Indian Naval News & Discussion - 12 Oct 2013

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Indian Naval News & Discussion - 12 Oct 2013

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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by AbhiJ »

Construction of First P15B Destroyer commenced on 23rd Jan, 2013.
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by pushkar.bhat »

Dont think this was posted earlier.

Ship with armed guards detained in Indian waters

The detained vessel looks like a proper fast patrol craft.
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by arun »

AbhiJ wrote:Construction of First P15B Destroyer commenced on 23rd Jan, 2013.
Speaking of Project 15B vessels (P15B) , the contract for supply of 4 shipsets of marine propulsion engines was signed with Ukraine’s Zorya Mashproekt back in April 2013.

Zorya Press Release dating back to 16 April to that effect:
16/04/13

SE “Zorya”-“Mashproject” will deliver marine power plants to India

SE “Zorya”-“Mashproject” signed the contract with Indian customer for delivery of gas turbine power plants for ships that will be built at Mumbai shipyard. The contract is concluded with the parties following the results of the tender of 2012. Under the terms of the contract the enterprise will equip four new ships (Project 15B) during the period of 2016 to 2019.

The enterprise already equips the third series of such ships. In 1993-1995 the power units were delivered to India for three ships of the Project 15 (Delhi type) and in 2005-2006 for three ships of the Project 15A (Kolkata type).

The enterprise will produce an updated gas turbine power unit with microprocessor control system.

Clicky
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Philip »

The seizure of a ship ostensibly involved in anti-piracy ops,owned by a US pvt. entity called Advanfort just off Tuticorin waters is highly suspicious.I've posted details in the SL td.There are several events that will shortly take place,the CHOGM summit in lanka and the Indian gen. elections next year. This could've been another gun-running op similar to the Purulia arms air drop years ago.Advanfort has its offices in the US capital ,off Penn. Av.,close to the house that is white.The ships used by this entity are literally floating arsenals,stocked with weapons ,avoiding entering port and the scrutiny of the arms being carried! The outsourcing of the western world's dirty work in recent years to so-called "contractors",in reality contract killers,in the war zones of Af-Pak,Iraq,the M-East,etc.,where the US can deny accountability for anything illegal done by them is a most disturbing trend.These entities are also owned by vested interests with exceptionally close ties to govts. given their ability to secure large defence contracts,a lucrative business.

One must praise the CG for spotting the vessel and seizing it.A thorough investigation of the ship should be made,as well as the background of those detained and determine the truth.One must remember the recent agitations at the KKM N-plant and the recent arrest of top IM operatives who were based in Madurai.Our southern coastline appears to be highly vulnerable and maritime security must be beefed up asap.

PS:Here is the co.'s hilarious PR excuse being given out.Escaping Typhoon Phailin! I doubt that a single catamaran in Tuticorin was worried about Typhoon Phailin 1000km away!
(AdvanFort International) – “The management of AdvanFort International, Inc. wishes to thank and commend the Indian Coast Guard, port officials at Tuticorin, and the Tamil Nadu police for allowing our vessel, SEAMAN GUARD OHIO, to enter the port both to take on fuel and to escape the effects of Typhoon Phailin.
The OHIO is an Operator Support Vessel that provides an accommodations platform for AdvanFort’s counter-piracy guards between transits on client commercial vessels transiting the High Risk Area. As such, in addition to its normal crew, the OHIO had a number of PCASP (Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel) team members aboard when it entered the Indian port. That international group includes British, Estonian, Ukrainian and Indian nationals.

“I want to personally thank the Indian government for offering a safe harbor during this typhoon to the crew of our good vessel OHIO,” said William H. Watson, president of AdvanFort. “We look forward to returning this vessel to its duties as quickly as formalities and resupply operations are concluded.”

As these men routinely provide armed counter-piracy protection, they also had aboard their uniforms, protective equipment, medical kits, rifles and ammunition – all of which is properly registered and licensed to AdvanFort. As is routine in such matters, Indian authorities are auditing the vessel’s records during the port stay while supplies, provisions and fuel are being transferred to OHIO.

The crew and guards are remaining aboard OHIO during its port stay, and are well and receiving fresh food and water, according to AdvanFort’s agents in the port.
Latest TV news:
Crew members give no adequate explanation as to why they were so close to the Indian coastline.The Sierra Leone registered vessel owned by Advanfort,carrying a huge qty. of arms and ammo is strongly suspected of being involved in arms smuggling.

Here are xcpts. from the Advanfort's COO in a JUne 2013 discussion also involving the USState Dept's Coordinator for CPMS.
http://www.piracydaily.com/donna-hopkin ... -security/
Captain Watson: By and large, yes. There are some companies that have higher standards than others. I cannot speak to the standards of each company. But the vetting process we spoke of earlier is taking that into consideration and is taking a really hard look at the vetting, training and the disciplines that guards are held to. Speaking for AdvanFort, I can say that all of our guards have military experience, at least five years of exemplary military experience. All of them have been closely vetted. They had civil and criminal background checks as well as a look into their military history. They have gone through extensive training. They also, by the way, go through psychological screening, as well as drug screening, and medical screening to ensure that they are at their top fitness game when they are out there, because this is a very arduous theater of operations. … All of our guards carry their seaman’s cards and seaman’s books. They all go through STCW95 training. They all go through what we call “customs and courtesies” training for operating aboard commercial ships, because one of the things we have to do in some cases with these guards who are former marines or Royal marines, former navy, or other military services, we have to train them. … (T)he role of the military is primarily to kill people and break things.
.
Captain Watson: If I may speak to that for a moment, only because AdvanFort does operate a fleet of vessels in the area of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean, the eastern Indian Ocean as well. But they are different. The difference is that the true floating armories are third-party vessels that are operated by the one company and store weapons for a number of companies. And they basically serve as a commercial warehouse, if you will, for a variety of types of arms and ammunition. Our vessels are specifically held by us, by AdvanFort. They are crewed by an AdvanFort crew. The only teams onboard are AdvanFort teams and the only weapons are owned by AdvanFort, and all of the weapons and all of the ammunition are properly licensed at the country of purchase, has the appropriate export permits there and appropriate end user certificates in all of the port there where they are then embarked to ships or onshore for back-up armories. It is an important distinction: That our vessels are our vessels for our use only. And so it is really no different than having an armed team onboard on someone else’s vessel. Ours is for our use.
One has to see from a detailed investigation whether the activities of the vessel reflected the claims of its COO that everything is literally "above board".
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Philip »

From cursory details emerging of the SG Ohio,caught trespassing in Indian waters off Tuticorin,the vessel knew Indian maritime law,tried to smuggle diesel drums,hardly the behaviour of a straightforward anti-piracy outfit.Why the ship-if its papers were in order,did not sail into any Indian port and refuel,etc., is the Q,like Holmes' "dog that did not bark in the night".Some media reports say that suspicions that the ship was involved in gun running would account for its actions.Looking at the pics of the vessel,the number of sophisticated sat commn. gear,etc.,would duly qualify the vessel as belonging to the class of a ubiquitous Cold War Soviet "trawler",intel spy ships that used to shadow US/NATO naval forces worldwide. In fact the ship my have more sophisticated comn. surveillance gear than the CG vessel/s that apprehended it.

These outsourced anti-piracy vessels act as floating armouries,maritime arms supermarkets on the high seas,that flout local laws enabling vessels to pick up arms and mercenaries when outside the territorial limits of a littoral country.Their presence so close to the coastlines make them ideal vessels to act as spy ships,plus gun-running and drug smuggling.In fact the SG Ohio should be taken to the Tuticorin breakers yard and thoroughly taken apart to find out if other contraband was also hidden aboard.The background of the so-called security guards should also be examined with a fine toothcomb. This is a task that requires extra assistance for the TN police.

PS:Another report.
Security forces have seized 31 assault rifles and around 5,000 rounds of ammunition from the "Seaman Guard Ohio" off the coast of Tuticorin coast, from 35 persons on board including four Indian ex Army and Navy personnel. The vessel which is claimed to be used for providing security to merchant vessels operating through the Gulf of Aden, had 35 persons on board including one ex-Indian Navy sailor and three ex-Army persons. It has also been found that the ship has not been maintaining weapon log. The Coast Guard had apprehended the ship 47 miles from Tuticorin after state intelligence agencies in Tamil Nadu suspected that it would be dropping off weapons in some boats operating near it. It was the second time in the last two months that the ship has been detained by the Coast Guard with last such instance being off the coast of Kochi. However, nothing suspicious was found there and the ship was let off. The Crew on board the ship was of British, Estonian and Indian origin.
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by MN Kumar »

Image

Can someone identify the launch ship? Modified Talwar???
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Jaeger »

^Yup, based on the shape of the funnel & radar.
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by chackojoseph »

Indian and British navies to hold Exercise Konkan 2013 from 14 to 19 Oct

HMS Westminister is from British side. INS Delhi from IN's side.
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

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MN Kumar wrote:Image

Can someone identify the launch ship? Modified Talwar???
INS Teg.
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Singha »

Us navy has no option but to use these pvt contractors and floating armouries. Their big clumsy ddg51 ships are the smallest in their inventory, no cheap opv type ships anymore and their coast guard has no resources to deploy globally.

