Third anti-submarine warfare corvette launched in Kolkata

Major step towards indigenisation and making the Navy self-reliant

In a major step towards indigenisation and making the Navy self-reliant, the third anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette, designed under the ambitious Project-28 (P-28) by the Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design, was launched in Kolkata on Tuesday.

Aimed at enhancing the Navy’s underwater warfare capabilities, the warship, in a first of its kind, will be fitted with indigenous state-of-the-art weapons and sensors, including a medium range gun, torpedo tube launchers, rocket launchers and close-in weapon system.

Being built by one of India’s leading shipbuilders, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd. (GRSE), it has been named after an island — Kiltan — in the Lakshwadweep archipelago of India. It was launched by Chitra Joshi, wife of the Navy Chief Admiral D. K. Joshi. Admiral Joshi and Chairman and Managing Director of GRSE Rear Admiral (retd.) A.K. Verma were present.

With nearly 90% indigenisation content, the building of the corvette was a major initiative, Navy officials said.

The first GRSE-built ASW corvette, Kamorta, is expected to be delivered to the Navy by this year-end. It was launched on April 19, 2010 and had suffered a delay of nearly one year.

The remaining ships, according to GRSE, will be delivered by 2016. The fourth ASW corvette will be launched in 2014 and built, fitted and tested and delivered to the Navy in little over 20 months, the officials said.

Technological landmark

While lauding the efforts of GRSE in detail designing of the ship, Admiral Joshi singled out its technological landmark, as being the first ship in the country built with a composite superstructure of carbon fibre composite material, which will be successfully integrated with the main hull. Besides reducing the top weight, it would provide improved stealth features and reduce life cycle maintenance costs.

The hull form would be highly efficient with excellent sea-keeping and manoeuvrability characteristics having an overall length of 109 metres. The ship can cut through the sea at a very high speed of 25 knots. The advanced stealth features would make it less susceptible to detection and help in effective deployment of soft kill measures.

The Navy Chief said global economic slowdown had opened up opportunities for India’s defence ship-building yards. Economic recession had led to shutdown of many companies and the surplus capacities were being shifted to emerging economies like India.

Admiral Joshi said the ultimate test would be the country’s ability to export its products.

Out of 42 orders given by the Navy, 40 were being built indigenously by public or private sector enterprises. “Today, the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard have huge requirement of ships and the same are required to be produced without any time and cost overrun. Timely delivery of quality ships is the need of the hour. Modern shipbuilding technology and tools must be adopted to achieve this objective,” Admiral Joshi said.

Japanese Defense Ministry may sell sea rescue aircraft to India

The Defense Ministry is considering the export of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's US-2 sea rescue aircraft to India for civilian use, it was learned Sunday.

In view of India's long history of border disputes with China, the Japanese initiative may be aimed in part at China's aggressive maritime activity.

The US-2 is an amphibious plane internationally acclaimed for its ability to land in water in bad weather.

The ministry believes that shipping the aircraft to India would not violate Japan's ban on arms exports. The US-2 is not a weapon, a senior ministry official said

India readies hi-tech naval base to keep eye on China

Slowly but steadily, India's new futuristic naval base is beginning to take concrete shape on the eastern seaboard. The strategic base, with an eye firmly on China, will eventually even have underground pens or bunkers to protect nuclear submarines both from spy satellites and enemy air attacks.


Sources said a flurry of discussions and meetings have been held in the PMO and defence ministry over the last couple of months to firm up "expansion plans'' for a base located near Rambilli called "Project Varsha" on the Andhra coast — just about 50 km from the Eastern Naval Command headquarters at Visakhapatnam — over the coming decade. 

Though it's still very early days for Project Varsha, some bill it as an answer to China's massive underground nuclear submarine base at Yalong on the southernmost tip of Hainan Island, which houses its new Shang-class SSNs (nuclear-powered attack submarines) and the Jin-class SSBNs (nuclear-powered submarines with long-range nuclear missiles). 

Although land acquisitions and incremental development work on the base under the secretive project kicked off a few years ago, it is set to take off in a major way with the construction of tunnels, jetties, depots, workshops and accommodation. "Further land acquisitions for the sprawling base to be spread over 20 sq km are now underway, with long-term budget allocations also being planned,'' said a source. 

The endeavour dovetails into the overall policy to bolster force-levels on the eastern seaboard, with new warships, aircraft and spy drones as well as forward-operating (FOBs) and operational turnaround (OTR) bases, to counter China's expanding footprint in the entire Indian Ocean Region (IOR). 

Naval assets to protect India's long coastline and keep watch over the crucial trade corridors in the Indian Ocean are essential to Indian interests. The strategic value of force projection beyond the Andaman islands is seen in terms of deterrence as well given the aggressive military Chinese expansion. India's own SSBN programme is also poised to turn the corner soon with sea trials of the 6,000-tonne INS Arihant slated to begin off Visakhapatnam. INS Arihant and its three "follow-on'' SSBNs, which will complete India's elusive nuclear weapon triad since they will be armed with the `K' series of submarine-launched ballistic missiles, as well as other frontline warships will be housed at the new base. 

