Indian Navy (IN) News and Discussion

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aaaditya

New Member
acquiring western weapons is not a problem for indian navy since it operates a number of western vessels such as the leander class of figates which are british built.
 

aaaditya

New Member
hey guys,great news here ,india's second largest private shipyard the bharti shipyard has bought the 130 year old british shipyard swan hunter ,this will give the bharti shipyards capability to manufacture ships of upto 60000 dwt's it will aquire all of swan hunter's equipment and a 20000 ton floating dry dock.

here check out this link and article:

http://www.business-standard.com/compindustry/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=280577&subLeft=1&leftnm=1

Bharati Shipyard, the country’s second-largest private sector ship-builder, is understood to have acquired the UK-based Swan Hunter Shipyard for an undisclosed amount. “The entire machinery and equipment from Swan Hunter will be dismantled and brought to India over six months to be re-built at Bharati’s shipyards,” sources said. The sources said the acquisition might be one of the biggest deals till date in the domestic shipbuilding industry. A comparable new shipyard would have cost Rs 200-250 crore. A spokesperson for Bharati Shipyard declined to comment, saying, “As a company policy we do not react on market speculation.” This acquisition assumes significance given the fact that all international shipyards are overbooked till 2009-end as the general economic upswing has resulted in a demand for new ships. Moreover, the International Maritime Organisation has brought in a number of regulations leading to scrapping of old vessels. This has also fuelled demand. “There is also an acute shortage of rigs with only nine manufacturers in the world. Bharati Shipyard recently forayed into offshore rig construction. This acquisition will also bolster its new line of products including offshore structures,” industry analysts said. Swan Hunter, a 130-year-old shipyard, is engaged in shipbuilding, ship conversion and construction of offshore structures. It has built over 1,600 ships of various types, including more than 400 naval vessels, which includes two aircraft carriers. Swan Hunter has the capacity to build vessels of up to 1,00,000 dead weight tonne (DWT). Bharati is developing a greenfield shipyard in Mangalore and ramping up facilities at the Ratnagiri yard. According to shipping experts, “The acquisition is extremely beneficial to Bharati as it can scale up operations quickly. Also it can execute more orders and make substantial savings in time and resources as it would have taken more than two years to build a similar infrastructure indigenously.” Through this acquisition, BSL is expected to have fully automated panel line, quayside travelling gantry cranes of up to 180 tonne capacity, 30 overhead travelling cranes of up to 60 tonne capacity, plate rolls, bending presses, robotic profiling machines, and digitally fed plasma burning equipment. This will enable Bharati to build ships and vessels with the capacity of up to 60,000 DWT. Bharati will also acquire the 20,000-ton lift capacity floating dock of Swan Hunter, which will add a lot of value to its existing operation. The company had earlier bagged a contract from Reliance Industries for constructing six vessels worth Rs 120 crore.
 

aaaditya

New Member
hey guys,great news here ,indian coast guard has commissioned an indigenously designed advanced offshore patrol vessel named sagar,this vessel will have patrolling,fire fighting,limited pollution control and search and rescue capability ,it will have a range of 6000 nautical miles ,a top speed of 21 kts and a cruise speed of 14 kts,it is equipped with the powerfull italian oto-melara super rapid stealth gun .this gun is to be the standard weapon for all indian coast guard large and medium sized vessels and has anti-shipping and anti-aircraft capability.

here check out this link and article:

http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/10/stories/2007041006240400.htm


