here is an interesting article,on the lessons learnt by the indian navy from the malabar-07 excercises ,and the benefits it would provide the indian navy ,in it's quest to become a more potent force.
here is the link and article:
http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/story/215311.html
USS Kitty Hawk/ Port Blair, September 8:Mid-air refueling is a standard practice for any modern air power in the world. The ability of a fighter aircraft to refuel in flight not only gives it extended range to reach out to a target but also enhances its ability to stay up in the air to protect an asset.
However, when an Indian Sea Harrier fighter “buddy refueled” from an F-18 Super Hornet in the middle of the Bay of Bengal, the commander of the largest forward deployed US Navy fleet considered it to be the highlight of the six day Malabar 07-2 war games. “These are the sort of things that require really high end skills. There is no other exercise available to develop such capabilities,” Vice Admiral William Crowder, US 7th fleet commander said, minutes after explaining that the five-nation exercises are not directed towards “any particular country.”
Forget China — the two aircraft carrier strike groups in the exercise (Viraat and Kitty Hawk), sailing just a few hours away from the Malacca straits, are competent enough to squeeze the Asian economic giant’s energy imports, Indian officers say that such skills pave the way for joint strikes and missions by the five countries against any common threat.
No surprise then that the entire war game was conducted as per standards followed in NATO missions. All Indian ships were attuned to NATO standard communication frequencies, technical terminology, command structures and were even fitted with special US equipment to connect to its CENTRIX satellite communication system. Officers confirmed that a detailed NATO standards ‘MTP’ document spelling out the standards was handed to the Indian Navy earlier in the year to prepare for the exercise.
The standardization and homework paid off. The clockwork precision with which the war games went off even managed to surprise Indian naval officers who have witnessed many bilateral exercises in the past.
“The smoothness of operations was incredible. We understand each other’s way of communication and to some extend have got an insight to the thinking each side does,” an Indian Navy Officer, who had earlier participated in the 2005 Malabar exercises said.
Interoperability apart, for the Indian Navy that is in the threshold of becoming a maritime force to reckon with, the opportunity to learn and compete with the sole superpower in the world was in the words of an officer “priceless.”
Multi-Carrier operations for instance, is something that the navy needs to work on before the induction of its two new aircraft carriers in the next seven years. “(The main skill set gained is) Multi carrier operations. Three carriers operating at the same time is something we are not used to yet,” says Vice Admiral RP Suthan, commander in chief of the eastern command.
Moreover, with China starting the construction of its indigenous aircraft carrier this year, it helped to practise pitching two carriers against each other during the exercise to hone air defence skills.
The opportunity to track and ‘destroy’ a nuclear submarine (USS Chicago) during Malabar gave the Indian Navy — more attuned to Soviet philosophy gained by the operation of a Russian nuke sub in the late 1980s — a rare close look into the tactics adopted by Western countries.
The two Indian officers onboard the Chicago too picked pointers on how to avoid detection and attack by the enemy which would come in handy when it inducts a Akula-II Russian nuclear submarine next year.
While the Indian Navy is not any match to its American counterpart in terms of technology — a “shooter” on board Kitty Hawk who is responsible for the safe catapult launch of aircraft from deck jokingly commented that the Viraat could be spotted from miles due the black smoke it emits — the exchange of skills is in no way one-sided.
With the planned acquisition of two new aircraft carriers by 2014 (Gorshkov and the Air Defence Ship), the induction of the Akula II and the launch of the indigenous ATV nuke sub next year plus the phased acquisition of an entire new line of destroyers, the Indian Navy is on its way to becoming perhaps the second most potent maritime power in the world. And, as Vice Admiral Yoji Koda, commander of the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) puts it — “Internationally, Navies understand each other.”