Piracy seems to have declined and got its economic back broken since merchant ships can now fight back?
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Philip »

A fishy story indeed!

The floating armoury was "clean" when it had berthed earlier in Kochi/Cochin.It had allegedly been hovering around off the Indian coast suspiciously for over a month.The simple explanation cannot be taken for granted said V.Adm.Sushil (retd),former C-in-C S.Command.
"Who authorised them? What are the conditionalities involved?Who pays them? Is there a consortium involved? What is its right to enter territorial waters of another country? Are they providing escort service? Who sanctioned them to operate armed guards?"
"If no country has authorised them,they should be treated as pirates" he said.

This raises Qs as to where from did the ship get the arms it possessed when boarded,if it was "clean" in Cochin? It obviously must've picked it up from another ship as it had not sailed into any port since then.There is a huge sub-surface role that such "privateers",a nautical phrase which would best describe these maritime mil. contractors,are involved in,definitely not operating by the book.THis method has been created to give a fig leaf to supplying arms round the globe to dubious entities by govts. without detection.

In a second report in the New Ind.Exp.,Central intel agencies are investigating into the incident.The last known port was Sharjah. Thus far Advanfort has yet to come up with a better explanation other than that of its cretinous COO,Capt.W.H.Watson,who thanked the GOI for allowing the ship to shelter from Cyclone Phailin which was 1000km away! The BJP has asked the govt. to "break its silence" over the matter.We have already shown on BR facts that link the COO to prominent figures/entities in the US establishment.Advanfort is another infamous "Blackwater" operation,whose tip of the iceberg has been exposed with the Seaman Guard Ohio's seizure by the CG.Is has employed as business development director a former Greek Navy Lt. Commander Nicholas-Andrew Iliopoulos, a master mariner who for nearly a decade served as the personal liaison of HM the late King Hussein Bin Talal of Jordan to the seafaring community.

More suspiciously,Advanfort has been allowed to use the Cyprus flag very recently,a so-called "flag of convenience",which allows the vessel to engage in illicit maritime trade as has been well known in the past. One well knows that Cyprus is one of the key bases from which arms are being sent to the so-called Syrian rebels ,mercenaries,paid for,trained by and who are waging war in Syria at the behest of their Qatari,Saudi and US handlers.Crime and terrorism are key activities of misuse such flagged vessels.

http://www.offnews.info/verArticulo.php ... doID=46519
31/07/2013 | Republic of Cyprus accredits AdvanFort Company with coveted Private Ship Security Certificat.
The Cyprus Department of Merchant Shipping (DMS) has licensed the AdvanFort Company, a world-leading provider of maritime security solutions for the commercial shipping industry, to supply the services of armed and unarmed escort guards on those of its flagged vessels transiting piracy high-risk areas, it was announced today.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_convenience
Flag-of-convenience registries are often criticized. As of 2009, thirteen flag states have been found by international shipping organizations to have substandard regulations. A basis for many criticisms is that the flag-of-convenience system allows shipowners to be legally anonymous and difficult to prosecute in civil and criminal actions. Some ships with flags of convenience have been found engaging in crime

here are a number of common threads found in criticisms of the flag of convenience system. One is that these flag states have insufficient regulations and that those regulations they do have are poorly enforced. Another is that, in many cases, the flag state cannot identify a shipowner, much less hold the owner civilly or criminally responsible for a ship's actions. As a result of this lack of flag state control, flags of convenience are criticized on grounds of providing an environment for conducting criminal activities, supporting terrorism, providing poor working conditions for seafarers, and having an adverse effect on the environment.

David Cockroft, general secretary of the ITF says:

Arms smuggling, the ability to conceal large sums of money, trafficking in goods and people and other illegal activities can also thrive in the unregulated havens which the flag of convenience system provides
.[11]
Crime

Flag of convenience ships have long been linked to crime on the high seas. For example, in 1982, Honduras shut down its open registry operations because it had enabled "illegal traffic of all kinds and had given Honduras a bad name."[40]

Ships registered by the Cambodia Shipping Corporation (CSC) were found smuggling drugs and cigarettes in Europe, breaking the Iraq oil embargo, and engaging in human trafficking and prostitution in Europe and Asia.[11] In response to these activities, in 2000, Ahamd Yahya of the Cambodian Ministry of Public Works and Transport told industry publication Fairplay "We don't know or care who owns the ships or whether they're doing 'white' or 'black' business ... it is not our concern."[11] Less than two years later, French forces seized the Cambodian-flagged, Greek-owned MV Winner for cocaine smuggling.[11] Shortly after the seizure, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen closed the registry to foreign ships,[11] and Cambodia canceled its contract with CSC shortly thereafter.[41]

The North Korean flag of convenience has also garnered significant scrutiny. In 2003, the North Korean freighter Pong-su reflagged to Tuvalu in the middle of a voyage shortly before being seized by Australian authorities for smuggling heroin into that country.[11] That year thirteen nations began monitoring vessels under the North Korean flag for "illicit cargos, like drugs, missiles or nuclear weapon fuel."[41] In 2006, ships owned by Egyptian and Syrian interests, flagged by North Korea, and based in the United States were discovered to be engaged in smuggling migrants in Europe.[11]
Terrorism

The OECD report states that the possibility of terrorists using ships is "obvious" and "potentially devastating" and goes on to list ways in which ships could be used.[42] One clear use would be to move personnel, equipment, and weapons around the world.[42] Another would be to transport bombs, such as a "container set to explode near a city."[42] Also, ships could be used as a weapon in their own right, for example an oil tanker or liquefied natural gas carrier rigged as a floating bomb.[42] Finally, the OECD discussed the possibility of criminal and terrorist organizations using ships engaging in legal or illegal trade as a source of revenue to fund criminal activities.[43]

In 2002 in the United States, Democratic senator John Breaux of Louisiana proposed a bill to prevent U.S. shipowners from using foreign flags, ostensibly as a counter-terrorism measure.[44]
Now here is a beauty about Advanfort.

http://www.closeprotectionworld.com/mar ... us-10.html
Advanfort cant use any firearms until 2015 , because its illegal actions regarding weapons .
It has recently come to our attention that Advanfort is prohibited from possessing any firearms until March, 2015 due to a guilty plea for felony charges in the United States specifically related to criminal case "l:13-cr-00053-GBL-l USA v. Advanfort Company." It has further come to our attention that Advanfort is continuing armed security operations in direct violation to this ruling. Attached is the Judgment noting the terms of the two year probation, specifically on page 2 "defendant shall not possess a firearm, ammunition … or any other dangerous weapon." Amended Judgment notes a fine of $180,000 was paid as well. If you have any further information or questions on the matter, please contact: The Honorable Gerald Bruce Lee United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia 401 Courthouse Square Alexandria, VA 22314 Or you can call Judge Lee’s chambers (703) 299-2117 and speak to one of his law clerks. Any shipping company should contact their legal counsel on the matter to ensure properly protected. A security company that is illegally in possession of a firearm that utilizes that firearm in any manner could leave the shipping company open to serious troble.
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Philip »

More,the co. listed as violating intl. arms embargo resolutions on Somalia.

http://www.business-humanrights.org/Cat ... /AdvanFort
] Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea pursuant to Security Council resolution 2002 (2011)
Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea 13 Jul 2012
Private security companies...remain problematic, with two currently providing support to non-statutory forces in north-eastern Somalia...The Monitoring Group remains deeply concerned by the operations of Sterling Corporate Services (formerly Saracen International), in north-east Somalia, and by the failure of certain Member States to take the necessary measures to prevent this sustained, large-scale violation of the Somalia arms embargo...[scroll to page 21] In 2011, Saracen’s training camp near Bosaaso became the best-equipped military facility in Somalia...Thanks to this massive initiative, the Puntland Maritime Police Force is now a well equipped elite force..., which operates beyond the rule of law and reports directly to the President of Puntland. [refers to Blackwater, Pathfinder, Bancroft, A.S.M.J General Trading, SKA Air & Logistics, AAGI, Advanfort, Africa Oil, Afrifin Logistics FZE, Ayk Avia Air, CJSC, Chantete Mining Services, Khalid Air, Logistic Solutions FZC, Marine Risk Management, Muse Professional Group, New Order Vehicle Sales, Special Projects Group – Maritime Security Consultancy’ (SPG-MSC), Solace Global Maritime, Transerv] [Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Sterling Corporate Service (formerly Saracen Intl.) to respond. Sterling Corporate Services response provided below]
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by member_27862 »

MN Kumar wrote:Image

Can someone identify the launch ship? Modified Talwar???

