Indian Navy News & Discussions

[sudhir007]

Centre plans new shipyard on east coast

 

[sudhir007]

Transfer of Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), Visakhapatnam to Ministry of Defence and setting up of a new shipyard of international standards by Ministry of Shipping.

The Government has approved transfer of Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), Visakhapatnam from Ministry of Defence (MoS) to Ministry of Defence (MoD) for meeting the national security requirements of building strategic vessels for Indian Navy. For meeting the merchant shipping requirements of shipbuilding and ship repair, Government has given ‘ in principle’ approval to Ministry of Shipping for setting up of a new shipyard of international standard.

PIB Press Release

 

[Dash]

Transfer of Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), Visakhapatnam to Ministry of Defence and setting up of a new shipyard of international standards by Ministry of Shipping.

The Government has approved transfer of Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), Visakhapatnam from Ministry of Defence (MoS) to Ministry of Defence (MoD) for meeting the national security requirements of building strategic vessels for Indian Navy. For meeting the merchant shipping requirements of shipbuilding and ship repair, Government has given ‘ in principle’ approval to Ministry of Shipping for setting up of a new shipyard of international standard.

PIB Press Release

I think this shipyard is going to be used for the second line of submarine constructions. If earlier talks are true then the RFI is gonna be floating soon. These submarines are all built with AIP modules. Good news.

 

[sudhir007]

Navy gets shipyard to build new subs

Days after the Indian Navy conveyed its concerns regarding a depleting submarine to the Defence Acquisition Council, Defence Ministry’s highest decision making body on procurements, a key shipyard has been transferred to the ministry for the construction of conventional and nuclear submarines. The Indian submarine fleet is expected to halve by 2012 as the Navy phases out older generation boats even as shopping for new submarines is hampered by the “extreme shortage” of shipyards.

The Navy currently has 16 Russian and German origin submarines as against the sanctioned fleet strength of 24. Half of these will reach the end of their service life by 2012. In fact, the Navy still operates two Foxtrot submarines that were inducted in 1970’s and have far surpassed their service lives. The mainstay of Navy’s submarine fleet are the 10 Kilo Class boats, which are being slowly upgraded in Russia.
The Navy desperately needs new submarines but only six Scorpene submarines, the first of which will not enter service before 2012, are on order. A separate order for six more Scorpene boats, which will arrive after 2017, had been temporarily put off due to shortage of shipyards.

The Navy, sources said, had expressed its inability to find a shipyard for construction of a second line of submarines as all shipyards it has are fully booked. Scorpene submarines are being built at Mazgaon Docks Limited in Mumbai. With the Cabinet clearance given to the transfer of Vishakhapatnam’s Hindustan Shipyard to Defence Ministry, the Navy’s plans for building new submarines will now resume.

The Navy, which had sent out a Request For Information (RFI) for a new line of conventional submarines to manufacturers last year, is now expected to float a tender for procuring modern submarines to replace the ageing Russian fleet.

 

[sudhir007]

Navy gets shipyard to build new subs
Days after the Indian Navy conveyed its concerns regarding a depleting submarine to the Defence Acquisition Council, Defence Ministry’s highest decision making body on procurements, a key shipyard has been transferred to the ministry for the construction of conventional and nuclear submarines. The Indian submarine fleet is expected to halve by 2012 as the Navy phases out older generation boats even as shopping for new submarines is hampered by the “extreme shortage” of shipyards.

The Navy currently has 16 Russian and German origin submarines as against the sanctioned fleet strength of 24. Half of these will reach the end of their service life by 2012. In fact, the Navy still operates two Foxtrot submarines that were inducted in 1970’s and have far surpassed their service lives. The mainstay of Navy’s submarine fleet are the 10 Kilo Class boats, which are being slowly upgraded in Russia.
The Navy desperately needs new submarines but only six Scorpene submarines, the first of which will not enter service before 2012, are on order. A separate order for six more Scorpene boats, which will arrive after 2017, had been temporarily put off due to shortage of shipyards.

The Navy, sources said, had expressed its inability to find a shipyard for construction of a second line of submarines as all shipyards it has are fully booked. Scorpene submarines are being built at Mazgaon Docks Limited in Mumbai. With the Cabinet clearance given to the transfer of Vishakhapatnam’s Hindustan Shipyard to Defence Ministry, the Navy’s plans for building new submarines will now resume.