The Navy plans to operate at least three SSBNs and six SSNs in the long run for effective nuclear deterrence. Moreover, after inducting the 8,140-tonne INS Chakra submarine on a 10-year lease from Russia last year, India is now negotiating the lease of another such nuclear-powered Akula-II class submarine, as was earlier reported by TOI. 

Project Varsha's ambitious scale in the years ahead will rival the expansive "Project Seabird'' under which the Karwar naval base has come up in coastal Karnataka to give India both strategic depth and operational flexibility on the western seaboard against Pakistan. While Karwar will decongest the over-crowded Mumbai port, the new base will do the same for Vizag on the east. 

Karwar can currently base 11 major warships and 10 yard-craft after completion of its Phase-I at a cost of Rs 2,629 crore. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had last year approved Rs 13,000 crore for its expansion under Phase-IIA to ensure it can berth 32 major warships and submarines by 2018-19. 

Karwar will be the home base for aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, the 44,570-tonne Admiral Gorshkov being refitted in Russia for $2.33 billion, as well as the six French Scorpene submarines being built at Mazagon Docks for Rs 23,562 crore.

RLV airframe under construction

A winged Re-usable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) has been configured to act as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies, namely, hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air breathing propulsion towards realising a Two Stage to Orbit (TSTO) fully re-usable launch vehicle.

Major highlights of RLV-TD during the year include:

mission analysis based on static test propulsion performance, updating of autopilot design
in RLV-TD ascent phase and Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (TDV) descent phase, 6D simulations through COMETS & SITARA to validate Navigation and Guidance Control (NGC) design, liftoff studies and wind turbulence studies. Guidance and Autopilot designs were modified based on simulation results.

Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (TDV) structural model was realised. Fuselage and inter stage assemblies are realised for structural testing. Flush Air Data System (FADS) (FADS is also one of the critical technologies for AMCA) test article realised and integration procedure, FADS algorithm, avionics and leak tightness for pressure pick up assembly were validated through 1:1 FADS wind tunnel test at IIT, Kanpur.

Qualification model of Radar Altimeter was realised and balloon test conducted at TIFR, Hyderabad. Carbon-carbon (C/C) laminates for nose cap were realised through a new route. Functional qualification test of Launch Hold and Release System (LHRS) with dual pyro initiation carried out with simulated interfaces. 

The testing of HS9 booster stage separation system along with hydraulic line separation system was completed successfully. High altitude test of the 2 kN retro rocket developed for jettisoning spent HS9 motor was successfully conducted at SDSC SHAR.


The Integrated Technical Review (ITR) of RLV-TD by the National Review Committee in October 2012 has concluded that launch of RLV-TD HEX-01 mission in September 2013 is feasible


Human space program Updates:

As part of pre project activities, drop test of full scale Crew Module were conducted successfully to
understand the deceleration characteristics and validate the estimated values of ‘g’ level, touchdown
velocity and depth of penetration. Scale models of Crew Module have been realised for heat transfer
studies, plasma wind tunnel tests and aero-ballistic range tests were conducted. Mortar based parachute ejection and deployment tests carried out in single and clustered configuration. Environmental simulation chamber has been realised for testing of ECLSS functional modules and flight suit systems. Flight suit has been successfully tested in vacuum chamber for leak rate assessment and material compatibility under vacuum conditions.

Focus On Priority Areas: Antony To DRDO, Pics -- Defence Investiture Ceremony

The Defence Minister Shri AK Antony today complimented the top brass of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for their remarkable achievements in recent years, most notably, for Agni-5 and the BrahMos missile systems.

Inaugurating the 37th Directors’ Conference of DRDO here, Shri Antony said, these successes should not, however, make us complacent and the unfinished projects, which are in the pipeline for a very long time, should be concluded at the earliest. In this connection, he drew the attention to the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project and said DRDO must not extend further the date beyond 2014, set by the DRDO Chief Dr VK Saraswat, for the Final Operational Clearance of the Tejas for induction into the Indian Air Force.

Shri Antony asked the DRDO scientists to focus on priority areas and said the ultimate test of success of the organisation lies in the satisfaction of the users i.e., the Services.

 Referring to some recent developments which have put the defence acquisition process under the scanner, Shri Antony said, such incidents highlight the need to look within and make us realise that there is absolutely no substitute to self reliance.

“If our indigenisation goals are to be realised, DRDO will have to take the lead in this regard. Other stakeholders, for instance, the Services, the Ministry of Defence and private industry in the defence sector too must cooperate to ensure quick, honest and transparent acceptance of the systems”.

He said, all the stakeholders must meet at regular intervals to undertake periodic reviews and suggest corrective action. Both DRDO and the Services must place more trust and confidence in each other’s abilities and work with close synergy. “The concept of block acceptance and spiral development that is being followed in most leading countries of the world must be embraced after due deliberations and required changes”, Shri Antony said.

Responding to the DRDO’s request for enhanced budget, Shri Antony said, allocation of funds will not be a constraint but at the same time, spending the money most judiciously and with all the transparency at our command must be your watchword. He said, continuous funding would be required for R&D to survive, but with more emphasis on indigenisation and self reliance, we would save a lot of money in the long run, although, we might have to invest more to begin with.

