India celebrates Navy Day on 04 December, and Nitin Gokhale and Neelanjana Banerjee discuss the evolution of the Indian Navy in this week’s Defence Mantra.
The Indian Navy is the sixth largest navy in the world in terms of both the number of ships and in terms of tonnage. India is one of the few countries that operates more than one aircraft carrier.
In the past, during the 1971 war, the Indian Navy ensured that the Pakistani Navy was bottled up in the Karachi Harbour, which was attacked by the navy. The Navy also sank two Pakistani Navy warships including a destroyer and while crippling another which had to be scrapped after the war. In the East the Indian Navy attacked many shore targets, mostly using the aircraft from India’s then sole aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. More importantly the clandestine operation run by the navy ensured that the Pakistani forces were unable to use their riverine watercraft in the then East Pakistan, robbing the enemy of a critical logistical network in a landscape that is crisscrossed by many rivers. Thus India cemented its place in the region as the pre-eminent naval power in the region after this war.
India sees itself as a net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region and is dependent on the navy for power projection as well as for HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief) activities. In the recent past the Indian Navy has performed many critical roles such as evacuation of Indians and foreigners alike from conflict zones such as Libya, Lebanon (2006) and Yemen among other places, anti-piracy operations in the Western Arabian Sea as well as the Red Sea, provided relief material during natural calamities and was one of the primary carriers of Indian vaccines in the neighbourhood.
The Indian Navy is also at the forefront of defending ships from Houthi attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.
The navy is currently keeping its sword sharp by holding multilateral and bilateral exercises with other navies across the world. This year alone the Indian Navy has held exercises with the U.S., France, Italy, Australia, Japan, Russia and Iran among others.
The Indian Navy was an early adopter of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. Many of the navy’s ships including its latest aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and its latest nuclear-powered submarines are made in India. Many other ships and major components of these ships are made indigenously. As India is rising on the global stage, the size of the navy too is growing. There are plans to increase the size of the navy and have at least 30 more ships in its fleet by 2030.
The increase in size would include the induction of indigenous nuclear attack submarines, conventional submarines with improved AIP systems, unmanned vehicles for sub-surface, surface and aerial realms. Recently, the navy has decided to procure the Rafale fighter aircraft. The force also operates the P8-I maritime patrol aircraft which was extensively used by the armed forces during stand offs with China. The force has also procured 24 MH-60R helicopters and plans to buy C-295 aircrafts, these will be converted to converted maritime patrol platforms.
The Indian Navy has in the last two-to-three decades has evolved into a true blue-water navy. BharatShakti congratulates all Indians on Navy Day.