The Navy, which had sent out a Request For Information (RFI) for a new line of conventional submarines to manufacturers last year, is now expected to float a tender for procuring modern submarines to replace the ageing Russian fleet.

 

[haawk]

Hindustan Shipyard to be in Defence Ministry fold
Our Bureau

New Delhi, Dec. 24

The Union Cabinet has approved transfer of Hindustan Shipyard Ltd (HSL), Visakhapatnam from the Ministry of Shipping to the Ministry of Defence for meeting the national security requirements of building strategic vessels for Indian Navy.

Meanwhile, for meeting the merchant shipping requirements of shipbuilding and ship repair, Government has given an ‘in principle' approval to Ministry of Shipping for setting up of a new shipyard of international standard.

The Shipping Ministry's earlier attempt to keep the HSL brand for another shipyard to be set up under the Ministry is not a part of the Cabinet decision as it involved an extremely complex procedure, said an official source.

 

[sudhir007]

Weapon installation of frigate "Tag" has begun :: Brahmand.com

KALININGRAD (BNS): At the Baltic Shipyard yantar in Kaliningrad, the first of the three warship missile frigate "Tag" ( "Saber") is installed by weapons on Friday, a media report said.

" Experts have begun the installation of two torpedo tubes on the ship which was launched on November 27, Devices produced in Russia form the basis of an anti-missile weapons frigates of Project 11356, which also includes two jet bombometnyh installation RBU-6000 and anti-helicopter," Itar-Tass quoted secretary Sergei Mikhailov of the plant as saying.

"Installing the weapons on board the frigate is in accordance with the construction schedule of the ship," Mikhailov added.

BRAHMOS" supersonic anti-ship missiles is placed in the frigate as its sea test are still uncomplete, the report said.

An overall expenditure of 1.5 billion dollars is spent for the construction the three Indian frigates, which will be delivered by the end of year 2012.

Three units of the frigate, INS Talwar, INS Trishul and INS Tabar are already constructed by Russian shipyard for Indian Navy.

 

[sudhir007]

Weapon installation of frigate "Tag" has begun :: Brahmand.com

KALININGRAD (BNS): At the Baltic Shipyard yantar in Kaliningrad, the first of the three warship missile frigate "Tag" ( "Saber") is installed by weapons on Friday, a media report said.

" Experts have begun the installation of two torpedo tubes on the ship which was launched on November 27, Devices produced in Russia form the basis of an anti-missile weapons frigates of Project 11356, which also includes two jet bombometnyh installation RBU-6000 and anti-helicopter," Itar-Tass quoted secretary Sergei Mikhailov of the plant as saying.

"Installing the weapons on board the frigate is in accordance with the construction schedule of the ship," Mikhailov added.

BRAHMOS" supersonic anti-ship missiles is placed in the frigate as its sea test are still uncomplete, the report said.

An overall expenditure of 1.5 billion dollars is spent for the construction the three Indian frigates, which will be delivered by the end of year 2012.

Three units of the frigate, INS Talwar, INS Trishul and INS Tabar are already constructed by Russian shipyard for Indian Navy.

 

[indiatech]

Navy plans to acquire multi-role fighter aircraft

Looking for an enhanced presence, the Navy is planning to buy a state-of-the-art, multi-role, new generation carrier-based fighter aircraft. And in pursuance of this, the Navy has sent out a request for information (RFI) to some of the world’s leading aircraft manufacturers.

The aircraft firms included: the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) for their Eurofighter Typhoon, the Boeing Integrated Defence System (for the F/A-18 Super Hornet), Sweden’s SAAB (who are offering the Gripen JAS 39) and France’s Dassault (for the Rafale).

The new naval aircraft are meant for deployment on the Navy’s third aircraft carrier, which is expected to be commissioned around 2018.

While the Rafale and the F/A-18 are natural choices for naval operations as they were built specifically for carrier-based multi-role operations, the manufacturers of the Typhoon and the Gripen have indicated that their aircraft could be suitably modified for naval carrier-based flying.

All four aircraft (along with the Russian MiG-35 and the American F-16) are already in contention for another mega Indian defence forces’ deal — the $10 billion -$12 billion Indian Air Force’s plans to acquire 126 medium, multi-role combat aircraft.

