INS Viraat on goodwill visit to the Gulf
(The Hindu, 31 March 2002)

India's sole aircraft carrier, INS Viraat, is leading a fleet of naval ships on a goodwill visit to the Gulf as an extension of the country's military diplomacy. INS Viraat, accompanied by INS Shakti, a replenishment tanker, will dock at Mina Zayed (Port Zayed) in the UAE Capital, Abu Dhabi on March 30th. The two vessels will be joined by INS Mysore and INS Godavari which have already visited the Jubail commercial port in Saudi Arabia. INS Viraat is under the command of Rear Admiral J.S. Bedi, Commander of the Indian Navy's Western Command. In Saudi Arabia, Indian Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad, accompanied by A.R. Radhakrishnan commanding INS Mysore and C.G.S. Khan commanding INS Godavari, called on the Emir of Jubail, Abdul Mohisin Al Atiashan. The two sides conducted exercises on March 28th marked by cross helicopter landing manoeuvres and flag-hosting drills.

INS Viraat visiting UAE was originally HMS Hermes, first commissioned in the Royal British Navy on 18 November 1959. India purchased the vessel in 1986 and refitted it, making it serviceable for 10 years. It was formally commissioned in the Indian Navy on 20 May 1987. The 28,700 tonne aircraft carrier got a fresh lease of life, returning to service in June 2001. It is fitted with sophisticated weaponry including the Barak SAM an Israeli-made fully automatic anti-missile defence system. New Delhi is now purchasing Admiral Gorshkov, formerly known as Baku, from the Russian Navy. INS Viraat has a complement of 1350 sailors, including 143 officers with the air group. The vessel has conducted manoeuvres in the recent past with the naval forces of Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Navy in talks with HAL for inducting IJT
(Rediff, 28 March 2002)

The Navy is in talks with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Asia's largest aeronautics firm, to induct the naval version of its Intermediate Jet Trainer to replace the age-old Surya Kiran trainers. HAL is at an advanced stage of developing the first prototype of the IJT for test flights later this year. The trainers will be inducted in the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Navy (IN) in the next couple of years in place of the Kirans, which have outlived their utility. According to HAL Chairman N.R. Mohanty, the IJT will cruise at subsonic speeds with the latest avionics and anti-aircraft weaponry, including all types of missiles. Though built-indigenously, the prototypes will have engines made by the French firm Larzec. The design and development of the IJT is estimated to have cost HAL Rs 10.8 billion over the last few years.

The IAF will be acquiring some 200 IJTs. The naval version will be developed thereafter, Chairman Mohanty said. The IN plans to acquire about 50 of them. Apart from the IJTs, the IN will be seeking HAL's expertise for the service and maintenance of the MiG-29K aircraft on board the Admiral Gorshkov, the Russian-made aircraft carrier that India is likely to acquire this year. HAL is already collaborating with the IN to commission the British-made Sea King helicopters, which were grounded earlier for want of components and maintenance services on account of the US-sponsored sanctions on India. "In addition to deploying the naval version of the Advanced Light Helicopter [made by HAL], we will be looking to upgrade and maintain the Russian-made Kamov helicopters that are in operation with the fleet," the Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral S.V. Gopalachari, had said when receiving the first ALH.

Confirming the talks with HAL on the IJT, Vice-Admiral Gopalachari, however, declined to spell out the details, including delivery schedules and the funds being allocated for the new aircraft or the upgrades, including spares and maintenance services. "New projects are at the planning stage," he said. "We have to go for government approval for each project. Prior to that, we are in dialogue with the HAL top brass for working out the modalities to obtain the clearance of the Cabinet Committee on Defence Procurement." Asked whether the Navy was looking to procure seaborne aircraft in addition to the ALH from HAL, Vice Admiral Gopalachari said the navy would leverage the competencies built by HAL over the years to source what is required, including helicopters and aircraft, to upgrade and enhance its capabilities in the Indian Ocean.

Over the years, the navy has acquired a number of aircraft and choppers, including Dorniers and Chetaks, for sea-borne and shore-based operations along the country's vast coastline. Earlier, receiving the first naval version of the ALH, Vice Admiral Gopalachari had also said the force would be placing firm orders for 12 such aircraft over the next two years, including the weapons-grade variant. "The second ALH will be inducted next month and a couple more later this year. Though the long-term requirements of the navy will be about 60 ALHs by the end of the current decade, the deployment will be gradual," he had affirmed. To be the main workhorse of the Navy, the five-ton ALH will be deployed with all its three fleets - the western, eastern and southern commands - for multi-purpose roles once it is equipped with anti-submarine warfare equipment. "The first few versions, which are not weapons-based, will be deployed for multi-utility purposes, including rescue and relief operations, naval exercises and reconnaissance missions," the Vice Admiral said.

