are in service in China, Australia and Russia. These are different from the short-range (40 miles) coastal radars being inducted by the Indian Coast Guard.

Lastly, I come to the issue of modern digital data links and network-centric warfare. Having completed phase one of the data link (i.e. real time situational awareness), the Indian Navy with its dedicated satellite (launch in 2010), should move to phase II, i.e. “real time fusion of various sensors and shooters”, which would mean that data provided by one sensor platform would be accurate and timely enough for another platform to fire its weapons at the designated target.

To conclude, more money is needed. The government must increase the defence budget from its present 1.99 per cent to over three per cent of the gross domestic product. The Indian Navy needs to additionally prepare not only for the nuclear era, but also for BMD and maritime terrorism.

Vice-Admiral Arun Kumar Singh retired as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam
 
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Indian Navy ship thwarts pirate attack on US tanker in Gulf

NEW DELHI
: An Indian Navy warship successfully repulsed a pirate attack on a US-owned tanker in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia coast.

"A Navy ship in the Gulf of Aden prevented an attack of pirates on a private tanker flying a Norway flag and owned by US company today," a Navy spokesperson said here.

MT Nordik Spirit, the tanker owned by the Nordik Shipping Company, was sailing in the Gulf of Aden around 1500 hours when the pirates made an attempt to hijack it and fired small arms at the crew members.

"The crew immediately sent out a distress signal and the Indian navy ship, which was in the vicinity, responded to the SOS call," he said.

The warship flew out its helicopters with Marine Commandos and on seeing it, the pirates gave up their hijack attempt on the tanker, the spokesperson said.

Later, the warship accompanied the tanker and escorted it to safety.

The Indian Navy has been taking part in global anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden against the Somali sea brigands since October last year and one of its Frigates had "a kill" last November when a mother ship of the pirates was destroyed.

The Naval ships, which have a 365-day presence there, have escorted over a 100 merchant vessels in the last one year, most of them foreign-owned.

Indian Navy ship thwarts pirate attack on US tanker in Gulf - India - The Times of India
 
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Finally some positive progress on Gorshkov's...It would be interesting to see what is the final cost settled...Hopefully no more delays and no more cost overruns...


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India, Russia end stalemate over Gorshkov’s price deal

After protracted re-negotiations, India and Russia have ended the stalemate over contentious price and technical issues for the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier which had become an irritant in bilateral ties.

“There has been excellent progress in negotiations on technical issues and there has been a successful conclusion,” Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao told reporters at the end of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on the second day of his three-day official visit to Moscow.

Details of the final price fixed for the sale of the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya were not disclosed.

Indian officials said a price satisfactory to both sides has been worked out for the refitting and delivery of Admiral Gorshkov.

Indian and Russian defence officials have been negotiating the price for the purchase of the refurbished USD 2.2-billion aircraft carrier for several years.

Moscow was asking for USD 2.9 billion for the aircraft carrier, nearly thrice the price that was originally agreed between the two sides in 2004. But New Delhi wanted the price to be scaled back to USD 2.1 billion.

Delays in refitting the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier and huge cost overruns have been a particular concern with India. It had also put at unease the otherwise time-tested relationship between the former cold war allies.

The Hindu : News : India, Russia end stalemate over Gorshkov’s price deal
 
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I was not worried about this deal anyways.
 
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Read somewhere today, its ~$2.5bn!!

Thanks for sharing the info..would you mind posting the link???...Is it confirmed or leaked by someone??
 
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Second phase of Sea Bird to take off soon

The Indian Navy is all set to start work on second phase of Project Sea Bird. The Union government has cleared the proposal and necessary formalities have been completed.

The second phase of the project would include an airport at Alageri village near Ankola with the defence department’s permission. The Navy requires more land to expand the airport for civilian purpose and is waiting for the state government to acquire more land for the construction of a runway, said Commodore Rajiv Jaiswal of Kadamba Naval Air Base, Karwar.

For the second phase of the Seabird Project, no additional land is required and the Navy is in possession of enough land to construct and develop the infrastructure, he said. The second phase would include the dockyard, accommodation for the staff, air base, submarines and helicopters, he said. There are training facilities at the dockyard for the naval cadets presently, he said. It would help the cadets to acquire more skill and productivity, Jaiswal said.