YES this a Krivak III batch 2 (Project 1135.6 Modified Talwar) Indian Navy ship INS TEG. This is the first snap of the test firing of a Brahmos VL missile from a 'Talwar mod' class ship in the Baltic sea on 30 Nov 11.
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Austin »

Indo-S. Korean Defense Ties Deepen with Minesweeper Purchase
NEW DELHI — India’s Defence Ministry has decided to award a US $1.2 billion contract to Kangnam Corp. for eight mine-countermeasure vessels in India’s first big-ticket defense program with South Korea.

The deal has been cleared ahead of Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony’s planned visit to Seoul later this year, and will help boost defense ties with South Korea, an Indian MoD official said.

The finalization of the contract was delayed after Italy’s Intermarine, which was competing for the contract, approached India’s anti-fraud agency, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), with issues related to the transparency of the procurement. The CVC cleared the purchase last year, but the MoD has since dragged its feet in deciding to award the contract, the source said.

India is reaching out to friendly nations in the region, including Japan and South Korea, as part of its Look East policy in a bid to contain the rising influence of China, said defense analyst Mahindra Singh.

The Indian Navy is likely to give additional orders to the South Korean company for the countermine ships, since the service has a requirement for more than 24 minesweepers, an MoD source said. The Indian Navy operates 12 aging Pondicherry and Karwar-class minesweepers.

The purchase of the new countermine ships is part of a long-term plan to acquire vessels for littoral warfare, including large landing platform decks, fast attack craft and advanced offshore patrol vessels.

In 2008, India sent bids for the countermine ships to Kangnam, Intermarine, Northrop Grumman, Izhar of Spain and DCN International of France.

The Navy has wanted new minesweepers for more than 13 years, but delays in procurement due to bureaucratic red tape have been holding back the order.

According to the deal, the first two minesweepers will be constructed at Pusan, South Korea, and the remaining six will be built at the Goa Shipyard through technology transfers.

South Korea has become a big-ticket supplier of weapons to India — along with Russia, Israel, the United States and France — and is aggressively tapping India’s $100 billion weapons market.

Samsung has jointly developed a howitzer gun with Indian private-sector company Larsen & Toubro, and it is likely to put up a tough fight against Russia’s Rosoboronoexport in the quest to supply 155mm/52-caliber tracked guns.

The Larsen & Toubro-Samsung team is competing with Rosoboronexport, and with state-owned Bharat Earth Movers Ltd. (BEML), which has partnered with Slovakian company Konstrukha.

The Indian Army wants to buy 100 tracked guns valued at more than $750 million. The tender, issued in 2011, was a rebid of a 2007 tender, which went to India’s Tata Power SED, Larsen & Toubro, BEML and Rosoboronexport.

South Korean firm Doosan has also been given a tender this year for the purchase of 104 self-propelled gun missile systems to replace aging Russian Kvadrat systems.

Indo-South Korean defense ties began in 2005, when the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on defense logistics and supplies.

In 2007, the defense ministers of the two countries met to hash out a defense cooperation plan, which was followed in 2010 by the signing of a declaration of strategic partnership.
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by vishvak »

Advance fort etc shows troubles on high seas. We need to make coast guard defense rock solid and integrated exhaustive investigations on each line of defense.

The freelance gun running services can't be allowed anywhere near shores..
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Philip »

Finally after "13 years" the minesweeper decision has been cleared.Better late than never.Of course how effective the tech for these vessels is after so long in deciding ,is another Q.The IN should also take recourse to heli-borne mine countermeasure applications,which is common with the USN and tech that should not be a problem in acquiring.

More news about Advanfort.Suspicions have been confirmed.The vessel was for a whole month,operating off the KKM nuclear plant coastline according to TV news reports.Whether it was snooping,or plotting mischief has to be found out.The PM is to go before the year end to Russia to sign on for KKM's 3rd and 4th reactors and any "accident" at the plant would scuttle the deal almost finalised. From various sources,the modus operandi of these floating arsenals is to fool local port authorities by offloading their weaponry into smaller vessels before entering harbour.Once the ships leave port,they load up again.The Q is where do these smaller vessels come from? Obviously they will not be ocean going vessels and would have to be local boats,which leads to the next Q,who are their local "agents"? Looking at the ship's communications gear,one can see that it is no ordinary bumboat .What may have happened is that the ship was unable to make its usual logistic resupply at sea because of the surveillance of the Indian CG and tried to make a "quickie" pit stop at sea off Tuticorin using local agents.What was to prevent the ship from entering a Lankan port? The movements of the ship now known are highly suspicious and the fact that the crew has yet to hand over the ship's log even more so.The ship's master and mercenary crew should be placed under arrest and charged with gun running,and espionage.If any facts of offloading arms is obtained, then charges of aiding and abetting terrorism should be added.
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Philip »

Naxals now threaten to bomb the K-plant,saying that the plant was harmful to Keralites! This affair is beginning to look like no coincidence at all.The plant is about to go on stream,some jellyfish problems were encountered,sorted out,but the PMANE group led by quislings is being beefed up by Keralite manpower. Q branch is now handling the investigations and CG forces are patrolling the K-plant coastline.The Hindu reports that the co. said that the vessel usually operated off Galle Port (Sri Lanka),where strangely there have been no incidents of piracy,but has been in the past a favourite haunt of drug smugglers.
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Philip »

The crew of the Advanfort vessel have been arrested.TN police maintain that they were within Indian territorial waters and not outside . This is going to end up like the case of the Italian "killer" marines.

India police arrest crew of US antipiracy ship

Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/world/south-a ... z2i7ViF0jB
October 18, 2013 21:22:00

NEW DELHI // Indian police yesterday arrested and questioned 33 people aboard a ship operated by a US antipiracy firm for carrying guns and ammunition in Indian waters without proper permits.

India’s coastguard stopped and detained the ship off the Indian coast on October 12 after discovering the cache of weapons and ammunition, before escorting it to the southern port of Tuticorin.

Police then launched an investigation into the 10 crew and 25 security guards of the Seaman Guard Ohio which is registered in Sierra Leone and belongs to the US-based maritime security firm AdvanFort.

The 35, who include British, Estonian, Ukrainian and Indian nationals, were arrested over the stash of some 35 assault rifles and around 5,600 rounds of ammunition, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency.

Thirty-three of them were taken to a police station for questioning, while two remained on board, PTI reported.

The crew had not maintained a log of the arms and did not have the proper permits to carry them in Indian waters.

The incident comes after a furore erupted in India last year over the shooting deaths of two Indian fishermen allegedly by two Italian marines off the coast of Kerala.

The southern tip of India is close to major trading routes from Asia and Europe and some cargo ships now travel with armed guards to deter pirates.

The British High Commission or embassy in New Delhi said its officers were attempting to provide assistance to the six British nationals on board and to clarify why they were being detained.

“We are still waiting to receive permission from the authorities to get access to them,” a spokesman in New Delhi said.

“We are also trying to better understand what the situation is, to understand why they are being investigated.”

AdvanFort said its staff provided “armed counter-piracy protection” to cargo ships and therefore their weapons and ammunition were stowed on board the Seaman Guard Ohio.

“As these men routinely provide armed-counter-piracy protection, they also had aboard their uniforms, protective equipment, medical kits, rifles and ammunition, all of which is properly registered and licensed to AdvanFort,” the company said.

AdvanFort also played down the ship’s seizure, and instead thanked the Indian coastguard and police for allowing the ship to refuel and escape a cyclone that hit India’s eastern coast on the weekend.

“I want to personally thank the Indian government for offering a safe harbour during this typhoon to the crew of our good vessel OHIO,” the firm’s president William Watson said this week.

“We look forward to returning this vessel to its duties as quickly as formalities and resupply operations are concluded.”

The Indian shipping minister GK Vasan said yesterday that the ship would not be allowed to leave until the investigation was over.

* Agence France-Presse

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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by vishvak »

Should not the coast guard expect better standard from such ships. The ship seems to be well equipped but not able to cooperate by quickly handing over GPS data. The mother ship nomenclature doesn't affect coast guard though except better cooperation and respecting maritime laws. The crews' background checks should be transparent too.
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by krishnan »

they cant understand why they are being detained ???
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Philip »

What was the ship's capt. so afeared of that he tried to commit suicide? Was he scared that the truth of the mission of the ship would be extracted from him after "interrogation" by investigating agencies? Something is indeed very,very,fishy with the tale of the Seaman Guard Ohio of Advanfort. The time the ship spent off the KKM N-plant must be thoroughly probed. MMS is in Russia negotiating the 3rd and 4th N-plants at the same site.Western N-plant manufacturers have been very envious of Russia's lead in supplying India with N-reactors and have been wanting to supply obsolete reactors (US) without any proper safeguards/liabilities.

