A Force to be Reckoned With

Indian Navy Poised to Modernize and Expand

By TIMOTHY D. KILVERT-JONES

Timothy D. Kilvert-Jones is the director for international operations at Universal Systems & Technologies (UNITECH) in Fairfax, Va.

The government of Indian Prime Minister Atal Bahari Vajpayee announced this year a 28.2 percent increase in defense spending for fiscal years 2000 and 2001. The funding increase—the largest in defense spending since the nation’s independence from Britain in 1947—will be used to modernize India’s armed forces and build a credible nuclear deterrent.

The 130 billion-rupee defense-budget increase raises the nation’s military expenditure to 2.2 percent of gross domestic product after several years of flat investment; of that increase, the Indian Navy (IN) has been allocated 4.44 billion rupees.

Indian government officials said that future funding increases would cover the purchase and modernization costs of the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov and the acquisition of new maritime-reconnaissance aircraft, electronic-warfare systems, and a carrier air group outfitted with the MiG-29K (Type 9-17K) fighter aircraft.

The significant budget increase for Indian naval forces and assurances for ongoing program funding were stimulated in part by the recent "Kargil War" with Pakistan in the disputed Kashmir region. After that conflict, the Indian government apparently recognized that the time had come to modernize the nation’s armed forces. In October, India and Russia signed a strategic-partnership agreement—as one provision of a $3 billion arms sale—providing for greater military and technological cooperation.

The implications of these developments for the Indian Navy are a series of much-needed platform acquisitions and general upgrades in addition to a greater focus on defense diplomacy in a region where, as one senior Indian naval officer stated, "You have friendship when you have strength."

From Stepchild To Joint Campaigns

As the perceived "stepchild" of the constantly engaged and forward-deployed Indian Army and Air Force, the IN has endured years of inadequate funding that until recently not only had diminished the Navy’s ability to fulfill its own specific commitments, but also had also rendered the fleet less able to support the other Indian armed forces in regional conflicts in Kashmir and peacekeeping missions in East Timor.

The low point for the IN came in 1998 with the sacking of Adm. Vishnu Bhagwat as chief of naval staff. His long campaign for enhanced naval spending had brought him into direct conflict with his political masters. His successor, Adm. Sushil Kumar, has thus far proved more adept in navigating the shoal waters of Indian politics and, with the Kargil War still fresh in the minds of government leaders, has succeeded in presenting the Indian Navy in a more positive light in the competition for defense resources.

During the two-month clash between Pakistan and India earlier this year, the role of the Navy was significant—and allegedly decisive in preventing the escalation of a highly volatile situation on land into a general war between the two nations. One result is that the IN today is no longer being marginalized in defense debates. Naval acquisition strategies are now more robust, and the IN is hoping to benefit from a period of sustained modernization that will result in a significant growth in its capabilities.

For Kumar, the indications are that the 21st century will be a maritime century in which, as one knowledgeable observer stated, the IN "will be called upon to play a major role in safeguarding the maritime interests of the country." Kumar’s program of equipment enhancements includes not simply the tangible and necessary new platforms required by a widely deployed blue water fleet but also a commitment to acquire the information-based capabilities that are part and parcel of the ongoing revolution in military affairs.

Organization Afloat and Ashore

The IN is primarily responsible, in cooperation with the 52-ship Indian Coast Guard, for the defense of the nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone—through which 95 percent of India’s trade is carried by ships, including the 971 vessels listed at Lloyd’s as the nation’s mercantile marine fleet. To fulfill this overarching mission, India has divided the subcontinent’s complex littoral geography into three naval commands:

• Western Command is responsible for the Indian Ocean and north Arabian Sea. The headquarters, located in Bombay (Mumbai), includes such facilities as a barracks, a dockyard, a carrier dock, a submarine base, and a supply school. The region also includes two shipyards.

• Eastern Command is responsible for the Bay of Bengal. Command headquarters in Vishakapatnam also is home to a submarine school and support facilities, a communications station, and extensive dockyards (built with Soviet support). The region has two major shipyards.

• Southern Naval Command, headquartered in Kochi, is the Navy’s main training command for officers and sailors of the executive and seaman branch; specific schools include navigation and direction, seamanship, gunnery, antisubmarine warfare, communications, and electronic warfare. Additional regional installations include ship-repair facilities and a naval operational test-and-evaluation establishment.

The Indian Naval Staff is headquartered at INS India in New Delhi.

The IN is currently facing an officer-recruiting problem as the nation’s economy enjoys a period of rapid growth in high technology and other higher-pay industries. However, enlisted billets

are fully recruited. Retention figures are satisfactory, with the exception of naval aviators, who are drawn to high-pay incentives in the civilian airline market.

The IN’s active fleet is a well-trained force with a professional culture based on the Royal Navy’s tradition. That tradition was reinforced for many years by the IN acquisition strategy; from India’s independence until the mid-1960s, most IN ships were purchased from the Royal Navy. In the late 1960s this trend was broken by the development of indigenous vessels based on the British Leander-class frigate.

With Indian shipyards proving incapable of matching the IN’s demands, a new trend emerged with the acquisition of ships from the Soviet Union. The British influence still lives on, though, in the Indian Navy’s traditions and culture. Whether this tie persists remains to be seen in the wake of arms-technology sanctions imposed by Great Britain and the United States following India’s nuclear weapons tests in 1998.

Further cultural and doctrinal developments undoubtedly will affect the Indian Navy as the result of the nation’s current examination of joint operations. Several studies are underway focusing on the enhancement of professional

military educational processes and the reinforcement of the recently established Joint Staff College. Additional integrated and rationalized joint facilities, including joint Ministry of Defense staffs and more refined common acquisition processes, are under consideration.

