Coz the BMP's knows to swim
yeah Austin I know that.
do you know what is the range limitation on BMP's while operating in the seas ? how far from the coast can they be offloaded and in what weather condition ?
also, the shardul class carries the WM-18 rocket launchers for beach clearing and it does not have a particularly long range. they would need to come close to operate those.
cheenum sahab, in the pic posted the BMP is clearly 'swimming' to shore. yes, it was offloaded from the LST in the background but the question I was asking was why has the LST not beached. because while the BMP can float, the tanks, whether T-90 or something else, can't. the only way to deliver them is by beaching or by using smaller amphib boats like LCM. the LCAC's we were looking for haven't materialised so far.
I think some of these LPDs can come close, all landing crafts can come right unto the waterline.
not LPD's, which are very large ships.
tsarkar wrote:
Any beaching structually impacts the ships, post operations, it has to be throughly inspected and if necessary refitted. Why damage the ship during exerises? The BMP and T-72s can swim, or offloaded via LCMs.
IN ships were grounded on a sandbar during the 71 Cox Bazaar operations & the ships had to be refitted.
I don't think that's right.
now, why am I asking all these questions ? because of this article.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story ... 00770.html
But the navy currently only has the capacity to transport a little less than two battalions on expeditionary missions. The move now is to crank up that capacity more than twice over for a full IBG. Former navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash said it was absolutely essential that the navy built up the capacity to transport a brigade- sized group across the seas. "We have 1,200 island territories. We have energy investments worth thousands of crores far from our shores. We have huge diaspora in the Middle East. If there was a Kargil-like situation on any of our island territories, we would need adequate boots on the ground for combat. There are also other liabilities such as piracy and potential hostage situations.
Being able to transport a couple of battalions isn't nearly enough," he said.
now, we have 5 large LST's (3 shardul class and 2 similar magar class) and an LPD (jalashwa/trenton),
the shardul's/magar's can transport 11 X tanks + 10 X AFV's + 500 X troops
the jalashwa can transport ~ 800 troops (we have bought 4 LCM8 with 200 troop capacity each)
that's 3300 troops + 30 each of tanks and AFV, about a brigade strength. what am I missing ?
only idea that comes to my mind is that the amphib bde is expected to have a higher armour component than what is available now, which would cut down on troop numbers.