Others who spoke on the occasion included the Minister of State for Defence, Shri Jitendra Singh, the National Security Advisor, Shri Shiv Shankar Menon and the DRDO Chief Dr VK Saraswat.

Nation’s missile programme is not derived from our space launch vehicles

Are our missiles riding into space on launch vehicles developed for satellites? Western think tanks have long suspected that the Indian space and guided missile programmes are intertwined. But such an assumption – often fuelled by security concerns about proliferation of ballistic missiles – seems far off the trajectory when one considers the relative success of our space programme and the not-so-good record of the country’s missile development programmes.

The talk of convergence between the two programmes is based on the logic that both satellite launch vehicles and missiles deploy similar launch technology. “The basic technology may be same. However, a satellite is sent into space while a missile reaches outer space and then re-enters the earth’s atmosphere, after which it has to engage the target correctly,” pointed out Dr Ajey Lele, strategic expert at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA).

Small fraction

Dr Dinshaw Mistry of the University of Cincinnati, who has examined the extent of links between ballistic missile and space rocket programmes in regional powers, said that missiles were derived from existing space launchers in just a small fraction of cases.

“In the 1980s and early 1990s there was some convergence between the two programmes because a 9-tonne, solid-fuel rocket was used for both India’s lightweight space rocket, SLV-3, and for its Agni-I and Agni-II missiles,” Mistry said.

Since then, he said, there has been considerable divergence. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has built Agni-III systems that use 30 to 40-tonne solid-fuel systems, while the state agency has built the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) with 130 to 140-tonne engines.

PSLV, which last month had its 22nd successive successful flight from Sriharikota, has emerged as the workhorse launcher of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). PSLV also launched India’s first spacecraft mission to moon, Chandrayaan-I, in 2008, and is slated to launch the country’s first interplanetary mission to the Mars later this year.

Mistry said “the space programme has been successful because it focused on one main system – PSLV – and has conducted over 20 launches of this system. The missile programme has spread its attention over more than five different missiles and, therefore, repeatedly switches time and resources among systems”.

“Traditionally, India has had space and missile development as two independent and separate programmes. We have enough technical and scientific manpower who work independently on these programmes. The talk of convergence is Western propaganda to push technology denial,” pointed out Lele.

In fact, space scientists said, ISRO’s launch programme has developed constantly under technology-denial regimes after the first nuclear explosion at Pokhran. Though there are no formal links between the DRDO and ISRO, the movement of scientists between the two organisations and informal exchange of notes is not ruled out.

ISRO success

ISRO attributes its success to its multi-disciplinary technology development teams, setting up of appropriate research and development labs, establishing critical manufacturing capability in industry, development of elaborate quality assurance protocols, test and evaluation procedures and well-equipped launchpads.

Key technologies developed by the agency include solid-propellant motors, earth-storable liquid propellant engines, avionics and navigation systems. For the GSLV, it has developed a cryogenic propulsion system, which was initially imported from Russia. It is also working on air-breathing propulsion and technologies related to reusable launch vehicles.

BJP questions ‘shift’ in defence procurement policy

Defence Ministry’s move to have ‘life cycle cost’ clause in tenders for military hardware, including in one for the 126 Multi-Role Medium Combat Aircraft (MMRCA), has come in for questioning from BJP which fears this could be misused for corruption.

BJP leader and former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has written to Defence Minister A K Antony, raising a number of questions over the “conceptual shift” in the defence procurement policy. 

Sinha has expressed apprehensions about misuse of the new clause close on the heels of a major scam that unfolded in the Defence Ministry’s VVIP helicopter deal with Anglo-Italian company AgustaWestland.

Sinha has questioned the logic behind having such a clause and wondered what would be the contractual obligations for the life of an equipment.

He has underlined that in the absence of an enforceable obligation, the ‘life cycle cost’ (LCC) could be rendered a “dead letter”.

The former External Affairs Minister has suggested that the apprehensions about the clause being misused can be addressed by binding the vendors by “enforceable contract” to ensure its contractual obligations.

Referring to the MMRCA, he has said that two of the seven “elements” laid down in defence procurement policy in June 2007 were omitted in its case.

Sinha said doubt arises that if the model approved in 2007 is flexible, then would it not be changed from time to time, from acquisition to acquisition to favour a particular vendor.

The two elements dropped were ‘cost of total technical based reserves’ and ‘cost of transfer of technology’.

The government has argued that these elements were mentioned in the Request for Proposal for the 126 MMRCA contract under a separate head as these fighters would have to be spread across 5-6 different locations and these have multiple systems which require large inventory of such reserves.

Sinha has questioned whether the Defence Ministry has consulted the Finance Ministry on this “conceptual shift” and whether the latter has agreed to it.

He has also wondered whether it would not be advisable to consult the CAG in advance and have the concept examined in view of the “momentous nature” of this change to avoid any problems in future.

Sinha has also questioned how it will impact upon the defence offset policy and the interest of the domestic industry.