We on BR first exposed the shady connections that lay behind Advanfort which the media has now picked up.

http://newindianexpress.com/states/tami ... 845149.ece
Drama on seized US ship as engineer tries to hang self

By Express News Service - THOOTHUKUDI

High drama prevailed here on Saturday as one of the crew members on board US anti-piracy vessel MV Seaman Guard Ohio, detained at the VOC Port, attempted to commit suicide when the Q-branch police team began its probe. Meanwhile, police detained three locals, who were suspected to have illegally sold diesel to the ship.

Two crew members — Captain Dudnik Valentyn and Chief Engineer Siderenko Valeriy — both from Ukraine, were retained in the ship on maintenance duty on Friday, while 33 other crew members and guards were arrested.

On Saturday, Q-branch SP Bavaneeshwari and her team went to the ship for investigation. When the team was quizzing the captain, Siderenko Valeriy went near the mast area, tied a rope on the flagmast and tried to hang himself.

A CISF guard, stationed on the ship, noticed it and prevented him from hanging. Then the guard alerted the investigating officers and they immediately took Siderenko to the Port hospital.

At the hospital, Siderenko was checked and was declared to be normal. Later, he was taken to the Muthayapuram police station for investigation and was subsequently shifted to the Thoothukudi GH for a second round of medical tests. Doctors at the Thoothukudi GH too declared that he was normal. Then Siderenko along with Dudnik was taken to the residence of M Akila Devi, Judicial Magistrate, Fast Track Court at Magisterial Level, Thoothukudi, and was remanded in custody for 14 days. They have been jailed in Palayamkottai prison.

Read more: Shadowy Arab billionaire behind armed US ship
An American ship flying a Sierra Leone flag, carrying sophisticated arms and ammunition off the western Indian sea board. A mercenary shipping company and its Arab billionaire owner who lives in the vicinity of White House. A multi-billion dollar anti-piracy industry in the Indian Ocean that has become the new Iraq after the Americans pulled out of Baghdad, shutting off the massive greenback pipeline to private security agencies like Halliburton whose mercenaries helped US troops fight insurgents in the treacherous alleys of Falluja and Kandahar. The story of MV Seaman Guard Ohio, currently docked at Tuticorin under the watch of the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard is one that Wilbur Smith could easily have penned.

THE WEAPONS MYSTERY: The ship is owned by AdvanFort, the private maritime security company that remains tightlipped about the lack of proper documentation for the 35 sophisticated assault rifles and over 5,000 rounds of ammunition found aboard the vessel. Contrary to evidence, it claimed that the Indian Coast Guard had given the ship a clean chit when it berthed in Tuticorin on September 9. It docked first in Kochi on August 23 for refuelling. Two weeks later, it met with an accident off Tuticorin port. According to AdvanFort’s official press release, a clearance certificate was issued by the coast guard to the ship on September 9 while it was in Tuticorin. In a press statement on October 17, the company even released coast guard clearance certificate to the press. Sources said at the time of its arrival in September, the ship was clean and had no weapons on board. Therein lies the mystery. What was the ship doing in Indian waters? “What was the objective and purpose of the ship in Indian waters? There is not much piracy near our maritime borders. I think some of the biggest scandals are happening out there, and we have to find out what,” said former Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral (retd) K K Nayyar.

THE SHADOWY BILLIONAIRE: The incident raises questions over the unregulated business practices and methods adopted by shady operators involved in private maritime security. The owner of Seaman Guard Ohio, Samir Farajallah, an UAE businessman operates in the shadow of war. He is so reclusive that his name cannot be found even on the AdvanFort website. According to Public Education Center, a non-profit organisation based in Washington, Farajallah, through New-Field Exhibitions, a post-war profiteering conglomerate, controls the private mercenary and Intelligence operation business from New-Field headquarters on Seventeenth Street in Washington DC, a pricey locality close to the White House. Sources said Farajallah has open access to Pentagon. They say he is acting as facilitator for US companies in war-torn countries of Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan through enterprise conferences. These are meetings with officials in war-torn countries, who are tasked with big budgets—mostly grants from the US—and powers to reconstruct infrastructure in their countries.

The mystery surrounding the ship caught at Tuticorin port with a cache of arms and ammunition continues to deepen, with the focus shifting on US-based Arab billionaire Samir Farajallah, who owns AdvanFort, which in turn owns MV Seaman Guard Ohio.

Sources said Farajallah has open access to Pentagon. They say he is acting as facilitator for US companies in war-torn countries of Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan through enterprise conferences. These are meetings with officials in war-torn countries, who are tasked with big budgets—mostly grants from the US—and powers to reconstruct infrastructure in their countries. At the enterprise conferences, each participant has to pay a minimum $2,000 to get just a 15-minute interview with the officer responsible. After the Iraq war was over, Farajallah had organised the Iraq summit where he promised delegates private one-on-one meetings with US military officers, Iraq government ministers and prime contractors to grab Iraqi projects. Farajallah founded AdvanFort in Virginia in 2009. It has regional offices in London, Dubai and Manila, providing maritime security, intelligence operations, and armed security personnel for a hefty price. Interestingly, this was not the first known instance when Farajallah had a brush with the law. In July 2011, his son, Ahmed Farajallah, was arrested in Virginia for illegally procuring 26 automatic weapons to be used for AdvanFort counter-piracy ships abroad. A case was filed against Ahmed and two others in Eastern District Court of Virginia. The judgement of the court reveals that AdvanFort had pleaded guilty to the Criminal Information. According to a maritime website Gcaptain, the weapons were eventually destroyed and AdvanFort in March 2013, pleaded guilty to “Aiding and Abetting the Making of a False Statement during the Acquisition of Firearms”.

A final judgement in the case pronounced on September 5, 2013 by Eastern District of Virginia Court barred AdvanFort from purchasing and possessing firearms in the US and asked the company to pay $180,000 in fines. However, the court said the company is not barred by these conditions of probation from lawfully acquiring and possessing legal firearms abroad for purpose of conducting their security and counter-piracy business. According to a 2009 report of Public Education Center, the corporate licence of Farajallah’s ‘New-Field Exhibitions’ was revoked several times and it was not authorised to operate in Washington or anywhere in the US.

ANTI-PIRACY INDUSTRY: The anti-pirate industry, which provides protection to ships and seamen, is a billion-dollar business. Investigators say that with the capture of the MV Seaman Guard Ohio, the contours of the shady multi-billion mercenary business in the unregulated shipping industry is slowly coming to light. Wary of ruthless Somali pirates operating in Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and the southern part of the Indian Ocean, shippers are more than willing to shell out $75,000 to $90,000 as escort fees instead of paying millions of dollars in ransom. In the wake of the threat to merchant ships, more than 320 private maritime security companies have mushroomed the world over, often flouting maritime laws of many countries. Of these, 67 companies are registered in Panama alone.

In the last seven years, it is estimated that approximately $385 million in ransom was paid to pirates to rescue over 150 hijacked vessels. According to the United Nation’s International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Somali pirates attacked 286 ships and dhows in 2011 and hijacked 33. In 2012, the number of attacks dropped to 99 and only 13 ships and dhows were hijacked for ransom. But, despite the sharp decline in ocean piracy, private security companies managed to corner over $1.7 billion as escort fees from shippers in 2012. The threat of piracy has made security companies, mostly operating out of the US and UK, rich and powerful.

FLAUNTING THE LAW: Pointing out an interesting trend in the private maritime security business, a senior official said all these small boats are known to carry flags of tax haven countries including Sierra Leone, Bahamas, Panama and Republic of Kiribati to escape accountability and taxes. MV Seaman too was operating under a Sierra Leone flag, though the security company is registered in Virginia, US.

“It is a corporate veil to flaunt the law and hide their responsibility and actions in international water. The United States Maritime Administration should also be held accountable for such loopholes. Intelligence agencies, I’m told would be looking into the port of registry to check whether the weapons aboard MV Seaman Guard Ohio were registered with them or not,” he said.

VEIL OF SECRECY: L’Affaire Seaman Guard Ohio has stirred up a storm in India. Sources said MV Seaman Guard Ohio failed to confirm whether the weapons aboard were procured from another ship covering the area or from a floating armoury cruising in international waters. “On two previous occasions, it did not declare the arms on board, which means the weapons were loaded after September 9. Who gave the clearance, why and how are the questions that need to be investigated,” a source said.

