Potent and Capable: India's Transformational 21 Century Navy
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3 May 2012 Potent and Capable: India’s Transformational 21st Century Navy Sergei DeSilva-Ranasinghe Research Manager South and West Asia Programme Key Points India has embarked on an unprecedented naval expansion programme, which according to some forecasts, will see naval expenditure is slated to exceed that of the Chinese Navy over the next two decades. The Indian Navy is presently ranked as the world‟s fifth-largest. The modernisation of the Indian Navy is principally aimed to strengthen India‟s international prestige and influence, and is also motivated by its growing dependence on energy imports and the need for secure sea lanes. The hallmark of India‟s naval modernisation is centred on the acquisition of conventional aircraft-carriers, including conventional and nuclear-powered submarines. Summary Motivated by a desire to safeguard its critical sea lanes, counter China and also project its project its influence internationally, the Indian Navy has embarked on a historically unprecedented quest to develop sophisticated blue-water naval capabilities. In doing so, India‟s strategic decision-makers are hopeful the Navy‟s multi-billion dollar modernisation and expansion programme will ultimately cast India onto the world stage as a true great-power. Analysis Strategic Doctrine Since the end of the Cold War, India‟s rapid economic growth and prosperity has given the nation a new found prominence in world affairs. „India‟s growing international stature gives it strategic relevance in the area ranging from the Persian Gulf to the Strait of Malacca,‟ said Indian PM Dr Manmohan Singh. He added: „India has exploited the fluidities of the emerging world order to forge new links through a combination of diplomatic repositioning, economic resurgence and military firmness.‟ As such, over the last three decades India‟s defence planners have given increasing consideration to maritime security and the development and expansion of the Indian Navy. As exemplified by a series of officially sanctioned doctrinal papers that include the 2004 Indian Maritime Doctrine and the 2006 Indian Navy’s Vision Document, of which the latter report outlined: „The Indian Navy is today a potent and capable force ... as a prime instrument of state policy ... the Indian Navy is determined to create and sustain a three dimensional, technology enabled and networked force capable of safeguarding our maritime interests on the high seas and projecting combat power across the littoral.‟ India is heavily dependent on seaborne trade for its continued security and prosperity, a case in point recently made in April 2010 by the Indian Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma, who spoke at a launching ceremony in Mumbai: “It is not a coincidence that 70% of our trade by value and 95% by volume travels over the sea route. A sizeable percentage of trade, with our largest trading partner [China], who share land boundaries with us, is over the ocean.” Given that India imports more than 75 per cent of its oil and 16 percent of its gas, it is beyond question that a key factor in developing India‟s Navy is its growing dependency on energy imports, which is forecast to substantially escalate over the next two decades. According to the New Delhi-based Energy and Resources Institute by 2031 India will need to import 78 per cent of its coal, 67 per cent of its gas and 93 per cent of its oil to meet rising demand. As a consequence the Indian government is actively encouraging its state-run energy corporations to engage in numerous foreign exploration projects, perhaps best exemplified by India‟s state-owned energy firm ONGC Videsh Ltd, which has 34 exploration projects in 15 countries worldwide. It is therefore understandable that in 2007 the Navy published Freedom to Use the Seas: India’s Maritime Military Strategy, which among a series of assertions identified nine Indian Ocean maritime choke points that are strategically significant to India‟s national security and economic prosperity. Reinforcing this point the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma claimed in April 2010, that: „It is not a coincidence that 70 per cent of our trade by value and 95 per cent by volume travels over the sea route.‟ He further elaborated: „A sizeable percentage of trade, with our largest trading partner [China], who share land boundaries with us, is over the ocean.