Navy News Week 48-2
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NAVY NEWS WEEK 48-2 26 November 2018 Made in India Fast Patrol Vessel launched by GRSE in Kolkata By: FE Online | Updated: November 23, 2018 3:44 PM Two Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) ships for Indian Coast Guard were simultaneously launched on Thursday at the defence PSU and warship builder - Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd. at Kolkata. Made in India Fast Patrol Vessel launched by GRSE in Kolkata Two Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) ships for Indian Coast Guard were simultaneously launched on Thursday at the defence PSU and warship builder – Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd. at Kolkata. These FPV ships are each 50M long, 7.5M wide with a displacement of around 308 tons and are designed for a maximum speed of 34 knots with an endurance of more than 1500 nautical miles. According to Rear Admiral VK Saxena, Chairman and Managing Director, GRSE, “The FPV designs, exclusive to GRSE, are an improvisation on the Inshore Patrol Vessels (IPV) built by the Shipyard for the Indian Coast Guard, few years ago.” “The vessels come with an efficient hull form developed in-house and proved after extensive model testing. These are fuel efficient and the powerful platforms are well suited for patrolling, anti-smuggling, and anti-poaching and rescue operations.” These come fitted with state-of-the-art Main Engines with Advanced Control Systems and Water Jet Units and an ‘Integrated Bridge System’ assimilating all Communication and Navigation Systems. The key armament of a 40/60 Gun and improved habitability features with fully air conditioned modular accommodation for 35 personnel are the other salient features of the ships. With the launch now over the company is gearing up for the post launch activities which include balance fitting out of the ship, readiness of ship systems and setting to work of equipment / systems. Once over, the ships would be put to sea for trials before final delivery, the CMD added. These Vessels, ICGS Amrit Kaur and ICGS Kamla Devi are third and fourth in the series of five FPVs built by GRSE for the Indian Coast Guard. Upholding the best of maritime traditions, the ships were “Launched” by Veena Naravane, wife of Lt Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane, General Officer Commanding-In-Chief; Eastern Command, Indian Army. The ceremony was held in the presence of Rear Admiral VK Saxena, CMD, GRSE, and other Senior Officials of GRSE, Indian Coast Guard, Indian Navy, and Indian Army. As part of Make in India initiatives, through indigenisation efforts, GRSE has made commendable progress by successfully incorporating a high percentage of indigenous content in the ships made in shipyard. INS Kamorta and INS Kadmatt, the first two of Class of 4 ASW Corvettes became the first warships built in the country with indigenously developed warship grade steel, thus having the distinction of achieving over 90 % indigenous content and hence a major step towards achieving self reliance in state of the art warship design and construction space. On the Landing Craft Utility (LCU) class of ships delivered so far, almost 90% indigenous equipment fit has been achieved. Also, 70 % indigenous content in construction of four follow on WJFACs and 72 % indigenisation of the Railless Helo Traversing System on board 3rd ASW Corvette, INS Kiltan, have been achieved at the shipyard. To its credit in over five decades the shipyard has successfully developed an array of world-class platforms including frigates, missile corvettes, anti submarine warfare corvettes and LCU ships for the Indian Navy, all of them armed with high-tech infrastructure. It has the capacity to construct 20 ships in tandem. With the keel-laying of the 1st Advanced Stealth Frigate of P17A Project, it has once again touched a key milestone. It has also bagged orders for four Survey Vessels (Large) for Indian Navy on competitive basis and emerged a successful bidder through competition for 8 ASWSWCs, with private players active in the fray. Source: https://www.financialexpress.com The Indian political will to do this, is something to be admired. Meet Paket: The Russian Navy's Latest Weapon (To Hunt Submarines and Torpedoes) Paket is a naval weapon consisting of an integrated central control system, a “hydroacoustic station” for sonar target detection, and a launcher equipped with anti-submarine MTT torpedoes as well as heat-seeking M-15 anti- torpedoes. by Mark Episkopos November 24, 2018 Image: Creative Commons. Against the backdrop of escalating Russia- NATO military tensions, Russia’s Ministry of Defense has equipped yet another one of its Steregushchiy-class corvettes with the navy’s latest anti-submarine/anti- torpedo system in preparation for the Baltic Fleet’s November military exercise. The vessel, Boiky, is the third corvette to be commissioned as part of Russia’s latest Steregushchiy-class series. It is preceded by Steregushchiy and Soobrazitelnyy, and is one of thirteen