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IANS | 03-Dec 03:58 AM
New Delhi: India will have "a brand
new" navy with "long legs" at sea, with
force levels of 150-odd warships and
500-odd air fleet, navy chief Admiral
Nirmal Verma said on Friday.
Ahead of the Navy Day on December
4, Verma told an annual press
conference in New Delhi that by 2027,
the Indian Navy will be having "over
150 ships and close to 500 aircraft
and helicopters" .
"Today, Indian Navy is poised for a
very good growth path. Navy veterans
could not have imagined the growth
curve that we have today," he said.
Referring to the two new tankers that
Indian Navy has inducted this year for
deployment on the Eastern and
Western sea boards, Verma said India
now has the capability to operate two
task forces on the either side of
India's coast simultaneously.
"The two tankers inducted are going
to provide us long legs. Two tankers
on either coast will make it possible to
operate two task forces at greater
distances for longer periods," he said.
"When I say long legs, we can
translate it into two distinct methods
of deployment -- deployment at long
distances and deployment at long
distances along with ability to stay
there for sometime. We are talking
about reach and sustainability, " he
said.
India also plans to induct the INS
Vikramaditya (erstwhile Admiral
Gorshkov) aircraft carrier from Russia
by this year end, apart from inducting
nine other major surface warships
such as one Shivalik class frigate,
another Kolkata class destroyer, an
anti-submarine warfare corvette, an
offshore patrol vessel, two follow-on
Talwar class frigates from Russia,
apart from three catamaran survey
vessels and 25 fast interceptor craft.
With regard to the Indigenous Aircraft
Carrier (IAC) being built at Cochin
Shipyard, Verma said it was "a setback
of sorts" that it could not be launched
into the waters this month as
originally planned due to delays in
procurement of critical equipment
that needed to be integrated on the
ship before hitting the waters.
"Hopefully by middle of next year or
so (we should launch the IAC), that's
my assessment and hope," he added.
Despite the navy set for growth over
the next 15 years, Verma said its
primary focus and area of
responsibility will be to defend the
Indian Ocean, and to deploy more
ships at sea to respond to emergent
situations far away from the main
land, such as a pirate attack or
escorting cargo ships with Indian
interests in pirate-infested waters.
On the delays in the follow-on
conventional submarines project
codenamed P75I, Verma said since
this was navy's last opportunity to
build its own design capabilities in
terms of stealth and other
technologies, it was taking time to
define what it wants to achieve for
indigenous capabilities from the
project.
He also said the navy did not want to
end up in a single vendor situation for
P75I, thereby forcing it to "redo" the
tendering that would put back the
procurement plans by several more
years.
"We have to be very clear as to what
we are asking for, as we don't want to
land up in a situation where we have
to redo the process, like it happened
in some cases and defence
programmes," he said.
The navy, Verma said, has on order 49
ships and submarines of which 45 are
from Indian shipyards.
He also noted that the navy was
planning to set up an amphibious
warfare training complex at Kakinada
on the Andhra Pradesh coast to raise
troops that can wage war by landing
on enemy shores.
Brand new Indian Navy with long legs by 2027: Verma - India News - IBNLive
New Delhi: India will have "a brand
new" navy with "long legs" at sea, with
force levels of 150-odd warships and
500-odd air fleet, navy chief Admiral
Nirmal Verma said on Friday.
Ahead of the Navy Day on December
4, Verma told an annual press
conference in New Delhi that by 2027,
the Indian Navy will be having "over
150 ships and close to 500 aircraft
and helicopters" .
"Today, Indian Navy is poised for a
very good growth path. Navy veterans
could not have imagined the growth
curve that we have today," he said.
Referring to the two new tankers that
Indian Navy has inducted this year for
deployment on the Eastern and
Western sea boards, Verma said India
now has the capability to operate two
task forces on the either side of
India's coast simultaneously.
"The two tankers inducted are going
to provide us long legs. Two tankers
on either coast will make it possible to
operate two task forces at greater
distances for longer periods," he said.
"When I say long legs, we can
translate it into two distinct methods
of deployment -- deployment at long
distances and deployment at long
distances along with ability to stay
there for sometime. We are talking
about reach and sustainability, " he
said.
India also plans to induct the INS
Vikramaditya (erstwhile Admiral
Gorshkov) aircraft carrier from Russia
by this year end, apart from inducting
nine other major surface warships
such as one Shivalik class frigate,
another Kolkata class destroyer, an
anti-submarine warfare corvette, an
offshore patrol vessel, two follow-on
Talwar class frigates from Russia,
apart from three catamaran survey
vessels and 25 fast interceptor craft.
With regard to the Indigenous Aircraft
Carrier (IAC) being built at Cochin
Shipyard, Verma said it was "a setback
of sorts" that it could not be launched
into the waters this month as
originally planned due to delays in
procurement of critical equipment
that needed to be integrated on the
ship before hitting the waters.
"Hopefully by middle of next year or
so (we should launch the IAC), that's
my assessment and hope," he added.
Despite the navy set for growth over
the next 15 years, Verma said its
primary focus and area of
responsibility will be to defend the
Indian Ocean, and to deploy more
ships at sea to respond to emergent
situations far away from the main
land, such as a pirate attack or
escorting cargo ships with Indian
interests in pirate-infested waters.
On the delays in the follow-on
conventional submarines project
codenamed P75I, Verma said since
this was navy's last opportunity to
build its own design capabilities in
terms of stealth and other
technologies, it was taking time to
define what it wants to achieve for
indigenous capabilities from the
project.
He also said the navy did not want to
end up in a single vendor situation for
P75I, thereby forcing it to "redo" the
tendering that would put back the
procurement plans by several more
years.
"We have to be very clear as to what
we are asking for, as we don't want to
land up in a situation where we have
to redo the process, like it happened
in some cases and defence
programmes," he said.
The navy, Verma said, has on order 49
ships and submarines of which 45 are
from Indian shipyards.
He also noted that the navy was
planning to set up an amphibious
warfare training complex at Kakinada
on the Andhra Pradesh coast to raise
troops that can wage war by landing
on enemy shores.
Brand new Indian Navy with long legs by 2027: Verma - India News - IBNLive
