Navy's SOS: Submarine force depleting: India Today - Latest Breaking News from India, World, Business, Cricket, Sports, Bollywood.
A security nightmare stares the nation in the face with the Indian Navy's submarine arm in danger of losing its strength and ability to keep enemies off the country's backyard.
Headlines Today has access to an internal note sent by the navy to the government, which warns of unthinkable scenarios for national security if corrective action is not taken quickly.
The navy admits in the document that it's almost at its lowest ebb in terms of submarine force levels in history. And this when the Chinese seem bent upon undermining India's maritime edge.
Former chief of naval staff Admiral Arun Prakash said the navy had been warning the government about the crisis since the early part of this decade. He said that while the government has cognizance of the matter it would be something to be very sorry about if no action was taken.
The navy has warned that in the next few years, its submarine strength could drop from 16 submarines to five - an unthinkable prospect for maritime security planners.
Of the 16 operational submarines currently, 10 are Russian Kilo-class submarines and four are German boats. The report warns that by 2012, only nine submarines could be active. If nothing is done to stem the tide, India could be left with just five active submarines in the coming years.
The navy has a 30-year plan to buy or build 24 submarines. But even 10 years after the Cabinet approved the plan, not a single new submarine has entered service. Meanwhile, the navy has already initiated cases to retire two of its old Foxtrot submarines very shortly. And the first of its deadly Kilo-class submarines could be retired beginning 2013.
Through the report, the navy's uncertainty about the Chinese is also out in the open. The document says it will not be long before extended Chinese patrols enter the Indian Navy's area of responsibility. The Chinese naval capability will prove to be a limiting factor to the other regional navies, especially the Indian Navy.
The navy has always been suspicious about China's long-term ambitions in the Indian Ocean region. But now, those anxieties have been laid bare. The navy report paints a highly disturbing picture of what China plans to do in the Indian Ocean.
Most ominously, these plans are already in motion. During 2009, 16 contacts were recorded with vessels suspected to be Chinese nuclear submarines on patrol outside their territorial waters.
The Indian Navy's own network of intelligence has corroborated three of these contacts - on February 16, July 23 and August 3 last year.
The navy report has made it clear that China has a proven deep-water ability and plans to flex more muscle in the years ahead.
Chinese nuclear submarines are currently only testing waters in the South China Sea, outside territorial waters. But in the next three years, the Indian Navy has warned that silent Chinese submarine patrols could begin crawling through the Indian Ocean with impunity.
China is aggressively ramping up command and control infrastructure in the Indian Ocean. This is being done to expand its influence in the zone most critical to Indian security, and in effect to encircle India.
Doese indian ocean belongs to india???
