Indian Navy Begins Sea Trials Of Russian-Built Aircraft Carrier

                                    Aircraft Carrier Vikramaditya (formerly Admiral Gorshkov




The Indian Navy's Russian-built aircraft carrier Vikramaditya (formerly Admiral Gorshkov) began sea trials early on Friday morning in the White Sea - four years after it was originally due to take to sea again. The ship was refitted at the Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia. It was originally scheduled to begin sea trials, which will last 120 days, on May 25.
Refitted at the Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia, the ship is carrying a mixed Russian-Indian crew is on board the vessel, with the Indian sailors learning how to operate the vessel. 
The ship will sail to the Barents Sea for exercises with the military aircraft after sea trial in the White Sea have been concluded. 
The purchase of the carried was signed in 2005 for an estimated $947 million but delivery has been delayed twice thus taking the refurbishing cost up to $2.3 billion. 
India has already begun inducting MiG-29K naval fighter aircraft for the Russian-made carrier which has a displacement of 45,000 tons, a maximum speed of 32 knots and an endurance of 13,500 nautical miles (25,000 km) at a cruising speed of 18 knots. 
The MiG-29K was reportedly selected over the larger and more-capable Su-33 naval fighter because India also hopes to operate them from its smaller, indigenous “Project-71 Air Defense Ship” carriers. 

Signals and Perceptions

Pakistan has a perception problem. Actually, we have two. One is the way we are perceived in the world, and the other is the way we ourselves perceive the world around us. Ejaz Haider’s latest piece for Express Tribune is a case in point.

At issue is the claim that a Pakistani general told Tony Blair’s former communications director Alastair Campbell that Pakistan could launch a nuclear strike against India in 8 seconds. From Ejaz Haider’s point of view, this claim makes Mr Campbell either ‘a liar or a sucker’.

Ejaz Haider explains his reaction by first attacking Mr Campbell’s credibility, then attacking the minute details implied by his claim.

In eight seconds, one can’t do it even if the warhead is mated with the delivery vehicle and is on hair-trigger alert in a silo. To think that Pakistan, which doesn’t have deployed weapons, could do something in eight seconds is to stretch credulity. But if one reads closely the statement, “It takes us eight seconds to get the missiles over”, it would seem the unnamed general is talking about the flight time. Campbell, or for that matter anyone, would have to be a sucker to fall for that.

Or, the general could have been exaggerating to make a point. After all, this discussion took place at a dinner hosted by Gen. Musharraf, not a classified seminar at NDU on Pakistan’s nuclear capability. Ejaz Haider suspects, ‘signalling’.

It would make sense for Pakistan to signal, informally but credibly, that while Pakistan had chosen to side with the coalition in Afghanistan, the coalition had to ensure that its eastern front remained secure.

Thus, according to Ejaz Haider, “the unnamed Pakistani general played him and Campbell got played!” Score one for Pakistan!

But wait.

Whether or not Alaistar Campbell knows the difference between a three-star general and a Field Marshal; whether or not the general said 8 seconds or 8 minutes; whether the general was referring to launch time or flight time – all of this completely misses the point. Whatever the general’s intentions, the only thing he signaled “informally but credibly” is that Pakistan was insane.

Imagine sitting over a dinner just after 9/11 attacks – before the US invasion of Afghanistan, before the invasion of Iraq, before everything fell to pieces – imagine that you’re asking for help against terrorists that just murdered thousands of innocent people by turning an airplane into a missile – and the Pakistani general seated next to you starts talking about nuking India. Does that communicate that “the coalition had to ensure that Pakistan’s eastern front remained secure”? Or does it communicate that Pakistan is unhinged?

Ejaz Haider is right – facts matter. But so do perceptions. And however important generals perceive the threat of India to our national security, when they casually tell foreign diplomats about how easy it would be to nuke them, it sends the wrong ‘signal’.

Mohammed congratulates Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz

                                               His Highness Sheikh Mohammed

UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has congratulated Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud for being chosen as Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence.

In a telephone call, Sheikh Mohammed wished Prince Salman success in carrying out his duties in the best interests of the Saudi people.