CHENNAI: The Coast Guard region (East) on Monday got a boost to its surveillance capability with the rebasing of the ship Sagar from Western to Eastern seaboard.
Chief Secretary L.K. Tripathy, Additional Director-General of Police, Coastal Security Group, Jagan M.Seshadri, and Inspector-General Rajendra Singh, Commander, Coast Guard region East, were present on the occasion. Designed and built by the Goa Shipyard Ltd, the latest advanced offshore patrol vessel (AOPV) was commissioned on November 3, 2003.
Mr. Singh said the ship would go a long way in enhancing coastal security. The 102.45-metre long vessel is propelled by 6400 HP twin diesel engines and can attain a maximum speed of 21 knots. At economic speed of 14 knots, it has an endurance of 6000 nautical miles and could stay in the sea for 20 days without replenishment.
After commissioning, the ship participated in various operations and exercises in India and abroad. It was the flagship for the recently concluded Coast Guard Fleet Review-2007 by the Defence Minister in Goa in February.
The vessel, commanded by Deputy Inspector-General S.C. Tyagi, is equipped with state-of-the-art gadgets and machinery.
Special features

Special features include an external fire-fighting system for rendering assistance to ships at sea, pollution response equipment and an integrated navigation system which interfaces all navigational sensors to a central computer.
The OTO Mellara Super Rapid Gun Mount (SRGM) has an anti-shipping and anti-air capability. The ship has been designed to operate Chetak helicopters as well as the indigenous Advanced Light Helicopters. It has 118 personnel, including 12 officers on board.
 

swerve

Super Moderator
hey guys,great news here ,india's second largest private shipyard the bharti shipyard has bought the 130 year old british shipyard swan hunter ,this will give the bharti shipyards capability to manufacture ships of upto 60000 dwt's it will aquire all of swan hunter's equipment and a 20000 ton floating dry dock.

here check out this link and article:

http://www.business-standard.com/compindustry/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=280577&subLeft=1&leftnm=1....
This report is confused. It contains several gross errors of fact. e.g. it says that Swan Hunter "is engaged in shipbuilding", etc. In fact, the yard closed down almost a year ago.

I don't know exactly what's happened, but I can say for sure that Bharti has not bought the yard & so gained ownership of the equipment, since the equipment was all sold last year to various traders in second hand heavy industrial plant & machinery. BTW, the bending presses mentioned in the article are currently being advertised for sale by Ingram Industrial of Paisley, Scotland, one such firm. Still on their website, so unlikely they are included in any deal Bharti may have made.

What I think most likely is that one of these traders, a firm called Fairfield Industries ( http://www.fairfieldindustries.co.uk/ ), has sold the cranes (Fairfield bought them, & has since sold them on - it no longer lists them as for sale), & probably other equipment, to Bharti. It was reported here over two months ago that Fairfield had sold the cranes to an Indian firm, but it was not confirmed at the time by Fairfield or the customer. Someone has misunderstood that deal, & thought it meant the purchase of the entire yard. I think it highly unlikely that Bharti has bought the yard. What would Bharti want it for?

BTW, the equipment was probably still in the yard when sold. With such heavy equipment, it's common to leave it in place until a final buyer is found.
 

tatra

New Member
Verified Defense Pro
project 22350

Here's a cg for the 22350. Very similar to an older 1980s (?) 12000 ton design.
 

kams

New Member
Russia can not bid for any tender by any branch of Indian military, if the tender is more than Rs 300 crore (Approx US$ 70 million). Reason - Russia is yet to sign the integrity pact with India as mandated by DPP 2006. As per the rules, only Follow on orders can be placed with Russia, such as 40 additional Su-30 MKI, 80 Mi-17s, 300 T-90 etc.

Russia can offer their products, but no RFP can be sent to them.
 
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rickusn

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
KAMs can you fill me in a bit more on this Integrity Pact issue or direct me to any sources that discuss it?

Thanks Rick
 

tatra

New Member
Verified Defense Pro
Russia can not bid for any tender by any branch of Indian military, if the tender is more than Rs 300 crore (Approx US$ 70 million). Reason - Russia is yet to sign the integrity pact with India as mandated by DPCA 2006. As per the rules, only Follow on orders can be placed with Russia, such as 40 additional Su-30 MKI, 80 Mi-17s, 300 T-90 etc.

Russia can offer their products, but no RFP can be sent to them.
Just hypthetically, would it be possible to place a de facto order for an entire ship, while on paper buying just sets of components wirth less than Rs 300 crore (i.e. is there a way around this?)
 

kams

New Member
KAMs can you fill me in a bit more on this Integrity Pact issue or direct me to any sources that discuss it?