Development of prototype radar
(MoD Press Release, 21 March 2002)

A fight for tomorrow's war
(Indian Express, 12 March 2002)

To live up to its world rankings in air and seapower, India has to boost its techno-strategic capabilities. Rear Admiral Raja Menon urges a heavier shopping basket.

The Indo-Russian defence deal will have consequences that go beyond the transfer of military hardware into areas of grand strategy. But this won't happen without hiccups. Foreign analysts are often criticised for saying Delhi is unused to displaying an easy familiarity with strategic culture. Fifty-five years after independence, opportunities present themselves once again - this time in American and Russian offers to transport the Indian armed forces through the glass ceiling separating tactical capabilities from strategic ones. To non-military analysts in Delhi - and they surely outnumber the military ones - the value of hardware and technology in policy making is deemed doubtful, their benefits uncertain. They must depend on the military specialists. Since the diplomats and the military rarely talk to each other, most diplomats are unable to identify the hardware that gives India a strategic capability. The Ministry of Defence and the Cabinet Committee on Security are equally in the dark, except in the case of nuclear weapons.

To be fair to India's policy makers, no clear picture has ever emerged from services headquarters either, largely because of departmental rivalries and the absence of services coordination. India has the world's fifth largest air force and the seventh largest navy. But these don't disclose the deep deficiencies in true combat capabilities that afflict both services. The air forces and navies placed above India in world ranking all operate the AWACS (Air-borne Warning and Control System) and the nuclear submarine. India doesn't, and that separates India's tactical capabilities from genuine strategic power. The absence of other systems widens the gap. At the international policymaking level, the lack of genuine trans-national military power has never handicapped India's diplomats from speaking as though they did. This often merely irritated other countries because the Indian position allegedly occupied the moral high ground. Quite obviously, our diplomats have forgotten what every rural Indian politician knows: It's not important what you say, but who says it, and the power behind the speaker.

Today, the MEA has resiled from its earlier policy of treating military power as though it had a bad odour. What they need to define now are the capabilities that might have genuinely worried Musharraf. Our options for counter attack in Kashmir have, for over 10 years, been hamstrung by the absence of an AWACS aircraft. Indian military threats over Kashmir will forever remain non-credible until India acquires the AWACS and also prevents Pakistan from getting one. This is what is about to happen with the American nod to the Israeli transfer of the Phalcon early warning radar to be fitted in a Russian Il-76 aircraft. The question is, will all the players in Delhi see the problem in the same way? There are any amount of RAND simulations that show the blanket superiority conferred by the AWACS on an air force fielding inferior fighters against an air force with superior aircraft, but with no AWACS.

Similarly, the Navy's pursuit of a nuclear submarine has been less than enthusiastic. Hence Project ATV was adopted early on by the DRDO. The Admirals' unspoken aversion to the nuclear submarine project arose from the fear that if part of the miserly 13% of the defence budget - their share - was used to fund the ATV, it would result in further stunting India's navy. Although defence spokesmen have denied the purchase of two Russian nuclear submarines, Russian newspapers have given detailed reports of the impending transfer. This time, they have also pointed out that the transfer does not violate any international regime. Russia's new found boldness about transferring nuclear submarines to India may well emanate from a US wink. If the US Navy is eager to accept the Indian Navy as a strategic partner in the Indian ocean it makes sense to have a strong partner. Here again, our Navy's own analysis of the power and capability of a nuclear submarine falls short of its catastrophic hitting power.

Many Admirals would, even today, contest the fact that one nuclear submarine can clear all enemy ships out of the North Arabian sea in 10 days. The country needs strategic capabilities, and this quest cannot be met by minor tactical purchases. The Navy's shopping basket must not be burdened with ships, helicopters and aircraft, when it is searching for a nuclear submarine. Beyond merely acquiring weapon platforms, the Russian have articulated their clear desire to produce hardware as a joint venture. The offer is a tribute to Russian honesty and transparency. In the next 10 years, Russia's techno-strategic capabilities will wither unless boosted by somebody else's finance. Why not India's? What India is being offered is equity in the manufacturing facilities of world class weapons. Who is going to handle the investment, and monitor the return on it, both technical and financial? It can only be a tri-service corporate entity. Are the mechanisms being put in place or has Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov delivered his speeches into a vacum?

Vice Admiral Harinder Singh seeks premature retirement
(Rediff, 10 March 2002)

Vice Admiral Harinder Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Naval Command, has sought premature retirement, official sources said in Delhi. Vice Admiral Singh, who was involved in a controversial spat with former Naval Chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, leading to the latter's sacking, has sought retirement in June, three months before his scheduled retirement period in September, they said. Vice Admiral Singh has cited personal reasons for his decision, they said.

Development of advanced data link systems
(MoD Press Release, 07 March 2002)