Posted on 06/22/2006 10:51:19 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
No room for mistakes in a nuclear Navy
Shishir Gupta
With only two years to go before the Indian Navy is to transform itself to a blue water Navy—an elite club comprising mostly of the P5 countries—a string of incidents give clue to how unprepared the force is for it.Consider the following:
• Last month, the sonar dome—an anti-submarine device—of the guided missile warship Talwar, got seriously damaged after the ship’s anchor was accidentally dropped on it.
• In April, missile corvette Prahar sank after colliding with merchant ship Rajiv Gandhi.
• In December 2005, a speeding INS Trishul, another Talwar class stealth frigate, collided with a commercial ship, Ambuja Laxmi, outside the Mumbai harbour.
Coming at a time when the Naval Headquarters is already under a cloud for leakage of classified information from the Directorate of Naval Operations, the accidents do not bode well for the force that prides itself on its strategic long legs—stretching all the way from Gulf of Eden to Malacca Straits.
It is obvious that there is a lack of discipline in the force and the leadership is still at odds to resolve it.
On their part, India’s strategic planners—despite an overt Nuclear Triad doctrine—have not yet been able to transform this “Cinderella Force” into an expeditionary force that can project dominance thousands of miles from the mainland.
But that transformation is the only way ahead. After all, The last time Indian Navy lost one of its men in action was in July 2000, when marine commando HS Tyagi took on militants in the Kashmir Valley. And before that, one has to dig into the annals of 1971 conflict to find out the last time the Navy got blooded in a conflict.
The timing of the incidents couldn’t be worse— coming even as the country is in the middle of an ambitious programme to catapult the Navy into the big league.
In two year’s time, in 2008, aircraft carrier Vikramaditya (rechristened Admiral Gorshkov) and a nuclear submarine, both acquired from Russia, are going to be inducted into the Navy.
Plus, the Indian indigenous nuclear submarine—or advanced technology vehicle (ATV)—is finally on track and currently the nuclear power plant is being fitted into its hull at the Visakhapatnam shipyard. By all indications, it will be inducted into the Navy along with Russian boat. Displacing around 6,000-7,000 tonne, the ATV will be similar in design to INS Chakra, the Charlie-class submarine leased out by the Russians in 1990s.
The DRDO has also made significant progress in development of the Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) in a bid to complete the third leg of the Triad nuclear doctrine.Called Sagarika or PJ 02, the SLBM is going to be a two-stage missile with a range of over 800 kilometers. The missile has already been successfully tested at the Interim Test Range (ITR) twice. Insiders say the missile, different from Klub or any other Russian made weapon, has not only sea-to-surface capability, but is a potent weapon with low circular error of probability.
And if this was not enough, the UPA government has given the green signal to the Navy and DRDO this year to build two more indigenous nuclear submarines after the first is inducted in 2008.
The Navy’s long-term plan is to have two aircraft carriers (Vikramaditya and indigenous Air Defence Ship being built at Karwar) and no less than five nuclear submarines that can match the evolving strategic scenario in Asia.
It is no secret that New Delhi looks to match Beijing’s sea capability, with the latter going all out to build a potent PLA Navy with Xia class nuclear submarines and Soverymenny class destroyers acquired from Russia.
This decade will see power projection by both the Asian powers in Indian Ocean—which accounts for 52 per cent of the world trade—and the Americans, who are here to stay to protect their oil economy.
In short, the future is full of opportunity for the Indian Navy but is also fraught with peril because of the nuclear dimension. But is the Navy prepared to be the cutting edge of India’s military might?
The answer is an obvious “no” as the force still searches for a strong leader, who will be a match for the Defence Ministry’s babus and have the vision to take the Force forward—exorcising the ghost of Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, who was brought down by narrow-minded babus in conjunction with stock market dabbling officers.That will not be easy.
The need of the hour is discipline, not glossy coffee table books, musical orchestras or bilateral ship visits (euphemistically called military tourism) to the four corners of the world. There is no scope for mistakes in a nuclear Navy.
editor@expressindia.com
Ping Pong!!
Nice broken picture/red X you have there.
Shows up fine on my end. Don't know why it doesn't work for you.
The server is blocking off-site linking. If you go directly to the URL for the pic it loads fine, then it loads fine off your cache after that - but if the first time a computer sees it it's as an embedded link (as you used), you get a broken picture notification.
So, you can see the picture.... I think it was appropriate.
(I knew about the cache. I just wanted to twit you back.)
Imagine the smell of cooking on an Indian submarine ...not that I don't like curry and garlic, but in a closed space it might be intense.
cooking of that sort is not seen on SSKs-they really on bland stuff like packed & blast frozen food.
Thanks for posting this.
India is making a huge mistake if it really intends to spend the money to become a blue-water navy. The money would be better spent on land and air forces.
India is a land power, vulnerable to invasion from both the east and the west, and must focus its energy and resources to defending those borders.
Any diversion violates the primary dictum of economy of force.
History has shown us legions of nations that disobeyed this rule and suffered for it. France in the Napoleonic wars and China during the Mongol years are two prominent examples.
India must - and will - focus its attentions on the land fights in process, including the ongoing insurgencies.
Umm,that's a bit hard to agree with.The Indian Navy is a big force multiplier & it's importance will only grow with the increasing maritime traffic of oil & goods through the Arabian Sea/Indian Ocean region.The terrain of India's borders with Pakistan & China is such that any sustained land war will lead to a stalemate.The Indian Navy can play a big difference in launching a naval blockade of resource starved Pakistan.Besides,China is expanding it's naval activities to Pakistan,Myanmmar & Bangladesh-it would be deadly foolish to expect the IN's budget to be diverted.It's true that possibilities of an Sino-Indo naval clash are remote,but then deterrence is the name of the game.
Lastly,N-subs armed N-weapons are easily the most survivable assets of any N-triad.Land & air based weapons esp against China have limited scope due to issues of range & vulnerability.An Indian N-sub or subs hanging around the Indian Ocean & upto the South China Sea can make a world of difference.FOr Pakistan,however SSKs equipped with AIP are more than enough.
India is already a blue-water navy (I'd add Japan and China to that list). And overall India would be smewhere in the lower half of the top 8 Navies in the world.
And overall this is just a MSM hit-piece. Most navies have the occasional embarrassing accident (didn't some nation's submaribe recently try to knock over a seamount)
I think where we disagree is in the notion of a blue-water navy.
I disagree with nothing in the post above, only that land borders make land and air forces pre-eminent for the Indian defense department.
There's no doubt India should have littoral and near-ocean capabilities, they just don't need 12 nuclear aircraft carriers.
Umm who is talking about 12 carriers & those too CVNs??I certainly did not.Heck even the USSR at it's height didn't have more than 6 & all were conventionally powered V/STOL ships.The Indian navy plans to have around 3 carriers by 2020 & 4-5 by 2025.Far short of your 12.
We're talking in circles.
All I want to say is India doesn't need a blue-water navy.
U'd be right if India was located in the Baltic.Unfortunately,it is located in place where the bulk of International trade & oil flows.Any nation which values both will build an blue water navy.
Not to mention the threats it faces from Pakistan,Chinese expansionism as well as it's role in ensuring regional stability.
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