Thanks Rick
Ricksun,

Backgrounder-

India's Ministry of defence published a Defence procurement manual in 2006, in an effort to address many issues plaguing India's defence procurement. This manual for the first time made it mandatory for the Bidder to sign a pre-contract integrity pact with GOI for all contracts worth over 100 crore/US$ 25 million (I was mistaken on US $ 70 million limit, thats for 30% offset clause). Basically bidder promises not to pay any bribes. commission to any GOI official and or any agent/middleman. There can be no middleman either.
You can read complete detail here (PDF document, read page no 205 onwards)

Now Russians have refused to sign this so far.

India's weapons purchases have hit a major roadblock with its biggest defence supplier, Russia, refusing to sign the mandatory integrity pact for defence contracts.

Under the present defence procurement procedures, every defence contract worth more than Rs 100 crore must be accompanied by an integrity pact, an undertaking that no arms agents are involved and no commissions have been paid.

Authoritative sources in the Ministry of Defence told DNA that intense negotiations are underway between the Ministry of Defence and Russian representatives to ensure that the latter’s stand do not “delay” India’s defence modernisation and massive procurement programmes.

he Russians have told the MOD that some clauses of the integrity pact “collide with” the domestic laws of the country. However, sources are refusing to confirm if the Russian reservations has got to do with the pact demanding an explicit commitment against payment of commissions and appointment of agents.
Link

Just hypthetically, would it be possible to place a de facto order for an entire ship, while on paper buying just sets of components wirth less than Rs 300 crore (i.e. is there a way around this?)
Tatra,

I don't think thats possible. This order itself is worth over $5 billion, many more contracts on the way. GOI and Russia have to resolve the issue.
 

aaaditya

New Member
hey guys,gret news here ,indian navy is to set up a permanent naval airbase at rameshwaram and also is to set up 9 sea surveillance radars.

here check out this link and article:

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070412/main9.htm



Rameswaram, April 11
India will soon have a full-fledged naval air base at Uchipulli, 40 km from here, to increase air surveillance and make her presence more felt in the entire Indian Ocean, Cmdre P. E. Vanhaltren said here today.
The Indian Navy today conducted an exercise at the Indian Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and exhibited its firepower in high sea to combat smuggling of explosives from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka. The Indian Navy marine commandos also carried out surprise checks on fishing boats in the area.
Vanhaltren, Naval Officer-in-Charge, Tamil Nadu, said that the proposal to have a naval air station, 640 km from Chennai, had been sent to the Central Government and it would be approved in the near future.
“At present, we are just operating in a small sector in the Palk Bay only. A naval air station will enable us to make our presence more felt and we can cover the entire Indian Ocean,” he said.
He said that the Indian Navy would have nine radars at all seven detachments it had on the coastline in Tamil Nadu.
He said, “It will help us to monitor all vessels in the sea. We have three war ships now, one belonging to the Coast Guard and two to the Indian Navy. All these warships patrol the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar, which divides India from Sri Lanka.”
Vanhaltren said that the Indian Navy had to ensure that there was no intrusion into the IMBL and it was a “big task”.
He said, “Increased naval air surveillance will help us to prevent nefarious activities in the sea.”
Regarding joint patrolling with the Sri Lankan Navy, Vanhaltren said, “It is a political decision but the Indian Navy is fully prepared to undertake such a mission.” However, he said that the Indian Navy was not keen to have joint patrolling with the Sri Lankan Navy.
“It will mean we will be drawn directly into their conflict with the LTTE. It had happened in the past with the IPKF being there and we need not repeat it,” he asserted.
Asked about the recent killing of Indian fishermen in the high sea which had generated a controversy with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi shooting off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he replied that it might be rivalry between groups of fishermen.
“One theory is that the LTTE was doing it and putting the blame on the Sri Lankan Navy after it suffered losses following attacks by the Sri Lankan defence forces,” he explained. He admitted that smuggling from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka was going on.


and also this link:

http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/12/stories/2007041200991300.htm
 

rickusn

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
Kams thanks for the clarification, info and link.

