Indian Navy war games with French, British in Atlantic next month

[Screaming Skull]

Navy war games with French, British in Atlantic next month​

May 30, 2009

New Delhi, May 29: In tune with its ambitions of being a blue water force, four warships of the Navy will for the first time sail to the Atlantic, where they would hold war games with the French, British, Russian and Germans vessels and practice anti-submarine warfare.

During the four-month deployment, the four warships -- INS Beas, INS Delhi, INS Brahmaputra and INS Aditya -- would sail through the Arabian and Mediterranean seas all the way up to the north Russian port of St Petersburg and conduct passage exercises with most Gulf countries along the way, Naval sources said today.

While INS Delhi is a guided missile destroyer, Brahmaputra and Beas are guided missile frigates, and Aditya is a fleet replenishment tanker that carries supplies for warships, enabling them to stay away from port for long, thus enhancing their maritime warfare capabilities.

All the four ships are already on their voyage, setting sail from Mumbai on different dates. While INS Beas had sailed out on April 27 and carried out some anti-piracy operations in the Gulf, the other three warships left Mumbai on May 13, sources said.

They would join the British Royal Navy in the annual Konkan series of exercises off Portsmouth in the south-west of United Kingdom between June 20 and 25 and later the Varuna series with the French Navy off Brest in Northwest France from June 30 to July 4.

Navy war games with French, British in Atlantic next month

 

[Screaming Skull]

Indian Navy heads for first Atlantic Ocean deployment​

May 29th, 2009

Underlining its increasing strategic prowess, the Indian Navy has for the first time embarked on a two month-long deployment to the Atlantic Ocean, where it will participate in separate war games with the British and French navies. Since World War I, the Atlantic Ocean has been the stage for strategic warfare for navies the world over.

Three warships and a fleet replenishment tanker from the Indian Navy’s Western Fleet have begun sailing for the Atlantic Ocean, where, besides port calls at many countries, they will conduct the Konkan exercise with the Royal Navy and the Varuna exercise with the French Navy.

“The Indian Navy will be holding an exercise with the British navy June 20-25 and with the French Navy June 30-July 4,” a senior Indian Navy official said, requesting anonymity.

The Indian Navy flotilla comprises the guided missile destroyer INS Delhi that is the biggest warship to be built in the country, the guided missile frigates INS Beas and INS Brahmaputra and the fleet tanker INS Aditya.

Passing through the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, the Indian Navy warships will reach Britain for exercising with the Royal Navy.

“The Royal Navy has huge maritime experience. They are way ahead in anti-submarine operations. We seek to benefit from it as the exercise will remain heavily configured towards anti-submarine warfare,” the official added.

The Royal Navy will field two guided missile frigates HMS Westminister and HMS Lancaster and the nuclear-powered submarine HMS Trafalgar, besides helicopters and combat jets.

“Besides the naval exercise, there will be an exercise between the special forces of the two countries,” the official added without elaborating.

The French Navy’s armada will comprise the guided missile destroyer Primaguet, guided missile frigate Le Henaff, nuclear-powered submarine Emeraude and fixed wing aircraft.

During both exercises, all the three components of naval operations - under-sea, on the sea, and in the air - will come into play. Besides providing an opportunity to gain a foothold in the region, the exercises will also give the Indian Navy considerable experience of operating in different in water density, hydrology and met conditions.

“We need to test our sonar and other equipment in different environmental conditions and the exercises would provide the right opportunity for this. This would help us in working towards interoperability,” the official added.

During World War II, the navies and air forces of the Allied and Axis powers fought pitched battles in the Atlantic Ocean to control the supply routes to an embattled Britain. It is estimated that the Allies destroyed nearly 800 U-boats, while at least 2,200 convoys (75,000 merchant ships) crossed the Atlantic, protected by Allied naval forces.

Indian Navy heads for first Atlantic Ocean deployment | Sindh Today - Online News

 

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India, Britain, France To Practice Anti-Sub Warfare​

2 Jun 2009

NEW DELHI - Four Indian warships will participate in naval exercises with British and French forces in the Atlantic Ocean June 20 to July 4, a senior Indian Navy official said. The war games will include anti-submarine warfare - India's first such exercise against nuclear subs, the Navy official said.

India is gearing up to counter Chinese weapons purchases, said defense analyst Mahindra Choudhary, a retired Indian Army brigadier.

The Chinese Navy has deployed nuclear submarines in the Indian Ocean, the Navy official said.

The Indian Navy is awaiting the delivery of its two nuclear submarines, which were ordered two years ago from Russia, the Navy official said.

The British will send the nuclear-powered submarine Trafalgar; two guided missile frigates, Westminster and Lancaster; two auxiliaries, Fort Rosalie and Mounts Bay; Merlin and Lynx helicopters; Falcon and Hawk fighter aircraft; and a Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft.

French assets will include the nuclear-powered submarine Emeraude, the guided-missile destroyer Primaguet, the guided-missile frigate Lieutenant de Vaisseau le Henaff, Atlantique II maritime reconnaissance aircraft, Lynx helicopters, and Rafale and Super Entendard fighter aircraft.

