Indian Navy

 The Indian Navy (Devanāgarī: भारतीय नौ सेना, Bhartiya Nāu Senā) is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. It currently has approximately 55,000 personnel on active duty, including 5,000 members of the naval aviation branch and 2,000 marine commandos, making it the world’s fifth largest navy.The Indian Navy currently operates more than 155 vessels, including the aircraft carrier INS Viraat, along with operational jet fighters.

Though the primary objective of the navy is to secure national maritime borders, India also uses its navy to enhance its international relations through joint exercises, port visits and humanitarian missions, including disaster relief. In recent years, the Indian Navy has undergone extensive modernization and expansion with an intention to increase its capabilities as a recognized blue-water navy.^[3][4] By 2020, the Navy is expected to operate three aircraft carriers and three nuclear submarines.

Role

The Indian Navy sees several principal roles for itself:

• In conjunction with other armed forces of the union, act to deter or defeat any threats or aggression against the territory, people or maritime interests of India, both in war and peace;
• Project influence in India’s maritime area of interest, to further the nation’s political, economic and security objectives;
• In cooperation with the Indian Coast Guard, ensure good order and stability in India’s maritime zones of responsibility.
• Provide maritime assistance (including disaster relief) in India’s maritime neighbourhood.
• To play a key role as part of ‘a pluralistic security order’ for a better world.

History

India has a maritime history dating back to 5,000 years. The first  tidal dock is believed to have been built at Lothal around 2300 BCE during the Indus Valley Civilization, near the present day Mangrol harbour on the Gujarat coast. The Rig Veda written around 1500 BCE, credits Varuna with knowledge of the ocean routes and describes naval expeditions. There is reference to the side wings of a vessel called Plava, which give stability to the ship under storm conditions. A compass, Matsya yantra was used for navigation in the fourth and fifth century AD.

The earliest known reference to an organization devoted to ships in ancient India is to the Mauryan Empire from the 4th century BCE. Emperor Chandragupta Maurya’s Prime Minister Kautilya’s Arthashastra devotes a full chapter on the state department of waterways under navadhyaksha (Sanskrit for Superintendent of ships) . The term, nava dvipantaragamanam (Sanskrit for sailing to other lands by ships, i.e. Exploration) appears in this book in addition to appearing in the Buddhist text, Baudhayana Dharmasastra as the interpretation of the term, Samudrasamyanam.

 

Chola territories during Rajendra Chola I, c. 1030

Sea lanes between India and neighboring lands were the usual form of trade for many centuries, and are responsible for the widespread influence of Indian Culture on other societies. Powerful navies included those of the Maurya, Satavahana, Chola, Vijayanagara, Kalinga, Maratha and Moghul empires . The Cholas excelled in foreign trade and maritime activity, extending their influence overseas to China and Southeast Asia.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Maratha and Kerala fleets were expanded, and became the most powerful Naval Forces in the subcontinent, even defeating European Navies at various times (See the Battle of Colachel). The fleet review of the Maratha navy took place at the Ratnagiri fort in which the ships Pal and Qalbat participated. The ‘Pal’ was a three masted fighter with guns peeping on the broadsides. The Maratha Kanhoji Angre and Kunjali Marakkar, the Naval chief of Saamoothiri were two notable naval chiefs of the period.

Indo-Pakistan Wars

The Navy has been involved in two wars with Pakistan. While its activity in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 largely involved patrolling of the coast, it played a significant role in the bombing of Karachi harbour in the 1971 war. The name given to the attack was Operation Trident, which was launched on December 4. Owing to its success, it has been celebrated as Navy Day ever since. The attack was followed by Operation Python before the center of conflict shifted to the eastern India-Pakistan border and the Bay of Bengal. To show solidarity with its ally Pakistan, the United States sent a nuclear carrier task force led by the USS Enterprise into the Bay of Bengal. A task force led by INS Vikrant was stationed to counter the Enterprise task force; Soviet Navy submarines also trailed the U.S. task force. A confrontation was averted when the U.S. task force moved towards South East Asia, away from the Indian Ocean.