The Ministry of Defence sources told The Hindu that the Navy has the go-ahead from the government for the purchase. The RFI has not specified the exact number of aircraft that the Navy is keen on acquiring, nor the modalities that will be specified for their manufacture or offset requirements.

Once the manufacturers provided their information, the Navy will send out a request for proposal detailing the Naval Staff Qualitative Requirements that the fighter should possess. After the receipt of the proposals, the Navy will short list, setting in motion the process of flight evaluation trials, selection, commercial negotiations and finally the acquisition.

The new aircraft, which will be in the 25-30 tonne class, will be in addition to the 16 Russian-manufactured MiG-29Ks that India is acquiring, and the naval version of the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft Tejas (12-14 tonnes class) which is presently being designed. The Navy on December 4 received in knocked-down condition, the first of its MiG-29Ks.

While the MiG-29Ks will be on the deck of the 44,570-tonne Kiev class Admiral Gorshkov (to be rechristened INS Vikramaditya), the naval Tejas is earmarked for the 40,000-tonne, indigenous aircraft carrier that is being built at the Cochin Shipyard.

The Navy’s only fighter aircraft now is the British-made Sea Harrier jump jets which are deployed on the Navy’s sole aircraft carrier, INS Viraat. Official sources said that the Sea Harriers, which were decommissioned by the (British) Royal Navy in March 2006, will be in the inventory as long as the INS Viraat is deployed (could be till 2019).

The Navy’s decision to acquire fighters comes on the heels of the recent placement of orders for 40 warships and submarines.

The Hindu : States / Karnataka : Navy plans to acquire multi-role fighter aircraft

 

[unicorn148]

Looking for an enhanced presence, the Navy is planning to buy a state-of-the-art, multi-role, new generation carrier-based fighter aircraft. And in pursuance of this, the Navy has sent out a request for information (RFI) to some of the world’s leading aircraft manufacturers.

The aircraft firms included: the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) for their Eurofighter Typhoon, the Boeing Integrated Defence System (for the F/A-18 Super Hornet), Sweden’s SAAB (who are offering the Gripen JAS 39) and France’s Dassault (for the Rafale).

The new naval aircraft are meant for deployment on the Navy’s third aircraft carrier, which is expected to be commissioned around 2018.

While the Rafale and the F/A-18 are natural choices for naval operations as they were built specifically for carrier-based multi-role operations, the manufacturers of the Typhoon and the Gripen have indicated that their aircraft could be suitably modified for naval carrier-based flying.

All four aircraft (along with the Russian MiG-35 and the American F-16) are already in contention for another mega Indian defence forces’ deal — the $10 billion -$12 billion Indian Air Force’s plans to acquire 126 medium, multi-role combat aircraft.

The Ministry of Defence sources told The Hindu that the Navy has the go-ahead from the government for the purchase. The RFI has not specified the exact number of aircraft that the Navy is keen on acquiring, nor the modalities that will be specified for their manufacture or offset requirements.

Once the manufacturers provided their information, the Navy will send out a request for proposal detailing the Naval Staff Qualitative Requirements that the fighter should possess. After the receipt of the proposals, the Navy will short list, setting in motion the process of flight evaluation trials, selection, commercial negotiations and finally the acquisition.

The new aircraft, which will be in the 25-30 tonne class, will be in addition to the 16 Russian-manufactured MiG-29Ks that India is acquiring, and the naval version of the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft Tejas (12-14 tonnes class) which is presently being designed. The Navy on December 4 received in knocked-down condition, the first of its MiG-29Ks.

While the MiG-29Ks will be on the deck of the 44,570-tonne Kiev class Admiral Gorshkov (to be rechristened INS Vikramaditya), the naval Tejas is earmarked for the 40,000-tonne, indigenous aircraft carrier that is being built at the Cochin Shipyard.

The Navy’s only fighter aircraft now is the British-made Sea Harrier jump jets which are deployed on the Navy’s sole aircraft carrier, INS Viraat. Official sources said that the Sea Harriers, which were decommissioned by the (British) Royal Navy in March 2006, will be in the inventory as long as the INS Viraat is deployed (could be till 2019).

The Navy’s decision to acquire fighters comes on the heels of the recent placement of orders for 40 warships and submarines.

