The Indian Navy faced a number of challenges during 2020. It undertook its largest ever non-combatant evacuation under Operation Samudra Setu, wherein, nearly 4000 Indian nationals in Iran, Maldives and Sri Lanka were brought back home during the pandemic.

Missions Sagar I and II, involving deployment of naval medical teams, medicines and humanitarian aid, received wide-spread recognition, reiterating India’s commitment to the region, extending support and succor to friendly foreign countries across the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

Mission Based Deployment

The Navy’s ‘Mission Based Deployment’ philosophy and rapid responses to emerging security challenges took it various choke points in the Indian Ocean. It remained continuously deployed to curb maritime piracy in the Gulf of Aden – 84 IN ships have been deployed in the region since 2008.

In addition to anti-piracy, owing to heightened tensions in the Straits of Hormuz, IN warships also remained deployed in the Gulf since June 2019, to reassure Indian merchant marine transiting the region. Naval ships have escorted 169 Indian Flagged Merchant vessels and 170 lakh tons of cargo under the aegis of Op Sankalp.

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Under the ‘SAGAR’ (Security And Growth for All in the Region) the IN participated in 13 bilateral and multilateral exercises, during 2020 including Malabar exercise, with US, Japanese and Australian Navies, contributing to enhanced cooperation and trust.

As part of the Government of India’s vision of ‘Neighbourhood First’, the Indian Navy undertook Joint EEZ surveillance with Maldives, Seychelles and Mauritius, as well as Coordinated Patrols (CORPATs) with Bangladesh, Thailand and Indonesia in 2020. IN ships were also deployed to undertake hydrographic surveys for friendly littoral countries, on their request, for about 130 days.

Humanitarian Assistance

The Navy continued to be proactive in rendering humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. INS Airavat provided succor to Madagascar in the aftermath of Cyclone Dianne in Jan 20. Airavat and Trikand escorted food shipments to Kenya and Somalia through piracy infested waters off East Africa, as part of the United Nations World Food Programme (UN WFP). The UN WFP, as you all know, also won the Nobel Prize this year. Nireekshakassisted the Government of Mauritius in salvage operations of grounded Merchant Ship Wakashio. Sahyadri was the ‘On Scene Commander’ for coordinating firefighting, salvage and towing operations of fire stricken oil tanker New Diamond off the East coast of Sri Lanka. The prompt response to these contingencies demonstrate our resolve to be the ‘First Responder’ in the region.

The Information Fusion Centre at Gurugram, commissioned in 2018, has established itself as the hub of maritime security information in the IOR, through white shipping exchange agreements with 21 countries and 20 Maritime Security centres. International Liaison Officers from 13 countries have been invited, and three ILOs have joined the centre, with three more likely to join shortly.

Modernisation and Acquisitions

Indian Navy’s commitment to ‘Self Reliance in Defence Production’ is evident from the fact that all 24 ships and submarines commissioned into the Navy over the last six years have been built in India. Further, of the 43 ships and submarines, currently under construction, 41 are being built at Indian shipyards. These include the Aircraft Carrier -Vikrant, P-15B Class Destroyers, P17A class stealth Frigates and Scorpene class submarines.

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Amongst these projects, Vikrant is at an advanced stage of construction and will commence sea trials in early 2021. Visakhapatnam, the first of the P 15B destroyers is undergoing trials and is scheduled to be commissioned in 2021. The Navy also commissioned the indigenously built Landing Craft LCU L57 in May 2020, and ASW Corvette Kavaratti in October. ‘Himgiri’, the second of the seven ships of P17A frigates was launched at GRSE, Kolkata on 14 December.

Modernisation of the submarine arm is also underway. The delivery of the third Scorpene (P75) class boat, Karanj, was expected by end-December; the fourth boat, Vela, was undergoing sea trials and fifth boat Vagir was launched on 12 November.

Naval Aviation

The Navy inducted three ALH Mk III, four Chetak, eight Dornier and one P8I aircraft in 2020. Contracts for procurement of six P8Is, six Kamov 31 helicopters and upgrade of six Heron RPAs were under process and likely to be concluded in 2021. The Navy also signed the LOA for 24 MRH helicopter from the United States through the FMS route in 2020, with deliveries starting next year.

Construction of a naval air station are planned during Phase IIA of Project Seabird at Karwar, which will include construction of eight operational and two refit piers, creation of a full-fledged naval dockyard and upgrading of the hospital at Karwar.

Indigenisation

IN has been at the forefront of indigenisation over the past seven decades. Indigenisation of major equipment and systems is being progressed through multiple avenues available in the updated Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020. The Indian Navy also established the Naval Innovation and IndigenisationOrganisation (NIIO) to facilitate closer interaction with industry and provide a fillip to innovation.

Capital Expenditure

Union Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik, on 27 November, said while addressing a virtual meet on opportunities at Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL), that he expected orders for surface ships and submarines to be executed from 2020 to 2030 by the Indian Navy to the tune of $51 billion.

He said that more than 60 per cent of the Indian Navy’s budget is dedicated to capital expenditure and nearly 70 per cent of this capital budget has been spent on indigenous sourcing, amounting to nearly Rs 66,000 crore in the last five years.

More than 60 major surface and sub-surface platforms being built for mainly the Indian Navy and the Indian shipyards.

Second Amphibious Brigade to be Raised

The national security planners are considering raising another amphibious brigade, one for eastern and western seaboard, for offensive operations in the future. As of now, India has one dedicated amphibious brigade, whose elements are spread between Thiruvananthapuram and Andaman and Nicobar Islands Command in Port Blair. The amphibious forces are specialised in launching a counter-offensive from sea using landing ship tank (LST) vessels such as INS Jalashwa and projecting power in the region and beyond. The planners are considering having one full brigade in Thiruvananthapuram, and the second stationed either at Visakhapatnam or AN Islands.

India’s island territories are at the heart of Indian Navy’s operational plan in the Indian Ocean as they dominate the major shipping lanes from Suez Canal and Persian Gulf to South-East and North Asia via Malacca Strait. The Indian Air Force fighter jets, armed with Brahmos missiles, can strike at any moving target in and around Malacca, Sunda or Lombard straits in the worst-case scenario. These three straits are the only way to access the South China Sea from Indian Ocean. Shipping costs mount manifolds if the ships have to be diverted from the Malacca Strait to other two straits.

Despite the strategic leverage that the island territories represent, the Indian Navy is still largely focused on Mumbai and Visakhapatnam with the AN Command left to the tri-services headquarters. With the military theatre commands in the offing, both AN Islands and Lakshadweep are going to be the hub of India’s maritime strike capabilities. Lakshadweep lies on the Nine Degree Channel, the most direct route for East Asia-bound ships from the Persian Gulf.

Given that India and the US have tied up for Indian Ocean Region with institutionalised tie-ups with American Indo-Pacific, Central Command and African Commands, the QUAD countries will project maritime surveillance and dominance in their region with assets communicating and sharing information through secure military communication channels among air, surface and underwater combatants made possible by the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement signed in 2018.