According to New Internationalist, a UK-based magazine, there are 18 floating armouries in the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and Mozambique Channel, all of which rent out weapons outside territorial waters so as to sidestep weapons regulations. It said the contractors operate in an accountability vacuum. “No global treaties cover weapons fire from commercial ships.”

Calling these companies Corporate Mercenary, a UK based Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) report said that the upper ranks of many of these companies are filled with former US and UK army officers.

“Governments, such as that of the UK, find the services of these companies cheaper than using regular armed forces, because many of the personnel come from Iraq or from poor countries like Nepal and Fiji and are willing to serve for a fraction of a regular soldier’s pay,” CAAT Said.

MISSING DETAILS: A representative of AdvanFort, Thomas Chacko, who is based in Dubai said the company operates in high risk zones and the Seaman Ohio was operating to secure a certain area in the Indian Ocean. However, Thomas failed to provide details of the arms and ammunition on board. He said, “Everything is accountable and all documents were handed over to the authorities.” Thomas also refused to reveal the destination of ship and the areas it covered in the last two to three months.

Sources said after leaving Sharjah sometime in June-July, the ship was first spotted in Indian waters when it berthed at Kochi port in August. At that time, it did not declare its weapons on board.

A month later, Seaman Guard Ohio met with an accident and was rescued by the Indian Coast Guard. “Even then nothing suspicious was noticed by the authorities,” sources said.

Former chief of Indian Coast Guard, Vice Admiral (retd) A K Singh said the ship was anchored within Indian territorial water without obtaining prior permissions, which is illegal. “While verifying the facts about the weapons and the license is job of investigating agencies, the illegal procurement of diesel from a fish trawler is a serious offence. They need to inform Indian authorities 96 hours in advance if they plan to enter Indian territory,” Singh said.

Pealtnägija, an Estonian TV network, in a special broadcast in 2011 revealed that weapons provided by AdvanFort, which is touted as the biggest anti-piracy contractor in Estonia, lack the necessary documents and are not even registered in the country. The MV Seaman Guard had 14 Estonian armed guards on board when Coast guard intercepted the vessel.

“AdvanFort has on some occasions put Estonians aboard ships without arming them at all. Another problem is that the weapons provided lack the necessary legal documents,” the channel had claimed.

A detailed questionnaire sent to AdvanFort President William H. Watson did not elicit a response till the time of going to press.
Vipul
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Vipul »

India may finalize deal to lease second nuclear submarine from Russia during PM's visit.

Faced with a depleting fleet of submarines, India is expected to acquire on lease a nuclear submarine from Russia, a deal for which may be finalized during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit there starting on Sunday.

The move to acquire the second nuclear submarine from Russia comes two months after the Navy's frontline Russian-origin Kilo Class INS Sindhurakshak submarine sank at the Mumbai harbour after an explosion suspected to have occurred in its torpedo section.

A proposal in this regard was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by the Prime Minister in its recent meeting. The deal is expected to cost India more than Rs 6,000 crore, highly-placed government sources told PTI.

The Indian Navy is already operating one Akula II Class nuclear submarine — Nerpa. The over 8,000-tonne warship was inducted in April last year at the Visakhapatnam-based Eastern Naval Command and renamed 'INS Chakra'.

Under the project, India is planning to finance the construction of an old Akula Class submarine 'Irbis' in Russia, which could not be completed during the 1990s due to the lack of funds after the break up of the erstwhile USSR.

The two countries have been holding negotiations in this regard for quite some time and they were concluded recently. The construction of the submarine is expected to take at least three to four years.

India's submarine fleet, which is getting old, suffered a huge blow after the sinking of the INS Sindhurakshak at the Mumbai harbour, killing all the 18 people on-board.
Philip
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Philip »

Irbis may come with VLS B'Mos.Supposed to be at a cost of $1.5B.
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Nikhil T »

Chief Engg of detained US ship attempts suicide
NEW DELHI: The chief engineer of detained US ship has attempted suicide in prison, according to Times Now.

According to reports, this is the second time that the chief engineer has attempted suicide.

The chief engineer has been isolated and has been kept under observation.

More details are awaited.
Now reasons such as "Restlessness" and "paranoia due to the quality of jail" are being given out for his SECOND suicide attempt. This is extremely fishy now. Its not like the police is meting out the 3rd degree treatment and in all probability, they must be in the nicer cells.
Philip
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Philip »

Either he is exceptionally unstable and paranoid,but if innocent of any major crime,but only of a "misdemeanour" ,why go to such an extreme step? Two facts have still clouded the affair.The absence of the ship's log,which would give its movements and the asinine attempts by Advanfort (as if we are dummies) to justify the vessel's errors.The ship's log would give the truth of the co.'s statement that it did not violate Indian maritime waters,while the local cops say that it was within the 12nm limit,some 10.4 nm when it was intercepted.It would also show whether it is true that it was loitering for about a month off the KKM N-plant coastline.Who also conspired with the vessel which apparently offloaded its arms before entering Cochin (where none was found aboard),and when did they pick up the arms found aboard? The co.'s statement that the arms were all legitimate,holds no water when Indian law prevails in Indian territory.The hilarious statement also put out about taking shelter from cyclone Phailin ,thanking India for its help,blah,blah-a complete fib, shows the slimy nature of the co. which is most economical with the truth.

The Ind.Exp. today has come out with a full feature on the mysterious Iraqi joker who with his son control the co. which has a US COO.They have offices in the US capital within walking distance of the House that is white too.Another co. of the same owners have allegedly been involved in murky arms dealings with Iraq,etc.

http://newindianexpress.com/thesundayst ... 844838.ece

Not first brush with law for ship owner
By YATISH YADAV - NEW DELHI
Published: 20th Oct 2013

The mystery surrounding the ship caught at Tuticorin port with a cache of arms and ammunition continues to deepen, with the focus shifting on US-based Arab billionaire Samir Farajallah, who owns AdvanFort, which in turn owns MV Seaman Guard Ohio.

Sources said Farajallah has open access to Pentagon. They say he is acting as facilitator for US companies in war-torn countries of Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan through enterprise conferences. These are meetings with officials in war-torn countries, who are tasked with big budgets—mostly grants from the US—and powers to reconstruct infrastructure in their countries. At the enterprise conferences, each participant has to pay a minimum $2,000 to get just a 15-minute interview with the officer responsible. After the Iraq war was over, Farajallah had organised the Iraq summit where he promised delegates private one-on-one meetings with US military officers, Iraq government ministers and prime contractors to grab Iraqi projects. Farajallah founded AdvanFort in Virginia in 2009. It has regional offices in London, Dubai and Manila, providing maritime security, intelligence operations, and armed security personnel for a hefty price. Interestingly, this was not the first known instance when Farajallah had a brush with the law. In July 2011, his son, Ahmed Farajallah, was arrested in Virginia for illegally procuring 26 automatic weapons to be used for AdvanFort counter-piracy ships abroad. A case was filed against Ahmed and two others in Eastern District Court of Virginia. The judgement of the court reveals that AdvanFort had pleaded guilty to the Criminal Information. According to a maritime website Gcaptain, the weapons were eventually destroyed and AdvanFort in March 2013, pleaded guilty to “Aiding and Abetting the Making of a False Statement during the Acquisition of Firearms”.

A final judgement in the case pronounced on September 5, 2013 by Eastern District of Virginia Court barred AdvanFort from purchasing and possessing firearms in the US and asked the company to pay $180,000 in fines. However, the court said the company is not barred by these conditions of probation from lawfully acquiring and possessing legal firearms abroad for purpose of conducting their security and counter-piracy business. According to a 2009 report of Public Education Center, the corporate licence of Farajallah’s ‘New-Field Exhibitions’ was revoked several times and it was not authorised to operate in Washington or anywhere in the US.

ANTI-PIRACY INDUSTRY: The anti-pirate industry, which provides protection to ships and seamen, is a billion-dollar business. Investigators say that with the capture of the MV Seaman Guard Ohio, the contours of the shady multi-billion mercenary business in the unregulated shipping industry is slowly coming to light. Wary of ruthless Somali pirates operating in Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and the southern part of the Indian Ocean, shippers are more than willing to shell out $75,000 to $90,000 as escort fees instead of paying millions of dollars in ransom. In the wake of the threat to merchant ships, more than 320 private maritime security companies have mushroomed the world over, often flouting maritime laws of many countries. Of these, 67 companies are registered in Panama alone.

In the last seven years, it is estimated that approximately $385 million in ransom was paid to pirates to rescue over 150 hijacked vessels. According to the United Nation’s International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Somali pirates attacked 286 ships and dhows in 2011 and hijacked 33. In 2012, the number of attacks dropped to 99 and only 13 ships and dhows were hijacked for ransom. But, despite the sharp decline in ocean piracy, private security companies managed to corner over $1.7 billion as escort fees from shippers in 2012. The threat of piracy has made security companies, mostly operating out of the US and UK, rich and powerful.