The Hindu : States / Karnataka : Navy plans to acquire multi-role fighter aircraft

 

[Moscow]

nava mrca bid for india
who wants to miss indian market
RFI sent to lockheed,boeing,rafale,gripen,eurofighter and sukhoi

great another round of mrca keep the carrot dangling india LOL
mig 29k already supplied and undergoing training how many they want time will come when they willhave more aircrafts than pilots

 

[sudhir007]

Russia's Nerpa sub passes final trials | Top Russian news and analysis online | 'RIA Novosti' newswire

Russia's Nerpa nuclear attack submarine, damaged in a fatal accident during tests in November last year, has successfully passed final trials, a Pacific Fleet spokesman said on Monday.

On November 8, 2008, while the Nerpa was undergoing sea trials, its onboard fire suppression system activated, releasing a deadly gas into the sleeping quarters. Three crewmembers and 17 shipyard workers were killed. There were 208 people, 81 of them submariners, onboard the vessel at the time.

Following repairs, which cost an estimated 1.9 billion rubles ($65 million), the submarine has been cleared for final sea trials.

"A state commission has concluded that judging by the results of all trials, the Nerpa nuclear submarine is ready to enter service with the Russian Navy," the source said.

The submarine will be officially commissioned with the Russian Navy later on Monday in the town of Bolshoy Kamen in the Primorye Territory, home to the Amur shipyard Vostok repair facility which carried out the repairs.

The submarine will be subsequently leased to the Indian Navy under the name INS Chakra. India reportedly paid $650 million for a 10-year lease of the 12,000-ton K-152 Nerpa, an Akula II class nuclear-powered attack submarine.

Akula II class vessels are considered the quietest and deadliest of all Russian nuclear-powered attack submarines.

 

[sudhir007]

Maritime Security at Sea with too many Captains

There are more than fifteen good reasons for the confusion that has been India’s maritime security structure. In addition to the Navy and the Coast Guard, that is the number of departments that have a role to play in maritime security and virtually no two agencies, except for the Navy and Coast Guard actually actively coordinate with each other.

A naval officer asked as to the reason for the seemingly lack of focus on maritime time security, admitted, “It is simply complete incoherence in our maritime security set-up that has led to a total failure to anticipate the terror attacks or check them when they happen.”

Lack of coordination among these agencies in the absence of a single nodal agency also helps them escape accountability as can be seen happening, with all agencies from the Navy and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) to the Coast Guard each pointing the finger at each others’ “intelligence failures”.

“There are over fifteen agencies that have something or the other to do with maritime security besides the Navy and the Coast Guard. So you have the so-called maritime police, ports trust, maritime boards, State CID, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries Boards, Ministry of Shipping, Directorate General of Shipping and Ministry of Science and Technology. The Indian Air Force (IAF) too has a role as it is in charge of the airspace above India’s maritime limits. The Customs people, Border Security Force (Marine Wing), the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence also have an interest in all of this. Not to mention, the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry is the nodal agency for satellite communication facilities that vessels and trawlers require. You also have the ONGC and other oil companies involved. Now throw in the local pollution board and you have a recipe for confusion, lack of accountability, insufficiency of resources and buck-passing,” said the officer, adding, “I don’t know, maybe I’m forgetting. There could be more agencies.”

But it is not that maritime security is completely non-existent. There is a system called an Automatic Identification System (AIS) which the International Maritime Organization requires to be in place on vessels of a size of 300 Gross Tonnes or more and on all passenger ships. This transponder is fitted on these vessels and provides data on identification and course upto a distance of 20-30 nautical miles.

For longer range tracking the Long-Range Identification and Tracking System (LRIT) is used for ships trading outside the range of the coastal AIS. This system uses satellite communications for reporting positions.

“The problem is that there are over three lakh fishing boats in India that for all practical purposes leave the border of India and come back in when their nets are full. These fall under the tonnage threshold and so do not have any of these systems in place. Now these systems are expensive and lobbies have so far prevented a consensus on the installation of these systems on boards fishing vessels.,” said the officer.

“The Group of Ministers (GoM) designated the Coast Guard as the lead intelligence agency at sea. The problem is the Coast Guard just doesn’t have the infrastructure, funding or the manpower to do this. The GoM had also called for the creation of marine police wings in maritime states. I don’t think any state besides perhaps Kerala actually took any steps in this direction. There were even vague plans to set up a series of coastal radar stations but it is unclear as to when that would happen,” added the officer.