In April 2008, India and Germany first held bilateral naval exercises. In September 2007, Australia, India, Japan and the United States took part in one of the biggest sea exercises ever held in the Bay of Bengal.

India, Britain, France To Practice ASW - Defense News

 

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Indian Navy flotilla to conduct war games in the Atlantic news

02 June 2009

New Delhi: In a major foray, the Indian Navy has dispatched a flotilla of three warships and a fleet tanker into the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, where they will conduct war games with the French, British, Russian and Germans navies.

During the four-month deployment, the three warships – guided missile destroyer INS Delhi, guide missile frigates INS Beas and INS Brahmaputra and fleet tanker and replenishment ship INS Aditya – will sail through the Arabian, Mediterranean and the Atlantic Oceans all the way up to the north Russian port of St Petersburg.

The flotilla will conduct passage exercises with most Gulf countries along the way.

All four ships have already set sail, with INS Beas departing the earliest, on 27 April, to carry out anti-piracy operations in the Gulf. The other three warships left Mumbai on 13 May.

They ships will eventually link up with British Royal Navy ships and conduct exercises off Portsmouth between 20 and 25 June. The flotilla will then conduct exercises with ships of the French Navy off the port of Brest from 30 June to 4 July.

Menawhile, guided missile frigate INS Brahmaputra has docked in the northern Israeli coastal city of Haifa arriving on a four-day goodwill visit. "The visit shows the importance India attaches to its relationship with Israel. Not only that, it is also fitted with the 'state of the art' Barak defence missile system as the first line of defence supplied by it", commander of the warship, Captain Philipose G Pynumootil, said while addressing a gathering on the ship.

"The enthusiasm clearly shows that the Indian ship is in friendly waters. It is not only in Israel but a part of it is also Israeli", India's Ambassador to Israel, Navtej Sarna, said referring to the Barak defence missile system on the warship.

Among those gathered to see the Indian ship was a former commander of the old INS Brahmaputra, Jack Japheth, who is now an Israeli citizen settled in Tel Aviv after retirement.

Dressed in Indian Navy uniform, the 93-year-old former naval officer drew huge applause from the audience when he sang a hit patriotic number from a Raj Kapoor film.

INS BrahmaputraINS Brahmaputra arrived at Haifa from Eritrea and will leave for Naples on 2 June.

The frigate boasts of a versatile suite of long-range sensors, incorporating radars, sonars and electronic warfare equipment that enable her to simultaneously address threats in all three dimensions--surface, sub-surface and air. All this 'top of the line' ordnance adds up to an awesome collection of offensive and defensive fire power.

The ship has played a stellar role in many humanitarian aid and disaster relief missions including the tsunami relief operations in December 2004 and the Operation Sukoon during the Lebanon crisis in July 2006. During the Lebanon crisis, the ship as part of the Indian Naval Flotilla helped in evacuating over 2280 Indian and SAARC nationals.

INS Brahmaputra will subsequently sail all the way to St Petersburg to hold joint exercises with the Russian Navy from 3 to 7 June.

INS Beas, the Brahmaputra's sister ship similarly armed with state-of- the-art weapons, including the Barak anti-ship and aircraft missiles will hold joint naval exercises with the Russian navy.

The naval ship will arrive on a five-day goodwill visit to Russian port city of St Petersburg located on the Baltic Sea from 3 to 7 June.

St Petersburg (former Leningrad) has been the birthplace of most of the Indian naval Kilo class diesel-electric submarines and the latest Krivak-class stealth frigates, such as the INS Talwar.

Commanded by Capt SV Bhokare, INS Beas has 'long legs' and is capable of covering over 4,500 nautical miles without replenishment.

Packed with latest sensors able to engage air, sea surface and underwater targets INS Beas also carries 16 Russian 'URAN' surface-to-surfaces missiles with a range in excess of 130 km.

domain-b.com : Indian Navy flotilla to conduct war games in the Atlantic

 

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India-Royal Navy exercise Konkan 2009​

Saturday,13 June 2009

An Indian Navy Task Group, led by the destroyer-INS Delhi, along with frigates INS Beas and INS Brahmaputra, and the tanker INS Aditya will reach Portsmouth on June 17, next for Exercise KONKAN with the Royal Navy. The task group will be under the command of Rear Admiral Surinder Pal Singh Cheema, Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet.

Exercise KONKAN is an annual exercise between Indian and Royal Navies, conducted with the aim of building maritime inter-operability and mutual understanding. So far, four such exercises have been conducted since 2004. KONKAN-09 is the first to be conducted in UK waters.

UK participants, commanded by Commodore Simon Ancona, include the frigates HMS Westminster and HMS Lancaster, the nuclear powered submarine HMS Trafalgar, the auxiliaries RFA Mounts Bay and RFA Fort Rosalie and an RAF Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft. A team of Indian Navy divers will also be conducting Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) training with the Plymouth-based Southern Diving Group.

After the harbour phase, the combined Task Group will sail on July 20, Saturday and exercise together for six days. The focus will be on anti-submarine warfare, but there will be opportunities to practice anti-air and anti-surface skills, including specialist boarding operations.

PIB Press Release