They are all much appreciated.

Rick
 

Phuntsho

New Member
US eyes naval ties with India

US eyes naval ties with India
Rajat Pandit
[19 Apr, 2007 0038hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK]

NEW DELHI: With India still wary of openly joining the controversial Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), which seeks to aggressively "interdict" suspicious ships on the high seas, US now wants India to hop onto its "Thousand-Ship Navy" (TSN) bandwagon.

Visiting US chief of naval operations Admiral Michael G Mullen discussed the still-evolving TSN concept - which basically involves navies of like-minded countries coming together to enhance security on the high seas - with Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta and others over the last two days.

"There was a very positive response on TSN from Indian Navy, which in fact wanted to figure out a way to implement it faster," said Admiral Mullen on Wednesday. The Indian Navy, which has practised maritime interdiction and counter-terrorism manoeuvres with US Navy over the last five years, is certainly "warm" to the TSN idea. But it will require "political clearance," said a top Indian Navy officer.

"As opposed to PSI, TSN is more of a cooperative arrangement against non-state actors like terrorists or for benign operations like tsunami relief. It's workable since it will just require the different navies to be networked on one common information grid. But we are not saying 'yes' or 'no' at present," he added.

On a purely bilateral front, India and US are already finalising a Maritime Cooperation Framework (MCF) to enhance maritime security, prevent piracy and other transactional crimes at sea, and address emergent threats.

"Admiral Mullen's visit provided apex-level guidance in the actualisation of MCF," the officer said. The US is also keen to get more "access and berthing" at Indian naval bases.

After the suicide bombing attack on its destroyer USS Cole at Aden in 2000 and the horrific 9/11 terror strikes in 2001, the US has been promoting steps like the PSI and Container Security Initiative the world over. Despite having the world's most powerful Navy, with over a dozen aircraft carrier battle groups deployed around the globe, the US clearly recognises that it alone cannot ensure maritime security.

But initiatives like PSI have not found favour with several countries because it intends to waylay ships carrying WMDs or illicit weapons of not only terrorist groups but also "countries of proliferation concern" (read Iran and North Korea for the US), well outside the ambit of the UN charter.

Admiral Mullen, on his part, took pains to dispel notions that the TSN concept was PSI through the backdoor. "It has some PSI similarities but it is not PSI," he said.

"TSN is just a brand name. It can involve 500, 1,000 or even 10,000 ships, with different navies and coast guards forming a voluntary global partnership to tackle maritime challenges like WMDs, gun-running, piracy, illegal emigration and slavery. We have to work together against threats like terrorism," he added.
 

bd popeye

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
Russian dely by two years INS

Those Russians are running into problems re-fitting the Vikramaditya IN fans. If I were the IN I would be upset!

http://in.news.yahoo.com/070424/48/6eylt.html

Concern in Delhi as Moscow delays aircraft carrier delivery, cost spirals
By IE
Wednesday April 25, 02:02 AM
Admiral Gorshkov or the rechristened Vikramaditya aircraft carrier was slated to be a showpiece Independence Day 2008 gift from Russia. But the arrival of the floating airfield stands delayed to at least 2010 with Russian shipbuilders underestimating the length of cabling in the warship.

Much to the concern of New Delhi - India's sole aircraft carrier INS Viraat does not have many years left with only 12 Sea Harrier jumpjets on deck - the Gorshkov project is now going into cost over-run of over $113 million, provisions of which have not been made in the Indo-Russian contract.

The warship, refurbished at the cost of $1 billion, which includes 16 MiG 29K aircraft, is being built at the Sevmash shipyard in Serverodvinsk City, once home to Russia's Northern Fleet.

Earlier, Russian shipbuilders had estimated 700 km of cabling in the ship but that's been revised to a total of 2,400 km for the carrier to be operational with the Indian Navy for the next two decades. According to official sources, even the sky-jump on the deck of Gorshkov is not completed and work is going at a slow pace.