Frontline Warships Commissioned

Nine new frontline IN warships have been commissioned this year, of which the Delhi-class missile frigate INS Brahmaputra was the first in the series. The Brahmaputra will carry the indigenously made Trishul surface-to-air missile in addition to 16 Russian Zvezda Kh-35 Uran antiship missiles (which have a range of 130 kilometers). Approximately 70 percent of the frigate’s high-technology components are manufactured in India.

In April 2000, the 24,000-ton fleet replenishment tanker INS Aditya was commissioned and joined the Eastern Fleet. The most sophisticated and fastest tanker in the Navy, it also can double as a command-and-control platform during fleet operations at sea. Other significant modernization and acquisition programs include:

• Refit and modernization of the aircraft carrier INS Viraat (formerly HMS Hermes) at Kochi. This upgrade includes installation of the Kashtan close-in weapon system (CIWS), improved radar and electronic-warfare equipment, and new communications. The Israeli Barak missile system also is being fitted to provide a hard-kill/short-range (10 kilometer) defense against any missile attack. The Viraat will carry Harriers as well as multirole Sea King and Cheetah helicopters. The refit will be completed by 2001.

• Acquisition and a $700 million refit of the modified Kiev-class guided-missile aircraft carrier Admiral. Gorshkov. The refit includes incorporation of an extended flight deck and a 14.3-degree ski-jump bow. The Gorshkov was transferred at no charge, with the understanding that India will pay for the refit—concluding a transfer effort that began in 1994. The modernized vessel will be capable of carrying 24 MiG-29K fighters and six Helix helicopters (Ka-27, Ka-28 antisubmarine warfare, and Ka-31 early warning aircraft have been offered for sale by Russia).

• Construction of an air-defense ship—based on the design of the Italian Navy’s Garibaldi class—that is due for completion in 2010. The principal features of the ship will be a short-takeoff ski jump and arrested-landing recovery gear installed on an angled flight deck.

Additional force improvements are already in motion. In July, Kumar accepted the conventionally powered submarine INS Sindushastra from its St. Petersburg-based builder. The state-of-the-art submarine, the 10th Kilo-class vessel inducted into the IN carries six Club-S missiles. Also planned is the refit in Russia of nine Kilo-class submarines fitted with the new Club-S missiles—which can be launched, while the submarine is submerged, from a torpedo tube against surface targets at a range of 300 kilometers. The Club-S missile, designed by Novator in Russia, is based on the SSN-21 Sampson cruise missile.

In addition, three updated 3,600-ton Krivak-class frigates will be equipped with 18 vertical-launch Club-N missiles, air-defense systems, and CIWSs. Construction also has been authorized of an advanced-technology nuclear-powered submarine based on the Charlie-1 class that Kumar sees as a key component in India’s nuclear strike-and-deterrent force.

The IN also is embarking on an ambitious program ("Project 17") to build three stealth frigates with low infrared, radar, and acoustic signatures. As an IN officer stated, "The superiority and sea control a stealth frigate will give the Navy will be tremendous." The first frigate is expected to join the fleet within four years.

An Evolving Force

The IN is now evolving into a highly credible medium-sized maritime force that already has demonstrated its ability to operate in waters from the Gulf of Oman to the South China Sea. As demonstrated in the Kargil War, the IN is more than a match for its traditional regional rival, the Pakistan Navy. Ongoing IN programs are intended to provide the significantly enhanced reach and capability needed to allow the Navy to project power over still greater distances. The projected three carrier-based task groups in the IN’s future fleet will include Delhi-class destroyers, modern frigates, and new submarines. Surface-, undersea-, and airlaunched land-attack systems, a well-trained Marine Commando Force, and an ability to threaten and apply force along sea-based lines of communication will make the IN both a major player in any future joint campaign and a much-improved support force during limited land operations.

The IN’s ability to strike deep targets on land with cruise missiles is now becoming very significant and represents a fundamental shift in both doctrine and capability. Informed observers say that, with the reach of a blue water navy, the IN will likely continue to extend its responsibilities far beyond the nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone. In addition, it will continue fulfilling its traditional missions—to curb terrorism and piracy (in cooperation with Vietnam and Japan) in waters ranging from the North Arabian Sea to the Straits of Malacca and beyond.

The Indian government’s current policy of buying primarily indigenous services and manufactured items for the military not only has sustained India’s extensive arms and shipbuilding capability but also has blunted the arms-sales restrictions imposed by the United States. As Vice Adm. P.J. Jacob, vice chief of naval staff, stated, "Now we are producing all kinds of armaments, and this has done away with our dependence on foreign sources." In recent years the IN has been increasingly equipped with a broad mix of indigenous and adapted foreign platforms (mainly from Russia, which is considered a very reliable source, but also from British, Dutch, and French firms).

When platforms are being constructed overseas, on-site Indian quality-control engineers are frequently deployed to monitor manufacturing processes in foreign yards (particularly in Russia). In parallel with its reinvestment in the fleet and its support services the Indian government is actively pursuing a policy of defense diplomacy, with closer relationships established through cooperative exercises between the IN and its counterparts in Israel, France, Japan, and Vietnam.

With more than 50,000 personnel, 15 air squadrons (fixed-wing and rotary), seven land-based coastal-defense missile sites (truck-mounted SS-3-C Styx missiles), and more than 130 vessels on its list of commissioned ships, the IN has become a force to be reckoned with in future times of crisis. If the current acquisition plans and upgrades remain fully funded, the Indian government will be able to use its refurbished and modern Navy as a flexible and increasingly powerful tool of national policy—thereby achieving India’s historic goal of being strong on land by being supreme at sea.