The sinking of the Pakistani Navy’s lone long-range submarine PNS Ghazi under unexplained circumstances, enabled an easy Indian blockade of East Pakistan. The missile boats INS Nirghat and INS Nipat each sank a destroyer; the INS Veer destroyed a minesweeper. The naval aircraft, Sea Hawks and Alizés, operating from the Vikrant were also instrumental in sinking many gunboats and merchant navy vessels. There was one major casualty, the frigate Khukri (sunk by the PNS Hangor), while the Kirpan was damaged in the western sector of conflict. Ultimately, the naval blockade of Karachi Port and the complete blockade of East Pakistan’s ports were successful in cutting Pakistani troops off from reinforcements, supplies, and evacuation routes. These actions proved decisive in India’s victory in the war.

Disaster relief

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

During the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake crisis, the Indian Navy deployed 27 ships, 19 helicopters, 6 naval aircraft and over 5000 Naval personnel in disaster relief operations.These deployments were a part of various area-specific relief operations including Operation Madath in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, Operation Sea Wavesin the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Operation Castor in Maldives, Operation Rainbow in Sri Lanka and Operation Gambhir in Indonesia. This was one of the largest relief mobilizations that the Indian Navy had undertaken. Indian Naval groups were able to start large scale rescue operations in neighboring countries within 12 hours from the time of the tsunami, and was the first foreign navy to reach the affected areas.

The quick deployment of forces during relief operations was a testing ground for the Navy’s amphibious, as well as force projection capabilities. Deficiencies in the response led to modernization of the naval forces after the tsunami, including the acquisition of Landing Platform Docks (LPD) like the INS Jalashwa (formerly the USS Trenton), as well smaller amphibious vessels.

Aircraft

 

BAe Sea Harrier lands at the deck of INS Viraat.

The naval air-arm is an important component of the Indian Navy. The Indian Navy air arm consists of Sea Harrier jets that operate from the aircraft carrier INS Viraat and also fromINS Jalashwa. Recently, the Harriers were modernized for Beyond Visual Range missile capability. The Kamov-31 provide the Airborne Early Warning cover for the fleet. In the anti-submarine role the Sea King, Ka-28 and the domestic built HAL Dhruv are used. The MARCOS use Sea King and HAL Dhruv helicopters while conducting operations. Reconnaissance operations are carried out by Tupolev 142, Ilyushin 38, Dornier Do 228 aircraft, as well as HAL Chetak helicopters. The UAV arm consists of around 30 UAVs likeHeron and Searcher-IIs that are operated from ships and shore for better surveillance. The Indian Navy also maintains a four aircraft aerobatic display team, the Sagar Pawan. The Sagar Pawan team will be replacing their present Kiran HJT-16 aircraft with the newly developed HJT-36 aircraft. The Indian Navy has also placed an order for 8 P-8I Poseidonlong-range maritime reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft.

The Indian Air Force also has a maritime strike role, providing support to the Indian Navy. It operates SEPECAT Jaguar and Sukhoi Su-30MKI^[82] Aircraft in this role. TheJaguars are armed with the Sea Eagle missile, which will be replaced with the Harpoon missile.^[83] Su-30MKI and the Il-38 will be armed with the air-launched version of theBrahmos cruise missile.

Electronic warfare and systems management

 

INS Shivalik prior to commissioning at Mazagon Docks Limited, Mumbai.

Sangraha is a joint electronic warfare program of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Navy. The system comprises a family of electronic warfare suites, such as Ajanta and Ellora, for use on different naval platforms capable of intercepting, detecting, and classifying pulsed, carrier wave, pulse repetition frequencyagile, frequency agile and chirp radars. The systems employ a modular approach facilitating deployment on various platforms like helicopters, vehicles, and small ships. Certain platforms, apart from ESM (electronic support measures), have ECM (electronic countermeasure) capabilities. Advanced technologies like multiple-beam phased array jammers are employed in the system for simultaneous handling of multiple threats.