A team headed by Vice Admiral B S Randhawa, Controller of Warship Production, and Joint Secretary (Maritime Acquisition) is going to Moscow next month to impress upon the Russians to speed up the Gorshkov repairs. On May 15, Randhawa will also inspect Gorshkov at the shipyard in northern Russia.

Adding to concerns here is Moscow's decision to look the other way as Pakistan received Chinese JF-17 fighters last month. These aircraft are powered by Russian RD-93 engines. Pakistan will now get 15 more fighters next year and another 200 by 2015.
 

aaaditya

New Member
hey guys,interesting news here,indian navy will acquire a second indigenous aircraft carier after the first one is builty at kochi,the second aircraft carrier will also be built at kochi,besides the 34 vessels currently under production ,indian navy will acquire a further 40 warships and submarines.

here check out this link and article:

http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/02/stories/2007050203181400.htm


Mumbai: They dress like terrorists, wear long beards, move about like militants and even tote AK-47 assault rifles. The Marine Commandos of the Indian Navy, whom the sailors call `Marcos', follow in letter and spirit the adage of the counter-insurgency doctrine: fight an insurgent like an insurgent.
The `Marcos' stole the show at the special naval investiture here on Tuesday when Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sureesh Mehta pinned Nao Sena Medal (Gallantry) on the chests of three of them for outsmarting foreign terrorists in movement and action, being barely seconds ahead of them. The trio had ambushed several foreign militants.
The Marcos, officially called the Indian Marine Special Force, were raised in the 1980s out of naval divers to lead amphibious operations and clear beaches for the main body of troops. Being divers they could reach hostile shores swimming underwater. They could sabotage enemy vessels and harbour installations. These diving commandos were deployed in Kashmir for militants were using water bodies such as lakes, rivers and ravines to take cover. Soon they became famous as ``dareewali fauj [bearded force]'' among the militants.
``If civilians see us they would surely mistake us for militants for we look like them but militants would know who we are. If they spot us from a distance, they fire but if spotted nearby they try to run away and that is the time we go for a kill,'' Petty Officer Ram Mehar told The Hindu .
With the support of his buddy, Ram Mehar had `eliminated' two operatives of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. He was a few seconds ahead of the Pakistani irregulars.
The Marine Commandos usually operate with a small team to launch a covert operation. The petty officer was one of just nine Marcos who had laid multiple ambushes over a distance of two km.
``We do not leave behind the dead militants but carry the bodies to the nearest police station,'' he said.
Other Marcos who were honoured were sailors Anoop Singh and Amarjeet. Admiral Mehta also conferred Nao Sena Medal (Gallantry) on diver Ajay Kumar and Petty Officer Ravinder Kumar for recovering explosive-laden containers from the cold waters off Mumbai in zero visibility to save the environment.
Captain Rama Kant Pattanaik, commanding officer of destroyer INS Mumbai got Yudh Seva Medal for what his citation called, ``implementing flawless combat readiness procedure and simultaneously introducing a unique organisation for safe evacuation of stranded Indian nationals in the war zone of Beirut.''
`Not bigger but smarter'

Thirtyfour warships, including new submarines, are under construction in different Indian shipyards and the Navy is
planning to order 40 more vessels.
"We are not going to be much bigger but a little smarter,'' Admiral Mehta said.
Talking to reporters here on Tuesday after the naval investiture ceremony, he said the modern Navy was not measured by the number of ships but its capability.
Admiral Mehta said the ship-building programme was the result of a 15-year long-term integrated plan. All major shipyards such as Mazagon, Kolkata and Goa had their hands full with orders and Kochi would take up the second aircraft carrier after it finished the first.
He said the Navy was facing asymmetric threats. Protecting national assets such as offshore oil installations was particularly challenging. "These assets are fully protected now but we have to build forces to respond to threats from small boats."
 

