New Delhi: Vice Chief of Indian Navy Vice Admiral Satish Namdeo Ghormade on Tuesday emphasized on enhancing “force level” of the Indian Navy, as he announced commissioning of stealth guided missile destroyer Visakhapatnam, and Kalvari Class submarine Vela.
The Vice Chief of Navy said the Maritime environment is a “complex one” and it only increases with more players being involved. “We live in a time when global and regional balances of power are shifting rapidly and the region of most rapid change is undoubtedly the Indian Ocean Region. Continuous efforts are, therefore, on to ensure that our force levels grow progressively to enhance the capability of Indian Navy to meet the emerging challenges,” the Vice Admiral said.
He was briefing media ahead of the commissioning of ‘Visakhapatnam’, the first ship of Project 15B which will be held on November 21 and the Submarine Vela, the fourth submarine of the Kalvari Class, on November 25, both at the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai.
Asked about the target of Indian Navy to enhance force level as per the Maritime Perspective Plan, which is to have 200 ships and submarines by 2027, the Navy Chief said, “We had made our maritime security plan and we are progressing as per that schedule, the sanctions and the projects move as per a process, while our aim would be to meet the (target of ) 170 and 200 in future, the timeline depends on the rate how progress goes,” the Vice Chief of Navy said.
He added that now the navy is also now looking at an “integrated capability development system” to align its security perspective plan with other forces, and priorities will be set accordingly. “Now we are also looking at an integrated capability development system which is being introduced and the work is progressing well on tri-service effort to make an integrated development system in which our maritime security perspective plan has been included which would ensure our progress grows,” he said.
The Vice Chief of Navy said at present there are 130 ships and submarines with the Indian Navy, and another 39 presently being constructed in various Indian shipyards. Two ships of the Indian Navy are also under construction in Russia. “Commissioning of ‘Visakhapatnam’ and ‘Vela’ are major milestones showcasing the Indigenous capacity to build complex combat platforms. This will enhance our capacity and fire power to address the threats both in the above and underwater domains,” he said.
Stealth guided missile destroyer Visakhapatnam is 163 meters in length, 17 meters in breadth with a displacement of 7400 tones and can rightfully be regarded as one of the most potent warships to have been constructed in India.
The ship is propelled by four powerful Gas Turbines, in a Combined Gas and Gas (COGAG) configuration, capable of achieving speeds in excess of 30 knots. The ship has enhanced stealth features resulting in a reduced Radar Cross Section (RCS) achieved through efficient shaping of hull, full beam superstructure design, plated masts and use of radar transparent materials on exposed decks.
The ‘state of the art’ weapons and sensors such as Surface to Surface Missile and Surface to Air Missiles. The ship is fitted with a modern Surveillance Radar which provides target data to the gunnery weapon systems of the ship. The ship’s Anti Submarine Warfare capabilities are provided by the indigenously developed Rocket Launchers, Torpedo Launchers and ASW helicopters. The ship is equipped to fight under Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) warfare conditions.
Fourth Scorpion class submarine Vela was delivered to the Indian Navy on Tuesday. A Kalvari class submarines, Vela is a conventional diesel submarines with superior stealth features such as advanced acoustic silencing techniques, low radiated noise levels, hydro-dynamically optimized shape and the ability to launch a crippling attack on the enemy using precision guided weapons.
The Indian Navy also announced launching of Sandhayak, first of the four Survey Vessels (Large) (SVL) Project being built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata for Indian Navy. The contract for building four SVL ships was signed between MoD and GRSE on October 30, 2018.