‟ Force Structure & Naval Operations The Indian Navy today is the world‟s fifth-largest and is developing from a rapidly aging force to an increasingly advanced organisation, which has in recent years Page 2 of 6 markedly expanded its role and assumed wider responsibilities. Since the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, the Navy has been granted authority and oversight to devise policy on India‟s maritime and coastal security. The escalating strategic rivalry between India and China, competition for energy and the prevalence of natural disasters have been added determinants in shaping the Indian Navy‟s evolving role in national and regional affairs. „Importance of the Indian Navy in safeguarding our vital security interests has become paramount. There can be no doubt that the Indian Navy must be the most important maritime power in this region,‟ said Dr Manmohan Singh. There are numerous examples of the Navy‟s engagement in various capacities throughout the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. These encompass areas such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, anti-piracy operations and other missions emphasising naval diplomacy and capacity-building. In the sphere of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, both nationally and internationally, the Navy deployed over 27 warships and 5,000 personnel to assist the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Indonesia in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Similarly, between 2006 and 2011 the Navy was deployed in a number of similar humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations to assist Bangladesh in the wake of Cyclone Sidr, Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis and also undertook large- scale evacuations of South Asian nationals from Lebanon and Libya. The Indian Navy has also played an increasingly prominent role in combating the scourge of piracy throughout the north-western and south-western quadrants of the Indian Ocean. From late 2008 to December 2011 the Navy claims to have deployed 26 warships on anti-piracy operations, escorted 1,779 vessels and successfully prevented 39 attacks. Departing from its more conservative 20th century doctrine the utility of naval diplomacy for 21st century Indian Navy has been used with increasing frequency to strengthen India‟s prestige and influence throughout the Indo-Pacific region. Key examples include regular patrols off Mauritius waters and the gifting of a patrol boat and maritime surveillance aircraft; regular patrols off Mozambican coast from 2003 onwards which later culminated in the signing of a defence cooperation agreement. Other key instances can be seen by the gifting of a naval patrol boat, one maritime surveillance aircraft and two helicopters to the Seychelles in 2005; the establishment of a listening and surveillance facility in northern Madagascar in July 2007 to monitor shipping off the east African coast; the signing of a defence co-operation agreement with Oman on maritime security co-operation in 2008; and the signing of a defence co-operation agreement with Qatar which formalized joint-training exercises. Nonetheless, a prime example of effective and successful naval diplomacy was demonstrated in late 2009 when the Maldives effectively ceded responsibility for its external security to the Indian Navy to patrol its waters, deploy personnel to man 26 coastal radars and reopen an airfield to conduct aerial surveillance operations. Modernisation & Transformation As part of its grand strategy to project influence onto the world stage, over the next 15 years, India has agreed to commit up to US$60 billion on new acquisition programmes for its Navy. In spite of planning to decommission a number of its older Page 3 of 6 warships the Navy intends to expand its fleet from its current strength of 132 warships to an estimated 150 warships by 2017, including many more planned acquisitions thereafter. „49 ships and submarines, which are under construction, would be inducted in the next five years. Out of these 45 are being built at Indian shipyards and four outside of India,‟ stated the recently appointed chief of the Navy‟s Eastern Naval Command, Vice Admiral Anil Chopra, as quoted in The Economic Times in December 2011. The Navy‟s expansion has given impetus to the nation‟s 23 major shipyards, both government and private-owned, which have been allocated the bulk of the Navy‟s lucrative shipbuilding contracts as part of the defence ministry‟s drive towards self- sufficiency. „We in the Indian Navy would like all our warships to be built in India, but critical gaps in capability have to be filled within the given time frame, which at times has forced us to source our ships from abroad,‟ stated Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma. In line with India‟s long-term vision to develop formidable expeditionary strike capabilities, the Navy‟s key modernization programmes principally focus on the acquisition of new attack-submarines, aircraft-carriers and naval-strike aircraft, long- range fleet tankers, amphibious warfare platforms, including frigates and destroyers. The 30-year submarine construction programme is an ambitious and high priority initiative that has been given precedence in the Navy‟s modernization agenda. Part of this plan includes the acquisition of five locally-manufactured nuclear-powered ballistic submarines by 2025. To begin with, the Navy has begun a US$3 billion programme to build three 6,000-ton Arihant-class ballistic-missile submarines, or SSBNs. The first submarine was launched in July 2009 and is currently undergoing sea trials. A second SSBN is scheduled to be launched later this year with indications that a third submarine will be launched by 2013-2014.