aaaditya

New Member
Russian dely by two years INS

Those Russians are running into problems re-fitting the Vikramaditya IN fans. If I were the IN I would be upset!

well according to the indian navy the admiral gorshkov has been delayed by 4 months and not till 2010.

here check out this link and article:

http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=469504


Navy denies reports of delay in delivery of Admiral Gorshkov

MUMBAI, MAY 1 (PTI)
The Indian Navy today denied reports that the delivery of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov would be delayed till 2010 and said the refurbishing of the ship was moving as per schedule.
"The work is going on as per schedule and I do not know where this particular report came from. The work is only three to four months behind schedule and we can expect the aircraft carrier to be delivered by late 2008 or early 2009," Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta told reporters here.
He was commenting on reports in a section of media recently which said that the delivery of Admiral Gorshkov or the rechristened `Vikramaditya' aircraft carrier would be delayed to 2010.
The aircraft carrier is currently being refurbished at a cost of USD one billion, which includes 16 MiG 29K aircraft, is being built at the Sevmash shipyard in Serverodvinsk City of Russia.
Mehta said that the Russians have committed for a timely delivery of the ambitious aircraft carrier to the Indian Defence Minister.
"Our officials, who are stationed at the spot have said that the work is going on as per schedule and we can have a month long delay once the work is completed as that part of Russia is frozen for a long time," he said. Mehta was in the city to preside over the investiture ceremony of naval officers and men held at INS Kunjali today.
 

contedicavour

New Member
Well, IMHO it was crazy to rely on firm delivery dates when we're talking about Russian shipyards (relatively limited experience when talking about carriers) repairing a '70s vintage hybrid attack cruiser / STOVL carrier for Yak-38. The ship suffered major fires and breakdowns and remained rusting alongside port for almost 10 years. The Russians are now completely overhauling it and even partially redesigning it. I suspect India got a good price because the Russians wanted to keep their shipyards busy, even if it meant losing money out of this complex order for India. However India is very likely to suffer major problems (deadlines first of all) with this refurbished ship.

Given today's good relations with the US, India could probably have done a much better deal buying the USN CV Kennedy with a complement of F18s rather than the Gorshkov...

cheers
 

aaaditya

New Member
hey guys,check out this interesting link and article,they contain some information on the indigenously developed sangraha electronic warfare system of the indian navy.

here is the link and the article:

http://frontierindia.net/sangraha-for-indian-navy/

SANGRAHA Electronic Warfare (EW) system jointly developed by Indian navy and Defence Electronics Research Laboratory (DLRL) is being implemeted in Indian naval assets.
15 KITE Electronic Support Measures (ESM) system have been inducted in service on Kamov and Chetak Helicopters. Additional 47 KITE systems are in order and in various levels of production and integration. EAGLE ESM systems have been installed on Dornier aircraft and 8 more systems have been ordered. First 5 HOMI systems built by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) have been installed on TU-142 aircraft and additional orders are being processed. 2 PORPOISE ESM systems have been installed in EKM Submarines and additional 11 systems have been ordered. ELLORA system built by BEL has been installed on INS Beas. Three more ships of INS Beas class and three ships of P-17 class will be equipped with ELLORA.
 

ahussains

New Member
I think that the GORSHKOV will joins the indian navy by the 2011, it needs overall structural and Technical changes with some life time expansion too , so it needs time ... too :cool:
 

contedicavour

New Member
I think that the GORSHKOV will joins the indian navy by the 2011, it needs overall structural and Technical changes with some life time expansion too , so it needs time ... too :cool:
Yes it makes sense. However how many years of useful service will the modernized Gorshkov have ? For a ship built in the early 80s and that has suffered structural damage from fires and dereliction, even with the current rebuilding, I wouldn't expect it to last beyond 2020 before ending up tied up in constant maintenance and repair. Heck, even the ex RN Hermes is unlikely to operate more than 50 years.
So I remain sceptical about the value of the whole programme, unless it is clearly labelled as a stopgap before India has 2 oeprational indigenous aircraft carriers.

cheers
 
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