Jaiswal said that the second phase would start once the funds were allotted. Totally 55 per cent of Kannadigas work in the civilian branch of the Navy at Kadamba base and of them 21 per cent are from the project affected families and 29 per cent are from Karwar. Around 9 per cent employees are from rest of Karnataka, he said. Even in non-civilian branches, considerable number of employees hail from Karnataka, he said.

He said the construction of more jetties in the second phase would result in sea erosion in the areas outside the naval base.

Navy would hold an interaction with the people in the surrounding gram panchayat and he would visit some schools in the area so that Navy can help the people and schools in possible way, he said.

Second phase of Sea Bird to take off soon IDRW.ORG
 
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Boeing orders $600mln from India defence companies

U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co said on Monday it has started sourcing equipment worth more than $600 million from Indian firms for submarine fighting planes it is building for India.

India signed a $2.1 billion contract with Boeing in January to procure eight P-8I aircraft for its navy as part of an overhaul of the South Asian nation’s mainly old Soviet military hardware.

“We have started to place contracts worth over $600 million with Indian companies, which will include supply of defence equipment for manufacturing the P-8I planes,” Vivek Lall, India country head of Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems told Reuters in an interview.

“Suppliers recently awarded for this contract include Electronics Corporation of India, HAL’s (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) avionics division and Bharat Electronics Ltd,” Lall said.

India, which is fast becoming one of the world’s biggest arms importers, wants the P-8I warfare planes by 2013, Lall said.

The contracts were issued to comply with government’s policy to manufacture 30 percent equipment locally on all defence deals with foreign companies, he said.

In October, the government changed its defence acquisition policy to allow domestic firms to bid for large defence contracts to open up the defence sector.

Until the policy change, local companies were not invited by the government to bid for big government defence projects and were left to supplying locally made, non-combative equipment.

The government wants foreign companies to collaborate with local manufacturers to make most of the equipment in India to save costs. Lall said the move would be a big boost to the domestic industry.

The country is looking to spend more than $50 billion over the next five years to modernise its weapons systems.

New Delhi also began field trials in August to buy 126 fighter jets in a $10.4 billion deal to modernise the air force.

Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet, France’s Dassault Rafale, Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-16, Russia’s MiG-35, Sweden’s Saab JAS-39 Gripen and the Eurofighter Typhoon, produced by a consortium of European companies, are in the race for the contract, one of the biggest in play.

Lall said Boeing has completed two phases of the trials in India and if the company won the lucrative contract, it would manufacture 108 of these planes in India with help from local companies.

“The Indian content will eventually entail over 30,000 parts and over 4,000 assembly tools in the final phase of production,” Lall said. “We believe there are great opportunities in partnering with Indian private companies, surging into the defence market, offering defence products and services.”

Boeing orders $600mln from India defence companies IDRW.ORG
 
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BBC News - India to 'fence' naval harbours

India to 'fence' naval harbours
By Sunil Raman
BBC News, Delhi


Mumbai's police have acquired new craft to patrol the city's coastline
India is planning to secure its naval harbours with electronic fences, the BBC has learnt.

The fences are part of the Integrated Harbour Defence System to secure the harbours "against clandestine threat from sea", security officials say.

It is part of a plan to protect the country's coastline after November 2008's deadly attacks in Mumbai.

Ten gunmen had used boats to sail into Mumbai and carried out the attacks which killed over 170 people.

The Integrated Harbour Defence System will have diver detection sonars, high resolution radars with shore-based command and control system, among other things, officials said.

Radars will also be installed at distances of every 80km (50 miles) on the coastline.

The sonars and radars will pick up any movement near the harbour up to a distance of 70km (43 miles).

'Not enough'

The electronic sea fences will be fixed on the sea bed close to a harbour to stop any diver or a boat from swimming or sailing through.

Only when a warship or a boat enters or leaves the naval harbour would the "electronic net" will be lifted for the ship to sail through.

Officials say India is also ordering sophisticated equipment to secure its 7,500km (4,660 miles) coastline dotted with nearly 200 ports.

The government plans to install transponders on every fishing vessel and trawler that sails into the high seas, officials say.

Mumbai alone has over 24,000 fishing vehicles, and Gujarat another 45,000 vehicles.

An Indian fishing vessel was hijacked in the seas off Gujarat by the gunmen who attacked Mumbai.

Former Indian intelligence chief Arun Bhagat is, however, sceptical about the measures to secure the coastline.