FLAUNTING THE LAW: Pointing out an interesting trend in the private maritime security business, a senior official said all these small boats are known to carry flags of tax haven countries including Sierra Leone, Bahamas, Panama and Republic of Kiribati to escape accountability and taxes. MV Seaman too was operating under a Sierra Leone flag, though the security company is registered in Virginia, US.

“It is a corporate veil to flaunt the law and hide their responsibility and actions in international water. The United States Maritime Administration should also be held accountable for such loopholes. Intelligence agencies, I’m told would be looking into the port of registry to check whether the weapons aboard MV Seaman Guard Ohio were registered with them or not,” he said.

VEIL OF SECRECY: L’Affaire Seaman Guard Ohio has stirred up a storm in India. Sources said MV Seaman Guard Ohio failed to confirm whether the weapons aboard were procured from another ship covering the area or from a floating armoury cruising in international waters. “On two previous occasions, it did not declare the arms on board, which means the weapons were loaded after September 9. Who gave the clearance, why and how are the questions that need to be investigated,” a source said.

According to New Internationalist, a UK-based magazine, there are 18 floating armouries in the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and Mozambique Channel, all of which rent out weapons outside territorial waters so as to sidestep weapons regulations. It said the contractors operate in an accountability vacuum. “No global treaties cover weapons fire from commercial ships.”

Calling these companies Corporate Mercenary, a UK based Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) report said that the upper ranks of many of these companies are filled with former US and UK army officers.

“Governments, such as that of the UK, find the services of these companies cheaper than using regular armed forces, because many of the personnel come from Iraq or from poor countries like Nepal and Fiji and are willing to serve for a fraction of a regular soldier’s pay,” CAAT Said.

MISSING DETAILS: A representative of AdvanFort, Thomas Chacko, who is based in Dubai said the company operates in high risk zones and the Seaman Ohio was operating to secure a certain area in the Indian Ocean. However, Thomas failed to provide details of the arms and ammunition on board. He said, “Everything is accountable and all documents were handed over to the authorities.” Thomas also refused to reveal the destination of ship and the areas it covered in the last two to three months.

Sources said after leaving Sharjah sometime in June-July, the ship was first spotted in Indian waters when it berthed at Kochi port in August. At that time, it did not declare its weapons on board.

A month later, Seaman Guard Ohio met with an accident and was rescued by the Indian Coast Guard. “Even then nothing suspicious was noticed by the authorities,” sources said.

Former chief of Indian Coast Guard, Vice Admiral (retd) A K Singh said the ship was anchored within Indian territorial water without obtaining prior permissions, which is illegal. “While verifying the facts about the weapons and the license is job of investigating agencies, the illegal procurement of diesel from a fish trawler is a serious offence. They need to inform Indian authorities 96 hours in advance if they plan to enter Indian territory,” Singh said.

Pealtnägija, an Estonian TV network, in a special broadcast in 2011 revealed that weapons provided by AdvanFort, which is touted as the biggest anti-piracy contractor in Estonia, lack the necessary documents and are not even registered in the country. The MV Seaman Guard had 14 Estonian armed guards on board when Coast guard intercepted the vessel.

“AdvanFort has on some occasions put Estonians aboard ships without arming them at all. Another problem is that the weapons provided lack the necessary legal documents,” the channel had claimed.

A detailed questionnaire sent to AdvanFort President William H. Watson did not elicit a response till the time of going to press.
Philip
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Philip »

Advanfort COO's spin: It was lured into Indian waters by the Indian CG (it does not now deny that the vessel was in Indian waters,see how the slimeballs change their tale like a chameleon's coat.earlier it vociferously denied that it was in Indian waters.It also spewed out another tall tale about taking shelter from Cyclone Phailin,and thanked us for allowing it to shelter!) . That is a travesty of the truth as it was surreptitiously picking up a large qyt. of diesel from professional smugglers,fact.These jokers have all been caught and arrested too.The GOI should immediately send Interpol a "red flag" note for Capt.Willy (the Silly) Watson to be picked up and extradited to India to face charges.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/g ... 255620.ece

German firm set to finalise deal with India for supply of naval sonars
Atlas Elektronik says low-frequency sonars will help vessels locate enemy submarines, torpedoes and ships from very long range

German defence firm Atlas Elektronik, a leading manufacturer of high-tech maritime and naval systems, is in the process of finalising a deal with India for supplying low-frequency sonar systems for Navy’s warships that will help them detect enemy submarines, warships and torpedoes from a long distance.

Atlas Elektronik officials, who spoke to a group of visiting Indian journalists at the company’s headquarters here last week, were optimistic of bagging the contract for the Active Towed Away Sonars (ACTAS) which would be mounted on six Indian Navy warships.

They said that the low-frequency sonars with active as well as passive operating systems would help vessels locate enemy submarines, torpedoes and ships from a very long range and take suitable safety measures.

India’s capabilities in developing and producing a range of sonars and a host of related systems have been rather good with the collaboration of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and the Navy.

These sonars have been fitted on Navy’s front line combat ships, sources in the Navy said.

The Navy has 14 submarines but only eight are in operation at any given time. While 10 of them are Russian, others were supplied by HDW of Germany.
Exploring possibilities

The Navy has also been exploring possibilities to increase its capabilities which got a jolt after the devastating fire and explosions that sank INS Sindhurakshak, a Russian Kilo class submarine off the Mumbai coast in August.
Cost-effective

With over 100 years of experience in maritime technologies, Atlas Elektronik is likely to build more ACTAS systems later in India in partnership with BEL under Transfer of Technology (ToT) clause. Officials said that ACTAS could operate in deep as well as shallow waters.

With western India’s coastline being shallow and the eastern coastline much deeper, ACTAS would fit the bill for naval ships operating in the two regions in a cost-effective way, officials claimed.

With Scorpene submarines still a few years away, the Navy can build up its ASW (Anti Submarine Warfare) capability and upgrade its submarine fleet with new torpedoes and combat management systems.

“With capabilities of DRDO and BEL, India can develop new Heavy Weight Torpedoes (HWT) and maybe go in for a modern torpedo like SeaHake of Atlas,’’ officials said.
Upgrading torpedoes

Atlas Elektronik is also engaged in upgrading over 64 SUT torpedoes, dubbed the most reliable and safe torpedo in the Navy’s arsenal. This will extend their life cycle by another 15 years, officials said. SUT torpedoes can be used from all Western platforms.

“German battery technology for torpedoes is inherently safe and does not trade off performance in terms of speed and range,’’ officials in Atlas Elektronik said, adding that in the aftermath of Sindhurakshak disaster India should evaluate the inherent chemical safety used in torpedo technology.

The German defence firm is also in the process of modernising the four Shishumar class submarines, bought from HDW, and while two of them have already undergone the upgrade, two others are under the process.

Last year, Atlas had set up its Indian subsidiary Atlas Elektronik India Private Limited with headquarters in New Delhi with the aim of intensifying the partnership with the Indian governmental customer and to initiate and expand cooperative ventures with Indian public and private sector units.

“Our desire is to further deepen our relationship with India and service the Navy better. We also want to integrate India into the global supply chain,” Volker Paltzo, CEO of Atlas Elektronik, told the visiting Indian journalists.

Since the 1980s, Atlas has worked closely with the Defence Ministry and the Navy, he said citing the example of delivery of four command and weapon control suites for the submarines of the Shishumar class.

(The Hindu correspondent travelled to Germany at the invitation of Atlas Elektronik, India)
PS:Whatever happened to our own desi sonar development which was supposed to be a great success?
member_22539
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by member_22539 »

^You always seem happy to question domestic capabilities at the drop of a hat, why is that?
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by pragnya »

Philip wrote: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/g ... 255620.ece
............

PS:Whatever happened to our own desi sonar development which was supposed to be a great success?
Philip sir

note this is only wrt active towed sonar array. DRDO Nagan ATAS is in service for a while and my guess is the upgrade planned may take more time than IN is willing and hence the ATLAS ELECTRONIK one is being procured for immediate needs. this has been in news for a long time. once Nagan gets there, knowing IN they will readily go for it - IMO.
Philip
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Philip »

Yes,because we have made considerable strides in sonar design,APSOH,HUMSA,USHUS,Panchendriya,Nagan,etc.Kilo class subs,the ATV,DDGs and FFGs all carry desi designed and built sonars.One would've imagined that with TAS systems,we would've made some headway by now,since the development of Nagan,which is a LF TAS.Here is a report that may shed some light.
Germany-based ATLAS Elektronik has secured the contract for supplying its ACTAS ultra low-frequency active/passive towed-array sonar for the Indian Navy’s (IN) three upgraded Project 1241PE ASW corvettes (INS Abhay, INS Ajay and INS Akshay), which were also re-engined with MTU-1163 diesel engines two years ago by Kolkata-based GRSE. The ACTAS is also likely to be acquired in the near future for the IN’s three Project 17 guided-missile frigates (FFG), four Project 28 ASW corvettes and the seven projected Project 17A FFGs. A separate competition is now underway for procuring ultra low-frequency active/passive towed-array sonars from either ATLAS Elektronik or L-3 Communications’ Ocean Systems Division for the IN’s existing three Project 15 guided-missile destroyers (DDG), the yet-to-be-commissioned three Project 15A DDGs and the yet-to-be launched four Project 15B DDGs.

