Bharat Rakshak

Dear Friends .. Don't have time to post anything elaborate on the exericises though I do have a bunch of images which I have uploaded to the Kodak Photo gallery. I got it wrong last time asking everyone to email me for me to share the pics with them. Could one of the Webmasters please email me ... so I can give them the link to the site. The pics can then be attached to one of the BR sites ... and viewed by all.

Tx

Vishnu Som
Associate Editor (Defence)
New Delhi Television

Pictures of Konkan '06 by Vishnu Som, NDTV. Pictures have been watermarked in the centre to prevent unauthorised use. Thanks.

Konkan 2006

Vishnu sir zindaba d

There is a picture of a stealthy looking frigate, F711. AFAIK, that belongs to the French Navy, La Fayette class. Were the Frenchies playing around with us as well during Konkan?

Hi ... the French firgate is the Surcouf which has been embedded with the British formation for these exercises. thanks, Vishnu

Hi ... the French frigate is the Surcouf which has been embedded with the British formation for these exercises. thanks, Vishnu

Thanks guys.

Its really Nice To See those MERLINS (EH-101 ) , I wish we could have afforded to buy those for our Navy , As a 1:1 replacement for Sea King and Ka-28

Vishnu wrote:Hi ... the French firgate is the Surcouf which has been embedded with the British formation for these exercises. thanks, Vishnu

Great pics, Vishnu!

Thanks!!

Hi ... actually flew on the Merlin off the Illustrious ... Its HUGE, considerably larger than even a Sea King. With 3 engines, its also incredibly smooth and relativelyquiet inside ... but give me a Chetak with no doors for a ride any day of the week !! Cheers Vishnu

Good pics -

[WHINE MODE ON]but cant the pics be ANY larger? They are TOOOO small [/WHINE MODE OFF]

Merlin is perhaps the best of breed ASW chopper out there ,Its Dunking Sonar is very sophisticated , specially designed to detect and classify quite conventional subs in littoral environment

And it could also act as a more sturdy platform for a Heli Borne AEW.

But the cost was very high , and I am not too sure if it can fit in those Delhi, P-17 class hangers weight and dimension wise

Hi ... Full frame images of all this stuff has been sent across to Rakesh ... and should hopefully be up soon for all of you to enjoy ... Tx Vishnu

Vishnu, may I post these pictures in the Armd Forces Recognition List on Yahoogroups ? With due credit of course.

Mandeep, of course you can. Tx, Vishnu

Austin wrote:Its really Nice To See those MERLINS (EH-101 ) , I wish we could have afforded to buy those for our Navy , As a 1:1 replacement for Sea King and Ka-28

What will we do with the Merlins ? They wil not fit on any of our vessels except the carries. I suggest NH 90 or Cougar or MH 60

Kersi

Which all ships and Naval units took part in Ex-Konkan ? Both from the IN and the Anglo-French forces.

and the Anglo-French forces

Small nitpick. It is an "Anglo" force. The FR ship is embedded.

Harry wrote:Illustrious off Mumbai

Isn't it naval tradition/etiquette (rule even?) that you fly the flag of the country you're visiting?
I don't see the Tricolor on the ship. Wasn't there a spat (maybe too strong a word) with the USN when they ignored requests to hoist the Tricolor?

Just curious.

Harry wrote:Illustrious off Mumbai

Soooper photo, I say!

Mandeep,

Task Group Aquila comprised HMS Illustrious (carrier), HMS Gloucester (Type 42 destroyer), Surcouf (French frigate)*, RFA Fort Victoria (supply ship), RFA Diligence (forward repair ship) and HMS Sovereign (SSN).

The Indian participants were INS Mumbai, INS Ganga and INS Brahmaputra, INS Shakti & INS Shankush.


* Type 23 frigate HMS Lancaster has been reciprocally embedded in the Charles De Gaulle task force.