The Indian Navy also relies on information technology to face the challenges of the 21st century. The Indian Navy is implementing a new strategy to move from a platform centric force to a network-centric force by linking all shore-based installations and ships via high-speed data networks and satellites. This will help in increased operational awareness. The network is referred to as the Navy Enterprise Wide Network (NEWN). The Indian Navy has also provided training to all its personnel in Information Technology (IT) at the Naval Institute of Computer Applications (NICA) located in Mumbai. Information technology is also used to provide better training, like the usage of simulators and for better management of the force.

Future prospects

Wind tunnel testing model ofMedium Combat Aircraft.

India is expected to spend about US$40 billion on military modernization from 2008 to 2013. A major chunk of those purchases were made for the Indian Navy. Work on the third aircraft carrier is to start in 2010 and will be inducted into the Navy by 2017. India is currently focusing on expanding its submarine fleet. Also newer technology like the Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) is being developed for the Indian Navy to intimidate its neighboring country.

After ordering six Scorpene submarines as part of Project 75, Indian Navy is now on the look out for six next-generation submarines in a project worth over Rs 30,000 crore. These six diesel-electric submarines built in India under Project-75I, will be equipped with air-independent propulsion boosting their operational capabilities and will have high degree of stealth, land-attack capability and ability to incorporate futuristic technologies. RFI has been issued to Rosoboronexport, French (Armaris), HDW and other firms, two rounds of discussions have already taken place. The RFP or global tender will be issued in late-2008 or early-2009.

The RFP (request for proposal) for six MRMR aircraft with anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities was issued on July 11, 2008 to Italian Alenia Aeronautica’s ATR-72-500MPaircraft, Brazilian Embraer P-99 , French Dassault’s Falcon 900DX and Russian Antonov-72P. The contract is expected to be signed by June 2009 and deliveries to begin by 2012. The contract is estimated to cost Rs. 1,600 crore. The Navy is also planning to induct more UAVs. The India-Israel joint venture to convert the Chetak helicopters into unmanned UAV’s that can operate from ships is progressing steadily. All these will be linked with space-based reconnaissance systems. On January 13, 2009, India has issued a request for proposals (RFPs) for six Medium Range Maritime Reconnaissance (MRMR) aircraft. The new aircraft, which will replace the aging fleet of 10 Islander aircraft in service, are to be equipped with an Airborne Early Warning system. The Indian Coast Guard has an additional requirement for six MRMRs without an Airborne Early Warning system. The MRMR is required to have a range of 500 nautical miles and an endurance of 6 hours. Aircraft competing for the order include a variant of Boeing’s P-8I, and possibly the turboprop ATR-72MP, EADS C-295, Dassault’s Falcon 900MPA and Embraer P-99A platforms. For the Coast Guard RFP, contenders could be the ATR-42MP, C-295 or CN-235MP.

Indian Navy has issued a tender for procurement of 16 advanced, multi-role naval helicopters to AgustaWestland, EADS and Sikorsky. The order is likely to be expanded to 60 helicopters. The helicopters will be equipped with anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare equipment including cruise missiles and torpedoes, and also be capable of being refuelled in flight. The type will operate from both naval vessels and land bases.

Global bids has been floated to acquire eight mine countermeasure vessels (MCMVs), to replace the twelve Pondicherry class ocean minesweepers in service. France’s DCN International, Fincanteri of Italy, Izhar of Spain, Kangnam of South Korea and Northrop Grumman of the U.S have been invited to participate in the bidding process. Six of the craft will be produced at Goa shipyard under transfer of technology.

With the recent and ongoing upgrades and inductions, independent analysts expect that the Indian Navy may soon become a blue-water navy. India’s navy is already among the most powerful in the region,and with further upgrades in the future, aims to control the Indian Ocean Region, from the coast of East Africa to Australia. India is also the only Asian navy to regularly operate aircraft carriers. The aim is to have a total of three Aircraft carriers resulting in two fully operational Carrier battle groups and an additional Aircraft carrier eventually in refit making India an operating Blue-water navy.

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