India plans to build 100 warships

[MBI Munshi]

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India has plans to add about 100 warships to its navy over the next decade as it seeks to modernise its armed forces, and develop its low-cost shipbuilding capabilities.

Captain Alok Bhatnagar, director of naval plans at India’s ministry of defence, said on Thursday that 32 warships and submarines were under construction in the country’s shipyards. Work on 75 more ships, including aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates and amphibious vessels, would begin over 10 years.

New Delhi is sensitive to lagging behind Beijing's naval might in the region. China has three times the number of combat vessels as India and five times the personnel. Officials are wary of port developments in neighbouring Pakistan and Sri Lanka that offer Chinese warships anchorages and potentially greater control of the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.

However, India has one of the fastest growing navies in the world. Its fleet of about 120 vessels is the fifth largest. At the weekend, it launched a locally built nuclear-powered submarine, based on a Russian design, to join only a few countries with the technical prowess to produce such a war machine.

Speaking at a seminar on naval self-reliance in New Delhi, Capt Bhatnagar said it was a “strategic necessity” for India to develop its own naval shipyard capabilities to avoid “being held hostage to foreign countries in a crisis situation”.

Since the end of British rule 62 years ago, India has relied heavily on Russia to supply its fleet. Capt Bhatnagar identified its maritime priorities as energy security, protecting sea lanes, combating Islamic fundamentalism and responding to China’s aggressive modernisation plans.

“China is developing its navy at a great rate. Its ambitions in the Indian Ocean are quite clear.”

Admiral Sureesh Mehta, chief of naval staff, said the navy would spend more than Rs200bn ($4bn, €3bn, £2.5bn) a year on new capabilities, with about 60 per cent devoted to acquisitions of naval hardware. He stressed the need to develop the indigenous defence industry with a view to becoming an exporter of technology to Middle East and south-east Asian countries. He advocated the creation of a business framework that encouraged international defence companies to “set up shop” in locally-based shipyards.

India has partnered Italy’s Fincantieri in the design of the aircraft carrier, and Thales, the French defence company, to build six Scorpene submarines in Mumbai. Larsen & Toubro, the listed Indian engineering company, is building a Rupees 30bn shipyard near Chennai and supplies weapons and steering systems.

A Mumbai-based defence contractor said the government was considering raising the foreign direct investment cap in the defence industry to 49 per cent from 26 per cent.

FT.com / Asia-Pacific / India - India plans to build 100 warships

[BSF]

100 warships.... I some how doubt that.
That's a bit too much I think.
We need more aircraft carriers that's for sure

[King Julien]

100 warships.... I some how doubt that.
That's a bit too much I think.
We need more aircraft carriers that's for sure

Ships of the Indian Navy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[BATMAN]

Admiral Sureesh Mehta, chief of naval staff, said the navy would spend more than Rs200bn ($4bn, €3bn, £2.5bn) a year on new capabilities, with about 60 per cent devoted to acquisitions of naval hardware.

What is the breakup in terms of hardware?
How much is the estimated cost of subject warships?
Which country would provide the design and technical asistance?

[Super Falcon]

100 ships even usa dont have why india will

[Death_Invader]

100 ships even usa dont have why india will

whats the ideology? if US doesn't have something then India should also not have that thing......


U.S doesnt have communist threat in Indian ocean but we do........

[beckham]

100 ships even usa dont have why india will

are you serious ??

[maverick2009]

Those 100 Warships include

Aircraft carriers x 2

Destroyers x 7

Frigates x 15

Nuke SUBS x 5

Escort Corvettes x 24

Landing ships x 10

Missle patrol; ship x 30

Other small ancillary ships

They are not all big 5000/6000 tonne++ Ships

Just go into the Hyper link Scrol Down you can see Indian Ships being built already . India will becoime a massive ship building nation in a decade

[BSF]

Those 100 Warships include

Aircraft carriers x 2

Destroyers x 7

Frigates x 15

Nuke SUBS x 5

Escort Corvettes x 24

Landing ships x 10

Missle patrol; ship x 30

Other small ancillary ships

They are not all big 5000/6000 tonne++ Ships

Just go into the Hyper link Scrol Down you can see Indian Ships being built already . India will becoime a massive ship building nation in a decade

What hyper link are we talking about... ?
Please post the link again?
Are you talking about the wiki link?


I think we need at least 5 A/C with two of them being Nuclear A/C.
Well to protect a A/C we need a few more subs and destroyers but then....

Any way
125 warships in 10 years means 10-12 warships in a year.
That's a bit too much don't don't you think.

I wonder who will the chap inaugurating those warships.
He has a though time ahead

[GLOBAL HAWK]

Good news for the un-employed though!!!
massive recruiting might take place to get going!

ohh man!! I should be heading to nearest Indian embassy to get a work authorization permit.

[aimarhenry]

whats the ideology? if US doesn't have something then India should also not have that thing......