India’s Recognized Security Organization for ships and ports is the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) which is simply a ship survey authority and has no expertise in security issues. “It is difficult to expect the IRS to scrutinize security measures on ships and ports, said the naval officer, adding, “Right now there is hardly any intelligence sharing. What we need is a single authority for maritime security, not this confused mess, to which all other agencies report so that intelligence is properly disseminated in a timely manner. There have to be measures taken to have proper identification systems on board all ocean-capable vessels.”

Maritime Security at Sea with too many Captains | StratPost

 

[sudhir007]

Maritime Security at Sea with too many Captains

There are more than fifteen good reasons for the confusion that has been India’s maritime security structure. In addition to the Navy and the Coast Guard, that is the number of departments that have a role to play in maritime security and virtually no two agencies, except for the Navy and Coast Guard actually actively coordinate with each other.

A naval officer asked as to the reason for the seemingly lack of focus on maritime time security, admitted, “It is simply complete incoherence in our maritime security set-up that has led to a total failure to anticipate the terror attacks or check them when they happen.”

Lack of coordination among these agencies in the absence of a single nodal agency also helps them escape accountability as can be seen happening, with all agencies from the Navy and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) to the Coast Guard each pointing the finger at each others’ “intelligence failures”.

“There are over fifteen agencies that have something or the other to do with maritime security besides the Navy and the Coast Guard. So you have the so-called maritime police, ports trust, maritime boards, State CID, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries Boards, Ministry of Shipping, Directorate General of Shipping and Ministry of Science and Technology. The Indian Air Force (IAF) too has a role as it is in charge of the airspace above India’s maritime limits. The Customs people, Border Security Force (Marine Wing), the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence also have an interest in all of this. Not to mention, the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry is the nodal agency for satellite communication facilities that vessels and trawlers require. You also have the ONGC and other oil companies involved. Now throw in the local pollution board and you have a recipe for confusion, lack of accountability, insufficiency of resources and buck-passing,” said the officer, adding, “I don’t know, maybe I’m forgetting. There could be more agencies.”

But it is not that maritime security is completely non-existent. There is a system called an Automatic Identification System (AIS) which the International Maritime Organization requires to be in place on vessels of a size of 300 Gross Tonnes or more and on all passenger ships. This transponder is fitted on these vessels and provides data on identification and course upto a distance of 20-30 nautical miles.

For longer range tracking the Long-Range Identification and Tracking System (LRIT) is used for ships trading outside the range of the coastal AIS. This system uses satellite communications for reporting positions.

“The problem is that there are over three lakh fishing boats in India that for all practical purposes leave the border of India and come back in when their nets are full. These fall under the tonnage threshold and so do not have any of these systems in place. Now these systems are expensive and lobbies have so far prevented a consensus on the installation of these systems on boards fishing vessels.,” said the officer.

“The Group of Ministers (GoM) designated the Coast Guard as the lead intelligence agency at sea. The problem is the Coast Guard just doesn’t have the infrastructure, funding or the manpower to do this. The GoM had also called for the creation of marine police wings in maritime states. I don’t think any state besides perhaps Kerala actually took any steps in this direction. There were even vague plans to set up a series of coastal radar stations but it is unclear as to when that would happen,” added the officer.

India’s Recognized Security Organization for ships and ports is the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) which is simply a ship survey authority and has no expertise in security issues. “It is difficult to expect the IRS to scrutinize security measures on ships and ports, said the naval officer, adding, “Right now there is hardly any intelligence sharing. What we need is a single authority for maritime security, not this confused mess, to which all other agencies report so that intelligence is properly disseminated in a timely manner. There have to be measures taken to have proper identification systems on board all ocean-capable vessels.”

Maritime Security at Sea with too many Captains | StratPost

 

[gogbot]

nava mrca bid for india
who wants to miss indian market
RFI sent to lockheed,boeing,rafale,gripen,eurofighter and sukhoi

great another round of mrca keep the carrot dangling india LOL
mig 29k already supplied and undergoing training how many they want time will come when they willhave more aircrafts than pilots

The NAvy's bid will most likely be the same aircraft as the MMRCA.
Considering deals on the magnitude of the MMRCA don't happen often .

By teaming up with the Air force to get the same plane.
Economies of scale would ensure The IN gets the planes at much lower costs.

Mig-29K is good. but navy is capitalizing on an opportunity to expand its Air wing.