Russian officials confirm the delivery of anti-aircraft missile systems to the Assad regime

The general director of the Russian state defence export agency Rosoboronexport, Anatoly Petrovich Isaykin today confirmed that the agency is delivering various anti-aircraft and anti-ship missile systems to the Assad regime in Syria.

Isyakin was quoted as saying that the missiles are capable of shooting down NATO aircrafts, in case the US led alliance decides to intervene in Syria militarily. He was speaking to media representatives from the American daily, New York Times.

Earlier Hillary Clinton, the American Secretary of State has accused Russia of sending military helicopters to Syria, which can be used for attacking civilians. She also claimed that Russia is planning to send mercenaries and a number of amphibious assault ships to the Syrian port city of Tartus. Several of the Syrian Armed Forces’ important installations and facilities are located at Tartus.

Defence analysts claimed that the latest statement is merely meant to scare away or delay the Western military intervention, saying that the weapons Russia is supplying are not militarily significant at this point of time. Russia have repeatedly assured the Western nations that all of its arms sales to Syria are of defensive nature, and they are not delivering any weapons to the regime, which can be used for offensive operations.

Isyakin said that a number of anti-aircraft missile systems, including the 9K317 Buk-M2, and the Pantsir-S1 are being purchased by the Syrians, in addition to the anti-ship missile K-300P Bastion-P. He refused to reveal the exact financial details of the purchase contracts. Ruslan Aliyev, a Russian defence analyst said that the weapons are not very technologically advanced and that they will have only a limited significance against the NATO fighter jets and missiles.

The 9K317 Buk-M2 is a medium range Surface-to-Air Missile system (SAM), which is having an operational range of 30 miles. In addition to various ex-Soviet nations, the missile is used by the armed forces of Egypt, China, North Korea and Finland. The Pantsir (SA-22 Greyhound) is a short range SAM, which can also be used as an anti-aircraft artillery weapon system. The Bastion-P is a mobile anti-ship missile system developed and manufactured by the NPO Mashinostroenia. The Russian Navy currently deploys the missile onboard its vessels in the Pacific Fleet.

Commissioning Of ICGS Krishnapatnam

Coast Guard Station Krishnapatnam, the third Coast Guard Station in Andhra Pradesh, was commissioned in Andhra Pradesh today by Dr MM Pallam Raju, Raksha Rajya Mantri, in the presence of Vice Admiral MP Muralidharan, Director General Indian Coast Guard, Inspector General Satya Prakash Sharma, Commander Coast Guard Region (East) and a host of senior officials of the state/central government and Indian Coast Guard.
            
The establishment of a Station at Krishnapatnam is part of the ongoing efforts by the Coast Guard to strengthen coastal security in the coastal states of the nation. 
            
In his address during the Commissioning Ceremony, Raksha Rajya Mantri stated that the coast of Andhra Pradesh, being cyclone prone, had witnessed a number of incidents in the past resulting in loss of life and property at sea. This newly commissioned Coast Guard Station at Krishnapatnam would facilitate Search and Rescue operations towards saving lives.
            
The Station will function under the administrative and operational control of Commander, Coast Guard Region (East) through the Commander, Coast Guard District HQ-6 located at Visakhapatnam. Comdt (JG) TRK Rao has been appointed as the Commanding Officer of the Station.
DPR

Conference On Clothing Management Begins At HQ Maintenance Command Nagpur

A large scale conference on clothing management has commenced today at HQs Maintenance Command, IAF at Nagpur. The two days long conference (to be held on18 and 19 Jun 2012) was inaugurated by AOC-in-C, Maintenance Command, Air Marshal Jagdish Chandra.
      
The conference is being held under the auspices of the Logistics Management Branch of HQ MC to improve the clothing and uniform of all the Air Warriors of IAF. The Indian Air Force has, for the coming years identified, ‘clothing management’ as a key result area. Uniforms are a matter of pride for all the Air Warriors and play a major role in operational, day-to-day and ceremonial functioning of the force.
      
