Indian Navy An Overview

Apart from protecting and guarding Indian sea territory, the Indian Navy along with the Indian Coast Guard carries out the mammoth task of patrolling and securing India's 7,500 km coastline.

History of Indian Navy
The British East India Company came to India in 1608. At the Battle of Swally in 1612 they encountered and defeated the Portuguese. This encounter emphasised the need for a naval force to protect commerce. This resulted in formation of what was then called the Honourable East India Company's Marine. It was responsible for the protection of the East India Company's trade in the Gulf of Cambay and the river mouths of the Tapti and Narmada. The officers and the men of this force went on to play an important role in surveying the Arabian, Persian and Indian coastlines.

Although Bombay had been ceded to the British in 1662, they physically took possession of the island on 8 February 1665, only to pass it on to the East India Company on 27 September 1668. As a consequence, the Honourable East India Company's Marine also became responsible for the protection of trade off Bombay.

By 1686, with British commerce having shifted predominantly to Bombay, the name of this force was changed to Bombay Marine. This force rendered unique service, fighting not only the Portuguese, Dutch and French, but also interlopers and pirates of various nationalities. The Bombay Marine was involved in combat against the Marathas and the Sidis and participated in the Burma War in 1824. In 1830, the Bombay Marine was renamed Her Majesty's Indian Navy.

In recognition of the services rendered during various campaigns, its title was changed to Royal Indian Marine in 1892, by which time it consisted of over 50 vessels. [2]

In 1934 the Royal Indian Marine was reorganised into the Royal Indian Navy (RIN). At the start of the Second World War it was very small and had eight warships, though this increased during the war.

India gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, though senior officers were initially drawn from the Royal Navy. The "Royal" title was initially kept as George VI remained head of state and vessels were known as His Majesty's Indian Ships (HMIS). When India became a republic within the Commonwealth on 26 January 1950, it became known simply as the Indian Navy, and its vessels as Indian Navy Ships (INS).

Major Conflicts
The first involvement of the Navy in any conflict came during the Liberation of Goa in 1961 with the success of Operation Vijay.

The Navy has been involved in 2 wars with Pakistan. While the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 largely involved patrolling of the coast, India's navy 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 crux of the war shifted to the east.

INS Rajput was instrumental in sinking Pakistan's premier submarine PNS Ghazi which posed a significant threat in the Bay of Bengal, while INS Nirghat and Nipat sunk a destroyer each and INS Veer accounting for a minesweeper. The naval aircraft Sea Hawks and Alize' were also instrumental in sinking many gunboats and merchant navy vessels. There was one major casualty in the frigate INS Khukri (sunk by PNS Hangor) with another vessel INS Kirpan damaged in the western sector, but on the eastern front the opposing Pakistan Navy took a severe beating. The blockade of East Pakistan port with major naval presence proved to be a vital link in the war. Ultimately it was a series of decisive operations in which the Indian Navy proved its superiority by routing its counterpart.

It was also instrumental in overthrowing the coup attempt by Tamil mercenariness in Maldives by pouring troops there in 1988. The campaign led by the Indian navy was known as Operation Cactus.

Navy Personnel
Each of the three Naval Commands has a Flag Officer Commanding in Chief. The commander of the Navy is the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS). The current CNS is Admiral Arun Prakash. The CNS is assisted by several other high ranking officers. Below is the list of various ranks of officers within the Indian Navy in descending order:
 

Strength
The total strength of the navy in 2004 stood at 55,000, including 5,000 naval aviation personnel and 2,000 marines (MARCOS).

Structure of Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is organised into three regional commands:
 

• HQ Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam

• HQ Western Naval Command, Mumbai

• HQ Southern Naval Command, Kochi

Another command, a joint Navy, Army and Air force command was set up in Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 2001 as a strategic area of defence. Recently the Indian Navy received a huge boost when INS Kadamba was commissioned at Karwar, 100 Km from Goa. This is the third operational naval base after Mumbai and Vishakapatnam and the first to be controlled exclusively by the Indian navy. It is being described by naval pundits as the largest such base in the area. Called 'Project Seabird' it is a multi-billion dollar plan to create an exclusive naval port with full facilities. Another base is being planned for the eastern shores at a cost of US$ 350 million[3].

The Indian Navy is divided into the following broad categories:
 

Marine Commando Force
The Marine Commando Force (MCF) known as MARCOS is a special forces unit that was raised by the Indian Navy in 1987. Modelled after the US Navy SEALs and the Royal Marines it was created to handle reconnaissance, raids and Counter-terrorism in a maritime environment. It's first action was against the LTTE in Sri Lanka in 1998 as part of the IPKF. It is currently deployed in Kashmir.

Weapons

Ships
The fleet of the Indian Navy is a mix of indigenously built vessels and ships bought from other nations. Though the quality of India-built ships is up to world standards, the ability to produce the required numbers is below par.

India's navy is expanding, particularly in carrier aviation. Current carrier, INS Viraat (formerly HMS Hermes), will be retired by the end of the decade. After ten years of negotiations the Indian government announced in January 2004 that they will buy a Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov (it will be called INS Vikramaditya). The entire deal was worth US $1.5 billion and is expected to enter the navy by 2008. This 45,000 tonne vessel will be equipped with 16 Mig-29Ks. This would seem to mark the end of the BAE Sea Harrier's role in the Indian Navy. Presently, 23 Sea Harriers are in service.

