Page 22 - ADT JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2020 Digital Magazine | GBP

an operational unit in a year's time after that,” the navy chief says.
Construction of the carrier began in 2009. The new flattop was
officially launched in August 2013 and relaunched in June 2015.
Originally, the carrier was scheduled to be delivery to the Navy [ REPORT ]
in 2014 and commissioned in 2016. The commissioning was then
pushed back to 2018 with sea trials to take place in 2017.The
40,000-ton Vikrant operates a ski-jump assisted Short Take-Off
but Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) launch systems for launching
aircraft.

Home-Made Anti-Sub Torpedo
In a bid to augment the firepower, the Indian Navy will soon acquire
the first batch of indigenously built heavyweight anti-submarine Mormugao and INS Imphal, while the fourth is
torpedo Varunastra. The first batch will be delivered to the Navy yet to be named.
soon and will be fitted onto Sindhu class submarines and other
navy ships. This will make India one of the eight countries to have All four will be armed with precision-strike
such indigenously designed and built system.
Indo-Russian BrahMos supersonic cruise
missiles as well as the next-generation Barak
Varunastra is capable to destroy any target, including ships and surface-to-air missile systems, developed by
submarines, up to the range of 40 kilometers in waters. The tor- Israeli Aerospace Industries-Rafael and the
pedo was successfully inducted in the Navy in July 2018, following Indian Defence Research and Development
which an order of 63 such systems for INR11.87 billion was placed. Organisation, among other weapons such
Varunastra, weighing around 1.5 tonnes, carries about 250 kg of as 127 mm main guns and rocket launchers.
high explosives. It carries the explosives at a speed of around 40 While BrahMos has a strike range of about 290
nautical miles an hour (74 km/hour). The transducer of Varunastra km, the interception range of the supersonic
gives it capability for a wide angle of manoeuvres, making it capable Barak-NG missile systems has been increased
of targeting submarines from both top and bottom. The GPS locator from the earlier 70 km to around 100 km to
on the device helps it accurately target the enemy vessel. It has
provide an all-weather defence shield against
incoming enemy fighters, drones, helicopters,
missiles and other munitions.

Budget Constraints
However, the Indian Navy has been faced with
severe budget constraints and several critical
modernisation programmes are being affected,
says a senior official. “We will not only seek
additional money from the government but also
make a case for its share in the defence budget
been designed and developed by Naval Science and Technological to be raised in coming years,” the official adds.
Laboratory (NSTL), a premier laboratory of DRDO. The torpedo will The capital expenditure of INR231.56 billion
be carried by Kolkata class, Rajput class and Delhi class destroyers. earmarked for the navy in the defence budget
It will also be fitted on to Kamorta class corvettes and Talwar class for 2019-20 isn't sufficient to meet its require-
frigates. Indian Navy's biggest fleet of Sindhughosh Class subma- ments and the service plans to demand at
rines will also carry Varunastra. The fleet currently has 9 operating least INR200 billion more to support its mod-
vessels. Indian Navy currently has 9 Sindhughosh Class subma- ernisation efforts, he adds. "We will certainly
rines, two Kalvari Class submarines, one Chakra Class submarine seek more money from the government at the
(on lease from Russia) and four Shishumar Class submarines. revised estimate stage. The existing budget
poses a challenge for modernisation," he avers.
Other Weapons The decline in the navy's share of the defence
The Indian government also plans a deadly weapons and sensors budget over the years has also emerged as a
package for the four guided-missile destroyers under construc- cause for concern.
tion at Mazagon Docks, which will take the overall project cost of
the four stealth warships to around INR358.00 billion. The Indian "It has slipped from 18 per cent in 2012-23 to
Cabinet has cleared the over INR 61.50 billion acquisition cost of a 13.66 per cent in 2019-20. We have to convince
wide range of advanced weapon systems and sensors for the four the government that naval budget has to go
7,300-tonne destroyers being constructed under 'Project-15B'. The up so that modernisation does not suffer. We
first of the destroyers, INS Visakhapatnam, is likely to be commis- would like it to go back to 18 per cent to 20 per
sioned in 2021-2022. It will be followed by her sister warships, INS cent,” he says.

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