Source: http://www.indiandefence.com/forums/ind ... z2iUU0UHqn

The Abhays,Pauk class ASW corvettes based upon the same Tarantula missile boat hull,carry the same sonar used by Russian ASW Kamov ASW helos (dipping sonars).These are perhaps long in the tooth and we may have yet to develop one common ULF TAS sonar that can be used by a variety of platforms,or that the Atlas TAS is considerably superior to Nagan.There are some details in this DRDO page.
http://drdo.gov.in/drdo/pub/techfocus/2010/aug10.pdf

Philip
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Philip »

Good news about the Vikrant-2's further work being taken up.But read the fine print.The delays mean that eqpt. like the gas turbines in storage,rusting in peace,will have passed their guarantee period by the time the ship is ready for her trials! Surely better planning could've been ensured.Who on earth buys gas turbines when work commences? Almost most manufacturing companies these days work on low inventories ,time scheduled arrival of components,etc.,so that shop floors are not littered with crores of stuff idling for months,and results in improved financial management.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/s ... 261970.ece

Second phase work on INS Vikrant to get under way in Cochin shipyard
he carrier will displace 40,000 tonnes once it is fully built and fitted out

Two months after it was floated out at a ceremony at Cochin Shipyard India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant has now been taken to the bigger, repair dock of the yard for the second phase of construction.

Launched at 17,500 tonnes with the ski-jump in place, the carrier will displace 40,000 tonnes once it is fully built and fitted out. Structural work on the fleet’s air defence platform — including entire hull work, angle deck and island structure, all using about 4,000 tonnes of steel — is slated to be over by May next, when it will be undocked for integration of the crucial aviation complex, complete with hangars, hydraulics, command-control and the like.

Basin trials of the carrier will happen in the last phase, set to commence in 2017.

While the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) sanctioned Rs. 3,261 crore for the first phase of carrier construction, it is reliably learnt that the CCS is contemplating sanction of nearly Rs. 2,600 crore by way of cost to Cochin Shipyard for the crucial second phase.

The work-share arrangement for Vikrant construction under the Navy’s Project 71 is such that the Navy sources and supplies all equipment and material, with the yard’s role largely limited to formulating the detailed plan and putting it in place, under the Navy’s supervision.

Weapon integration

“It will be a real challenge for the yard once the hull construction gets over. The Navy will do some hand-holding when it comes to weapon integration. But the yard has to also set up fully integrated command-control networks like platform management and communication systems, which will be a real test of its capability, skill and adaptability,” said a defence official on condition of anonymity. Being a large vessel, the Vikrant will have some 2,500 km of cabling and nearly 70 km of pipe-network.

While work is apace to lay out cables and wires, obsolescence of equipment already delivered and kept in store for a few years is troubling the yard.

Some of the equipment, including the huge gas turbines, will have outlived their guarantee period by the time they go into the vessel and will be ready for trials.

“It will be a phase fraught with teething troubles. That the equipment on trial would be past their guarantee date is a little worrisome,” said an official
.
Wiring and cabling.We all know how troublesome that was with the Gorky/Vik! Anyway,this is our first homebuilt carrier,but going by the long experience we've had with operating the two ex-RN carriers earlier,plus supervising the drawn out modernisation of the Gorky,the IN's "handholding" should come in very handy for the shipyard in seeing that further delays are avoided.How much is being built in modular fashion,where pre-engineered modules all fitted out inside are assembled is an unknown qty.In some countries,even parts of large ships are built by different yards and towed to one yard for final assembly.Indian shipyards have to master modualr construction if they are going to be able to build at home the IN's large orderbook.
pragnya
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by pragnya »

Philip wrote:Yes,because we have made considerable strides in sonar design,APSOH,HUMSA,USHUS,Panchendriya,Nagan,etc.Kilo class subs,the ATV,DDGs and FFGs all carry desi designed and built sonars.One would've imagined that with TAS systems,we would've made some headway by now,since the development of Nagan,which is a LF TAS.Here is a report that may shed some light.
Germany-based ATLAS Elektronik has secured the contract for supplying its ACTAS ultra low-frequency active/passive towed-array sonar for the Indian Navy’s (IN) three upgraded Project 1241PE ASW corvettes (INS Abhay, INS Ajay and INS Akshay), which were also re-engined with MTU-1163 diesel engines two years ago by Kolkata-based GRSE. The ACTAS is also likely to be acquired in the near future for the IN’s three Project 17 guided-missile frigates (FFG), four Project 28 ASW corvettes and the seven projected Project 17A FFGs. A separate competition is now underway for procuring ultra low-frequency active/passive towed-array sonars from either ATLAS Elektronik or L-3 Communications’ Ocean Systems Division for the IN’s existing three Project 15 guided-missile destroyers (DDG), the yet-to-be-commissioned three Project 15A DDGs and the yet-to-be launched four Project 15B DDGs.

Source: http://www.indiandefence.com/forums/ind ... z2iUU0UHqn

The Abhays,Pauk class ASW corvettes based upon the same Tarantula missile boat hull,carry the same sonar used by Russian ASW Kamov ASW helos (dipping sonars).These are perhaps long in the tooth and we may have yet to develop one common ULF TAS sonar that can be used by a variety of platforms,or that the Atlas TAS is considerably superior to Nagan.There are some details in this DRDO page.
http://drdo.gov.in/drdo/pub/techfocus/2010/aug10.pdf

Philip, that is correct. Nagan is LF ATAS and IN is looking for ULF ATAS. it seems the ULF Nagan may not be happening in the timeframe IN wants. hence ATLAS. IN takes pride in being self reliant and if they are going to ATLAS there must be solid enough reason and when the Nagan fructifies i bet - they will happily go for it.

thanks for the tech focus pdf. i had missed it. :)

there was one more recent DRDO TF on Sonars worth reading. please go thro' it -

http://drdo.gov.in/drdo/pub/techfocus/2 ... 13_WEB.pdf

that aside wrt MIHIR dunking sonars, this was specifically developed for naval ALH Dhruv but since Dhruv was found unsuitable, IN is planning to install the same Mihir (with suitable mods) on the MRH which are being procured. IN doesn't want to let go hard work and good results to go waste.
Philip
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Philip »

Yes,missed Mihir.One idea.Mihir being small can also be used on the small coastal ASW vessels being planned for in strength apart from helos.The Russians used the same helo dunking sonar for the Abhay class,standardising the same.The same could be done by the IN,a cost-effective solution.
RKumar

Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by RKumar »

Philippines eyes 2 frigates from India

Good to see India's prospect of exporting military hardware for first time. Salute to Indian Navy for taking the lead in developing indigenous systems. I hope Indian Army and Indian Air Force follow it.
MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines, which is beefing up its defense capability, is considering the procurement of naval frigates from India.

Philippine officials discussed this the other day with a visiting delegation from India led by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.

India has intensified its engagement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as part of its “Look East” policy in the past decade.

Khurshid, who met yesterday with Vice President Jejomar Binay, said the relationship between the two countries is “extremely important.”

“Now is the time to begin a new chapter,” Khurshid said yesterday over lunch with Filipino officials as he emphasized the two countries’ “shared aspirations and shared attitudes.”

The Philippines is eyeing the procurement of two frigates from India, a nuclear power with its own military shipbuilding capability.

India has built its own stealth-capable warship, which visited Manila several months ago. The Indians are developing their first aircraft carrier and will acquire one soon from Russia.

Like the Philippines, India has a territorial dispute with its neighbor China. Khurshid told The STAR yesterday that his government was pursuing engagement with the Chinese.

The other day, Khurshid and his delegation met separately with Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Philippine security officials.

Khurshid, who proceeded to Manila from meetings in Brazil, leaves for Singapore today.

The Philippines is currently finalizing the procurement of fighter jets from South Korea.

Not connected with territorial row

The defense department maintained yesterday that the acquisition of fighter jets from South Korea has nothing to do with the territorial row in the West Philippine Sea.

“This has been planned even before the developments in the West Philippine Sea,” defense department spokesman Peter Galvez said in a phone interview.