U.S doesnt have in Indian ocean but we do........

india also have US and UK threat in Indian ocean.....remenber "Enterprise" surprise in 1971? india will be the first great feast for them if china is no longer a threat to them?what happened in 1962 is no way close to what happened hundred years ago.....your suspicion about "china threat "is a joke ,considering there is only one small border clash between the two countries over the last 5000 years .china have no "evil" plan about india if your govt is still willing to solve the "McMahon" issue peacefully.Grow up,don't let a "UK-created" problem keep you blind.......

[Arsalan]

100 warships????!!

i gues you are including fishing boat in this count!

wake up friends! i know that indian navy in going good, but, a 100 warships !!!!

regards!

[PeaceForAll]

india also have US and UK threat in Indian ocean.....remenber "Enterprise" surprise in 1971? india will be the first great feast for them if china is no longer a threat to them?what happened in 1962 is no way close to what happened hundred years ago.....your suspicion about "china threat "is a joke ,considering there is only one small border clash between the two countries over the last 5000 years .china have no "evil" plan about india if your govt is still willing to solve the "McMahon" issue peacefully.Grow up,don't let a "UK-created" problem keep you blind.......

definitely something to think about! nice point man!

[beckham]

India’s navy build-up shows regional ambitions run deep

Matt Wade, Delhi
August 1, 2009

THERE were no champagne bottles smashed at the launch of India’s first home-made nuclear submarine this week. Instead, the country’s political and military elite gathered in the port city of Visakhapatnam to watch Gursharan Kaur, wife of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, crack an auspicious coconut on the new ship to mark the occasion.

The submarine — named Arihant, meaning destroyer of enemies in Sanskrit — won’t be fully operational for several years but is symbolic of India’s strategic aspirations.

Military spending has doubled in the past decade to about $US30 billion ($A36 billion) and if it keeps up with expected economic growth, analysts say, India will be the third largest military power in two decades.

Deba Ranjan Mohanty, a strategic analyst at Delhi’s Observer Research Foundation, says that by about 2025 India is likely to possess three to four aircraft carrier battle groups, a fleet of nuclear submarines, an air force with 35 squadrons and sophisticated land-based weapon systems to go with its huge army.

India is already the largest importer of military hardware in the developing world and it is increasingly buying equipment that can operate a long way from home. ‘‘A lot of this new equipment is about power projection,’’ says Rahul Bedi, a Delhi-based correspondent for Jane’s Defence Weekly.

Another factor in India’s military build-up is Delhi’s concern about growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal. But India will have to overcome some big obstacles before it can claim to be the caretaker of the Indian Ocean region. A lot of its military hardware is obsolete and Mr Mohanty says it will be difficult for India to rapidly acquire and manage the sophisticated weapons systems it wants. It is also hampered by perceived threats on its doorstep.

ANU strategic specialist Sandy Gordon says India will eventually emerge as a major force in the Indian Ocean but, for now, it is still constrained by internal security challenges and threatening neighbours. Because of the perceived threat from nuclear-armed rival Pakistan, India maintains a huge land force. It’s regular army of about 1.3 million troops is supported by a part-time reserve force of 1.2 million and its paramilitary forces number about 1.1 million.

India has about 60-70 operational nuclear weapons.

Uday Bhaskar, a former naval commander and director of the National Maritime Foundation, says India’s military has one of the most skewed army-to-navy ratios in the world. ‘‘The navy only gets about 15 per cent of the defence budget, while the army gets about 60 per cent,’’ he says.

Rory Medcalf, international security program director at the Lowy Institute, says India will have to devote far more resources to its navy.

‘‘It may not do that until it feels more secure in its own neighbourhood,’’ he says.

The US has encouraged India’s naval expansion and there has been a dramatic increase in joint exercises involving the American and Indian fleets.

Australia and India share a strategic interest in the Indian Ocean region but that has not always guaranteed close military co-operation. In 1998, Australia’s defence attache in Delhi was thrown out of the country in retaliation for Australia’s condemnation of India’s decision to conduct a nuclear weapon test.

Since ties were revived in 2000 Australia has worked hard to strengthen military engagement with India.

‘‘There is three times as much activity between the two armed services as there was four or five years ago — joint exercises, high-level visits and so on,’’ Australia’s high commissioner to India, John McCarthy, says.

He says the rapid improvement in the defence relationship is welcome but believes ‘‘it could still be much better’’.

Mr Mohanty says the military relationship has a long way to go. ‘‘Australia doesn’t pose a direct threat to India and it makes sense for India to engage countries like Australia to maintain stability in the India Ocean region,’’ he says.

India’s navy build-up shows regional ambitions run deep

[Zob]

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so now india wants to fight it out in the high sea!well centuries might have changed but nations thinking hasn't!!!


going back to PRE WORLD WAR 1 days...the master of the high seas were the BRITISH!! then came the new kid on the block the GERMANS.....and everyone knows the juggernauts war that started between the British royal navy & the German fleet.....


so the showdown will happen again this time amongst the Chinese and the Indians.....

the problem is that bangladesh might succumb and accept the indian dominiation so might burma and other countries HOWEVER, Pakistan will be the Achilles heel of the INDIANS

incase of a war with China the Indians would need to knock pakistan out quick and fast...damn the scenerio seems perfect for WW3!!