Army chief MM Naravane reviews construction of 12 boats for Pangong Tso patrolling
Chief of Army Staff General Mukund Naravane visited Goa Shipyard Limited on Saturday to review the construction of the 12 fast patrol vessels that are being procured to patrol large water bodies in high altitude areas like Pangong Tso lake in eastern Ladakh.
General Naravane was briefed on the construction
methodology of the composite vessels at GSL’s glass reinforced plastic
facility. The Army chief was also briefed on the capabilities of the platform
onboard the first prototype vessel that was recently launched.
The need for these new high-speed boats to
patrol the Pangong Tso lake was felt in the wake of the military clashes
between the Indian and the Chinese troops, leading to a tense situation on the
Line of Actual Control.
Indian Army signed a Rupees 65 crore contract
with GSL for construction of 12 Fast Patrol Boats under emergency procurement.
These boats will be deployed for surveillance and patrol in water bodies
including high altitude areas.
The 12 fibreglass boats being built by GSL will
be fitted with machine guns and surveillance gear including optical sensors.
India building warships to hunt down submarines
close to its shores
India is adding to its ability to hunt down
submarines, especially in shallow waters, or in areas closer to the coast. All
along the western coast, there are vast areas of shallow waters. Several of the
refineries, strategic oil storage reserves and key ports are on the west coast.
Yesterday, the project to make eight Anti-Submarine
Warfare Shallow Water Craft kicked off at the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and
Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata.
At present, the Indian Navy uses four vessels —
INS Abhay, Ajay, Akshay and Agray for scouting submarines in shallow waters.
These are more than 30 years old and are customised variants of the Russian
Pauk class corvettes.
Besides these specialised shallow water sub hunters,
the Navy has a brand new fleet of submarine hunting warships called the
‘Kamorta class’ that ventures to high seas.
In the air, specialised aircraft called the
Boeing P8I keep an eye on submarines and carry anti-submarine missiles, the
Harpoon. The Navy has 10 such surveillance planes. India has also contracted
for 24 specialised submarine hunting helicopters from US company Lockheed
Martin, to replace three decade old Russian Kamov 28 helicopters.
Using Rafale fighters with S-400 missiles can
bring absolute advantages to India
Russia has confirmed that it will deliver the
first S-400 air defence missile system to New Delhi in December 2021. The above
weapons are very necessary for India.
S-400 air defence system is a weapon capable of
changing the rules of the game. The detection radius of the S-400 is up to 600
kilometers, enough to lock down the Western front. That is, Triumf is capable
of detecting missile launches from very far away and hitting the target in just
a few minutes.
The Russian S-400 air defence radar can
recognize 300 targets simultaneously and fire four different types of missiles,
depending on the object and range. The mobility of the S-400 makes it difficult
for opponents to track and destroy them.
The Indian S-400 will be used to guard against China,
not Pakistan. Such a conclusion is drawn when taking into account the tasks set
for the French made Rafale fighter.
The S-400 is an extremely dangerous weapon. It
creates a defensive shield against enemy aircraft, creating enough space for
the Indian Rafaal fighter to operate.
Currently, India has deployed many front-line
fighter jets near the border with China. Therefore, the S-400 should appear in
the same area.
India’s Rafale against China’s S-400 system is
a much better bet than Beijing’s J-20 against New Delhi’s air defence systems.
The fearsome combination of the Russian S-400
and the French Rafale in the Indian Army can cause serious problems for the
enemy.
INS Vikrant: Will Smaller Lifts be able to
operate TEDBF, Rafale-M, or F-18?
A great debate was recently sparked when
India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant went for sea trials and a
lot of defense enthusiasts noticed two smaller aircraft lift size on the decks
when the first clear pictures of the fully functional deck started coming in.
Navy’s choice of aircraft that it planned could
operate from the decks of the INS Vikrant at the design stage was the troubled
MiG-29K fleet that it now wants to retire by 2035 due to ongoing technical
issues with the fleet and other aircraft was now cancelled single-engined LCA-Navy
Mk2 program, that now has been replaced with Bigger Twin-engined TEDBF.
Many are wondering if the aircraft lift size
might be too small to be used to operate any other bigger aircraft that the Navy
might be looking into under its tender for 57 deck-based fighter jets that
included offers from Boeing for F-18 and Dassault for its Rafale M jets.
TEDBF has smaller wingspan than the MiG-29K
which is always the main criteria for aircraft lift on the INS Vikrant rather
than the aircraft length which usually remains out from the rear side in most
of the aircraft carrier lifts.
Designers of the TEDBF are already aware of the
aircraft lift dimensions of the INS Vikrant and have confirmed that the
aircraft will have a smaller footprint and will be able to fit in storage and
lift that were developed to meet the dimensions of the MiG-29K so in the future
it can be operated from both INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya.
F-18 on contrary has a Width with wings folded
at 9.32 metre which is bigger than the 7.6 metre found in the TEDBF and F-18
also has an overall length of 18.31 metre when compared to the 16.30 metre
found in the TEDBF, which could turn out to be an issue for the F-18 to be
operated from the INS Vikrant and its chances to secure a deal from the Indian Navy.
No comments:
Post a Comment