"The urgency which should have propelled state governments after the Mumbai attacks did not last long," Mr Bhagat said.

"Except for some states like Maharashtra and Gujarat, other coastal states have done little".
 
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New Coast Guard ship in trouble off Tarapore coast

The Coast Guard was working hard to save its brand new Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) from capsizing off the Tarapore coast when this edition when to print.

The vessel, which is expected to protect Mumbai from 26/11-like terror attacks, was itself in danger before it reached Mumbai's shores.

State-of-the-art Coast Guard ships Samrat and Sankalp and an Indian naval destroyer have been dispatched to keep the ship from sinking.

The Mumbai Port Trust's heavy-duty ship M T Enakshi has been charged with the responsibility of towing the ship to safety.

The unnamed OPV got its hull fitted at a shipyard at Baruch in Gujarat, and was heading for Goa Shipyard Limited at Vasco da Gama in south Goa, when it began sinking last evening.

Coast Guard Inspector General SPS Basra confirmed to this newspaper that the unnamed OPV was being rescued. "It has to undergo a refit before it can join the fleet," Basra said.

New]Mid-Day :: Make Work Fun Coast Guard ship in trouble off Tarapore coast
 
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INS Viraat, back after a year-long refit at the Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi, Southern Naval Command, is all set for a fresh innings and is being seen to go on for another seven - eight years, is currently on its first operational sail outside the harbour in the Arabian Sea, off Goa.

After it was commissioned in the UK Royal Navy in 1959, it served till 1984 after which it was decommissioned and bought by the Indian Navy. Captain Vinod Pasricha was the commissioning Commanding Officer of the warship in 1987 along with its complement of British Sea Harriers. The carrier was envisaged as being in service for 10 years, but since no other carrier was on the horizon, it went through a major refit in 1999-2000 to extend its life for another eight years, but when it was officially declared that the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, renamed INS Vikramaditya, would be joining the Indian Navy only in 2012, the carrier went through another one-year refit last year at Kochi, to extend its life for another five to seven years.

Sources have confirmed to People's Post that the under water hull of the carrier has been done up in a big way, besides other upgradations and additions. The radar of the ship and its electronic surveillance system, which are indigenously made, have been upgraded, and its boilers and propulsion systems have been renewed. The habitability of the sailors has been improved majorly, with new washrooms coming up for them, better living rooms and lounges. An officer said, "The sailors accommodation was of utmost importance, as it was not upto the mark, but now it has been improved with new fittings and washing areas coming which will definitely bring in a lot of change. The refit , which has been jointly done by Naval Dockyard and Cochin Shipyard, has costed around 120 crores."

The 227 meter long carrier, capable of housing 25 aircraft, has got its flight deck grit blasted for better friction for the aircraft to land and take off and the deck has also been fitted with better lightings for night flying. The carrier has been fitted with digital maps of oceans, digital RPMs on the bridge and digital displays in the Ops room, for the first time, which enable the Commanding Officer to take stock of the real time situation outside the warship all around her waters. The displays give out the maritime domain awareness if a situation develops. Viraat, which has 14 decks, nine lower and five upper, has been fitted with heavy machine guns (HMGs) in place of light machine guns (LMGs), for self defence. These HMG are three, one in front and two at the back near the flight deck, and can fire 50-60 rounds in two seconds and are indigenously made. There are better communications systems onboard for shore to sea and vice versa communication.

The ship has two headquarters, HQ-1 and HQ-2, for information about in-house systems and their functioning, two engines and four boilers. The ship who has had three Commanding Officers, who went on to become Chiefs of Naval Staff, is getting ready for a work-up, which is done by a naval team from the shipyard which conducted the refit to see the functioning of the ship and its maintainence by its crew. Viraat, the biggest ship of the Indian Navy as on date, can house 1500 crew members. A physical and written exam will be conducted shortly of the crew members by the work up team from Kochi, and also the ship will get ready to receive its first woman Supreme Commander for its operational inspection later this month. With its 50-bed floating hospital, a gymnasium, seperate Admiral and Commanding Officer's cabins and all the state of the art facilities, a weapons complement of 16 Barak missiles, two Israeli mounts of 40/60, and two AK-230 guns, Chetaks, Seaking 43 Bs and Sea Harriers, Viraat seems to go a long way, till a replacement comes in.

http://chhindits.blogspot.com/2009/12/50-year-old-ins-viraat-on-its-first.html
 
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