Galvez was asked for a reaction after a Japanese paper reported on Monday that China had asked South Korea not to sell FA-50 jets to the country.

Galvez declined to comment on the report itself but said the military’s upgrade efforts are not related to the territorial row with China.

The defense department previously said that the lead-in fighter jets acquisition project would boost the territorial defense capabilities of the country.

Officials, however, stressed that the modernization program is not directed toward any country
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Austin »

The aircraft carrier "Vikramaditya" will give the Indian Navy on November 16
http://www.itar-tass.com/c1/923231.html
ARKHANGEL, October 23. / Itar-Tass Anoufriev /. The ceremony of transfer of an aircraft carrier "Vikramaditya" / ex-cruiser "Admiral Gorshkov" / navy India will be held on November 16 at the Sevmash military shipyard in Severodvinsk. This was reported by ITAR-TASS, the press service of the plant.

There specified that "the program of the event - the grand building of the Russian and Indian honor guard, raising the flag of the Indian Navy, the signing of official documents."

At present, the formation of the crew "Vikramaditya" to go to India. According to sources, in October in Severodvinsk from India arrived about 200 sailors in the days to come about 100. The total number of Indian crew on an aircraft carrier is more than a thousand people. During the transition to the "Vikramaditya" will also be on duty specialists from commissioning team of Sevmash.

Testing of aircraft carrier

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on November 16 that "Vikramaditya" will be delivered to the customer, and November 30 will leave the territorial waters of Russia, and will head to India. He also informed that the aircraft carrier sea trials were successful, all the problems that were identified during the trial last year, completely eliminated. Moreover, the Deputy Prime Minister said, "Vikramaditya" has shown characteristics that exceed the stated. In particular, the speed of the ship at the test was over 29 knots / about 54 km / h / 28 against the planned sites.

As previously stated by the deputy director general of "Rosoboronexport" Victor Komardin, it is expected that on the way to India, the aircraft carrier will go to 14 ports, and by February, will come in the Indian city of Mumbai.

Initially it was assumed that "Vikramaditya" will be given to the Indian side in 2008, and later moved to this term in December 2012 due to increased work performed on an aircraft carrier. Accordingly, substantially increased and their cost: according to unofficial information, it is about $ 2.3 billion / primary - about 1.5 billion /. However, in the summer of 2012 a group of power plant boiler carrier found problems, and therefore the program of the factory running tests had to be cut. By February 2013 the problem had been resolved, and the aircraft carrier trials continued.

Characteristics of "Vikramaditya"


On the Packet intergovernmental agreement signed in New Delhi in January 2004, the body of the Russian aircraft carrier "Admiral Gorshkov" the Indian side handed over free of charge on the condition of its modernization at Sevmash and equipment Air Group in Russia. Russia will also hold a training aircraft carrier Indian crew of about 1,500 people and will create an infrastructure-based ship in the Indian Ocean. It is assumed that the service life is 30 years.

After repair and refurbishment at Sevmash total displacement "Vikramaditya" was 45,000 tons, maximum length - 283.5 m, maximum width - 59.8 m / s, increased by 8.8 meters - prim.TASS /. The ship can now carry on board 30 aircraft, including MiG-29K and Ka-27 and Ka-31. Crew size - about 2 million people. The ship's hull full of modern equipment, systems and mechanisms. The aircraft carrier has received new navigation and radar systems, complex communication and control aircraft. As a result, according to Sevmash, in fact, was created entirely new ship.
Austin
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Austin »

Any one access to Janes can post the full article ?

India, Russia in talks over second SSN lease
India is in advanced negotiations with Russia, its principal materiel supplier, to lease a second Schuka-B ('Akula')-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) for 10 years.

Indian Navy (IN) sources said the USD1.5 billion leasing of the SSN, which they expect to include design elements of the latest Yasen-class (also known as the 'Severodinsk'-class) SSGNs, featured in discussions on defence co-operation between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Vladamir Putin in Moscow on 21 October.

Over 60% of India's military hardware is of Soviet or Russian origin.

Further talks to lease the SSN, which sources say is likely to be based on the incomplete hull of Ibris, a Schuka-B-class boat abandoned in the 1990s after the Soviet Union's collapse - will take place during Indian Defence Minister A K Antony's trip to Moscow that begins on 15 November.
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

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http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes ... vy-warship

Royal navy warship steams into Konkan
TNN Oct 19, 2013, 01.32AM IST

PANAJI: Royal Navy warship HMS Westminster has arrived in Goa to participate in 'Konkan', the annual bilateral exercise conducted off India's Konkan Coast, in partnership with the Indian Navy.

The ninth in the 'Konkan' series, this year's exercise will focus on asymmetric operations, anti-air warfare and Visit Board Search and Seizure ( VBSS) exercises.

The Indian Navy is represented by the INS Delhi, an indigenously-built destroyer with integral Chetak helicopter and shore-based aircraft, commanded by captain Sandeep Mehta.
Philip
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Re: Indian Naval Discussion

Post by Philip »

The second Akula may come with the universal VLS launchers which can carry several missiles/types in each silo.It will be more advanced than the Chakra and also carry our desi LRCM,Nirbhay.

Here's a report on the export of sonars to Burma by the DRDO.The DRDO chief says that we now make all our radars and sonars,not 100% accurate from one of the above reports about importing TAS systems from Germany.The report about the desi AIP systems for the last 2 Scorpenes, also comes with some confusion.It says that it will be made with "TOT"! That the French have offered us MESMA (which is on the Paki Agosta 90B subs too).There weer earlier reports about the DRDO developing its own fuel-cell AIP system.If this is being fitted,then from whom have we got the reported "TOT"?

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp ... 270344.ece

DRDO to export soon sonars to Myanmar
Special Correspondent

Two Scorpene submarines will have Indian AIP system: Avinash Chander
A file photo of a Scorpene submarine.

Signalling the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) strong intent to export military products to friendly nations, its chief and Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister Avinash Chander said DRDO-made sonars would soon be exported to Myanmar in a groundbreaking initiative.

“We’ve attained total indigenisation in sonars and radars. Our ship-borne sonars are now being exported to Myanmar,” Mr. Chander told journalists after inaugurating an international symposium on ocean electronics organised by the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) here on Monday. The DRDO, in a major change in its outlook, was open to sale of its defence products to friendly nations, he said.

( The Hindu has learnt from its sources that Myanmar has inked a deal with Bharat Electronics earlier this year for procurement of three units of export variant of hull-mounted sonar developed by the DRDO’s Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory located in Kochi.)

According to Mr. Chander, with the global market blobbing on its radar, the DRDO was taking part in the Aerospace and Defence Exhibition-2013 to be held in Seoul this month-end. “We’re taking an array of our systems, including Akash surface-to-air missile, Light Combat Aircraft Tejas and Pragati surface-to-surface missile to the exhibition,” he said.

On the air-independent propulsion (AIP) system being developed by the DRDO’s Naval Materials Research Laboratory at Ambernath, he said it would be integrated onto the last two Scorpene submarines being built at Mazagon Dock based on transfer-of-technology.

(AIP systems play a vital role in considerably enhancing the underwater endurance of conventional diesel-electric submarines. Conventional submarines devoid of AIP are required to surface once in a few days to recharge their batteries, a process when they are most vulnerable to attacks. Scorpenes being French-origin submarines, the French had offered to install their MESMA AIP on the Indian Scorpenes).

Mr. Chander said India needed some 80 to 100 satellites in the long-run to be able to ensure a fairly high degree of maritime domain awareness in the entire Indian Ocean region. There was need to launch low-cost, expendable satellites that could be swiftly deployed on demand, he said adding China already possessed such a capability, with some 19 satellites already keeping a watch over the Indian Ocean.

On Tejas, he said the aircraft in Mark-1 configuration would get full initial operational clearance by this year-end, and would brace for final operational clearance in 2014. Its series production had begun and induction of the first series production aircraft into the Air Force would also take place next year.

Main battle tank (MBT) Arjun in the enhanced Mark-2 configuration had some issues during the recent trials they would be resolved soon.

Mr. Chander was hopeful of seeing the induction of the 5,000 km-range Agni-V strategic missile in two years’ time. “But we need to hold three-four trials of the missile in user deployable configuration before that.”

The ambitious Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), he said, was on the drawing board and the basic configuration was being finalised at the moment.

“No country can progress by importing defence material and equipment” and therefore, the DRDO has identified several areas, where indigenisation could be done in a big way. “Ammunition for tanks and artillery guns for instance was one such area,” he said.

India needs some 80 to 100 satellites in the long-run

Operation clearance for LCA Tejas by the end of this year
PS:Pragati missile? Range can only be less than 300km due to the MTCR.Is it a development of Prithvi or a scaled down Prahar?
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