The names of all commissioned ships in the Indian Navy start with INS, meaning Indian Naval Ship. Following are the various ship classes in the Indian Navy:

Aircraft Carriers
INS Viraat
Admiral Gorshkov (to enter service by 2008 as INS Vikramaditya)
Unnamed aircraft carrier (under construction; expected to enter service by 2011)
INS Vikrant (retired)

Guided Missile Destroyers
Type 15/Delhi class
Type 15A/Bangalore class
Rajput class

Guided Missile Frigates
Type 16/Godavari class
Talwar class
Shivalik class
Brahmaputra class

Guided Missile Corvettes
Kora class
Khukri class

Patrol Craft
Sukanya class

Submarines
The Indian Navy currently maintains a fleet of 16 diesel powered submarines. These are primarily of Russian and German origin.

Foxtrot class
Sishumar class
Sindhughosh class

Nuclear Powered Submarines
In January 1988 India leased for three years an ex-Soviet Charlie class nuclear powered guided missile submarine with eight Ametist (SS-N-7 Starbright) anti-shipping missile launchers. In the Indian Navy, the ship was christened INS Chakra, and the submarine was manned by a Russian crew training Indian seamen to operate it. Upon expiration of the ship leasing term in 1991, the submarine was returned to Russia and decommissioned from the Russian Navy.

India has been working since 1985 to develop an indigenously constructed nuclear-powered submarine, one that is based on the Soviet Charlie II-class design, detailed drawings of which are said to have been obtained from the Soviet Union in 1989. This project illustrates India's industrial capabilities and weaknesses. The secretive Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project to provide nuclear propulsion for Indian submarines has been one of the more ill-managed projects of India. Although India has the capability of building the hull and developing or acquiring the necessary sensors, its industry has been stymied by several system integration and fabrication problems in trying to downsize a 190 MW pressurized water reactor (PWR) to fit into the space available within the submarine's hull. The Prototype Testing Centre (PTC) at the (Indira Gandhi Centre For Atomic Research, Kalpakkam, will be used to test the submarine's turbines and propellers. A similar facility is operational at Vishakapatnam to test the main turbines and gear box.

According to some accounts India plans to have as many as five nuclear submarines capable of carrying missiles with nuclear warheads. The Indian nuclear powered attack submarine design is said to have a 4,000-ton displacement and a single-shaft nuclear power plant of Indian origin. Once the vessel is completed, it may be equipped with Danush/Sagarika cruise missiles and an advanced sonar system. However, according to some analysts the most probable missile for the Indian submarine would be the Yahont anti-ship cruise missile designed by NPO Mashinostroyeni.

Naval aircraft
Bae Sea Harrier
Ilyushin Il-38
Tupolev Tu-142
Dornier Do 228
Kamov-28 and Kamov-31
Sea King MK 2B
HAL Dhruv
HAL Chetak
HPT-32

Future naval aircraft
Mikoyan MiG-29
Light Combat Aircraft
HAL HJT-36
Sukhoi Su-47

Missiles, guns, artillery equipments

Submarine-based missiles
India has a number of foreign-produced cruise missile systems in its arsenal, to include Klub (SS-N-27). It also has some indigenous cruise missile systems under development, including the Sagarika and Lakshya variants. The Sagarika (Oceanic) began development in 1994 as a submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM) which will have a range of at least 300 km (a few claim 1000 km); it is projected for deployment around 2005.

Future plans
India started the construction of a 37,500 tonne, 252 metre-long aircraft carrier in April 2005. The new carrier will cost US$762 million and will operate MIG 29 K and Sea Harrier aircraft and Russian- and Indian-made helicopters. The ship will be powered by four turbine engines and when completed will have a range of 7,500 nautical miles, carrying 160 officers, 1400 sailors, and 30 aircraft. The carrier is to be constructed by a state-run shipyard in southern India.[4]

In 2004, India also bought the Admiral Gorshkov from Russia for $US 1.5 billion; it is expected to join the Indian navy in 2008 after a refit. Indian navy would spend 800 million US $ to upgrade the ship. Gorshkov was designed to carry a lot of missiles and does not have flat-top deck. Upgrade plans include re-designing the deck and replacing obsolete equipment and missiles with modern, state-of-the-art ones. The deal also includes the purchase of 28 MiG-29Ks fighter jets, six Kamov-31 attack and reconnaissance anti-submarine helicopters, torpedo tubes, missile systems and artillery units, worth an additional 700 million US $. [5]

The Indian Navy is going through an intense phase of expansion, modernisation and upgrading. Presently, India is constructing 10 frigates and 9 corvettes. According to a report published by the US Congress, Indian Navy would be among the top 3 navies in the world by 2009. In 2004, the Ministry of Defence spent 5.7 billion US$ in arms purchases making India the developing world's leading military buyer. A major chunk of those purchases were made for the Indian Navy. India, is currently focusing more on expanding its submarine fleet. It bought six Scorpene submarines from France in 2005 for 2.5 billion euros and is also considering to lease 3 Russian Akula-class submarines. Indian navy is also planning to purchase P-3C Orion patrol-aircraft from the United States.