Steregushchiy-class vessels to be commissioned through 2021. It’s not particularly surprising that Russia would start replacing its aging 1970’s Grisha class ships, but what should raise concern among western observers is the speed with which these new vessels are being armed with Russia’s formidable Paket-E/NK anti-submarine/anti-torpedo system . Paket is a naval weapon consisting of an integrated central control system, a “hydroacoustic station” for sonar target detection, and a launcher equipped with anti-submarine MTT torpedoes as well as heat-seeking M-15 anti-torpedoes. Paket’s MTT torpedoes and M-15 anti- torpedoes are similar in size, can be varied in quantity before each deployment, and boast effective ranges of up to 10,000 and 100-800 meters respectively. Russia’s agency of defense exports (Rosoboronexport) claims that “warships equipped with such systems have their anti-torpedo defence effectiveness augmented 3-3.5 times,” though their comparison baseline is unclear. Also unclear is how much the entire system costs to produce, but Rosoboronexport’s apparent willingness to sell Paket by its individual components may give them additional leverage in export negotiations. Paket offers drastic range and targeting improvements over the old Soviet RBU anti-submarine rocket-launcher system, but its long-term advantage lies in its modularity. That is, Paket’s constituent parts are designed to be individually upgradable without any overarching alterations; it is aptly named, in that “Paket” is Russian for “bundle.” How, then, does Paket stack up against its competitors? Given its versatility and dual offensive-defense capability, there are no direct parallels to Paket as a unified system. There are, however, similar concepts worth considering. The US Surface Ship Torpedo Defense (SSTD) system presents the closest analogy in that it combines an acoustic sensor and control processor with a Countermeasure Anti- Torpedo missile (CAT). However, it doesn’t integrate an anti-submarine solution in the same launcher. India’s Mareech Advanced Torpedo Defence System (ATDS) combines torpedo detection with indirect torpedo countermeasures, and also has no integrated anti-submarine technology. Germany’s SeaSpider Anti-Torpedo Torpedo (ATT) is an anti-torpedo missile with an advanced solid-state guidance system, reportedly compatible with a wide array of launchers. But as of 2016, SeaSpider has encountered technical hurdles late in its development and is reportedly undergoing a significant redesign. To date, all five operational Steregushchiy-class corvettes have been equipped with Paket. It is unclear when or to whom the Russia plans to sell Paket, but they may focus on installing it in the eight remaining Steregushchiy vessels before signing any major export deals. Paket is purportedly compatible with a wide range of frigates and carriers, but future installation plans beyond the Steregushchiy line have not yet been revealed. It is premature to conclude that Russia is commiting to Paket as its be-all and end-all naval weapon. Last year, Russian defense company Rostec announced that it seeks to modernize the RPK-8 anti-Submarine system with its 90R1 rockets. Nonetheless, it is clear that the Russian navy sees Paket as a fruitful platform for long-term investment and development. Paket is a capable and versatile weapons system that, with its multipurpose launcher, can further muddle the distinction between offense and defense as Russia holds ever-larger military exercises in the context of an ongoing Russia-NATO military buildup on the Baltic Sea. Mark Episkopos is a frequent contributor toThe National Interest and serves as research assistant at the Center for the National Interest. Mark is also a PhD student in History at American University. Source: https://nationalinterest.org Costly Raising of Argentine Submarine May Not Yield Answers or Bodies, Experts Say By Daniel Politi Nov. 24, 2018 MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina — An Argentine submarine found deep on the ocean floor a year after it vanished with 44 people on board may rest there despite pleas from family members of the crew, who hope for a salvage operation that experts say would be costly and unlikely to yield new information. Experts say the salvage operation appears to be feasible. But the financially struggling administration of President Mauricio Macri is not eager to pay for it despite pressure from families who want to recover the bodies of their loved ones. For now, the only official in a position to order the vessel to be lifted quickly does not seem in a hurry to do so. Marta Yáñez, the federal judge who is in charge of the investigation into the sinking of the submarine, the San Juan, is working with experts to review 67,000 photographs and videos of the submarine and its surroundings to determine what exactly happened to the vessel. But it is unclear how long the review could take, she said. Those images are to be provided by the end of the month by Ocean Infinity, the Houston-based company that found the San Juan a week ago.