The focus of the conference is to improve the quality of the uniforms (in terms of fabric, suitability to weather conditions etc.), timely availability and mass production. Assistance of National Institute of Fashion Technology(NIFT) and Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) on design of various uniforms and quality of fabric has already been sought.
      
The uniforms are manufactured by various ordnance factories(OFs), namely the OFs at Kanpur, Shahjahanpur, Avadi (near Chennai) whose representatives are also attending the conference. Efforts would be put towards synergising the functioning of the ordnance factories production and the IAF’s supply chain management system.
      
Representatives of Army’s ordnance corps and Naval HQs logistics branch are also attending the conference to make suggestions on production of the uniforms and supply chain system.
      
Addressing the inaugural session of the conference Air Mshl Jagdish Chandra said “The IAF personnel operate in varied conditions of weather and terrain. Their uniforms are not only a matter of great pride but also protects them from extremities of weather and enhances their operational efficiency. Our efforts should be to improve on the quality, quantity and biometrics of production of various uniforms that we wear. New technology on fabric production and tailoring is available and is improving consistently. You should make full use of it to provide the best to our Air Warriors. Make full use the just-in-time aspect of production and prevent stock outs at all costs.”
      
The conference would synergize all agencies that provide clothing to IAF and would conclude on 19 Jun 2012.

DPR Nagpur--Wg Cdr Mahesh Upasani

MoD sits on tender for new submarines The Defence Acquisition Council last year cleared the acceptance of necessity for this deal, which will lapse in August.

                                          The current lot of Scorpene submarines are being built in Mumbai.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has delayed the order for six additional (second lot) submarines to be bought for the Indian Navy. The decision comes at a time when the submarine fleet is getting depleted. The Defence Acquisition Council last year cleared the acceptance of necessity (AoN) for this Rs 50,000 cr deal, which will lapse in August, before which the tender has to be floated. The contract is for six submarines under Project 75 (I), which are a follow-on of the first six submarines currently being built in the Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) by French company DCNS.

All six submarines under the P-75 (I) contract are supposed to have the AIP (air independent propulsion) system onboard. The AIP is a technology which allows a conventional diesel submarine to operate without the need to surface and helps it to remain submerged for a longer period of time.

Four global vendors are in the fray: Navantia of Spain, Rosoboronexport of Russia, DCNS of France and HDW of Germany. India has been operating Kilo-class submarines of Russian origin and German HDWs and has them in its inventory. The Spanish and Russian submarines do not have the AIP system onboard, which is why, according to sources, Russia is trying to have this clause removed from the tender requirements.

Retired Vice Admiral B.S. Randhawa told this newspaper, "Two lines of different designs of submarines were supposed to run concurrently and then an evolutionary design of our own, but there has been a delay and this will affect force levels which are coming down. As AIP only helps in underwater patrols, its efficiency depends on the distance from the operating base and also on the expending stores of a submarine has to be taken into account as the storage capacity is very limited."

Already grappling with a shortage of submarines, the Indian Navy is currently left with just 14 submarines comprising 10 Kilo-class and four 209-German HDWs, out of which one Kilo-class (INS Sindhurakshak) has left for Russia for overhaul and modernisation.

Under the original six-submarine order, called Project-75 (worth Rs 18,798 cr), French firm DCNS is building the Scorpene at MDL. The project is already facing time and cost overruns. The order was signed in October 2005. The first submarine would be delivered in June 2015 and the last one in the second half of 2018, the Defence Minister said in Parliament last year. The government also sanctioned an additional amount of Rs 4,764.00 cr for the project.

Delay in the scheduled delivery was due to initial teething problems, absorption of technology, augmentation of MDL infrastructure, etc., Parliament was informed.

For P-75 (I), along with MDL, there will be participation from the Vishakhapatnam-based Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), which will have a private Indian partnership. Hindustan Shipyard Limited was taken over by the MoD in 2009 to build the indigenous Arihant-class nuclear submarines. L&T is already collaborating with the navy, DRDO and HSL in manufacturing the indigenous nuclear submarines. Out of the six, two will be bought from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), three will be made in MDL and one at HSL.