New Delhi: The Navy is all set to increase
its fleet strength by another 40 warships within the next
decade, taking its existing 130-warship fleet to a 170-warship
fleet.
It will also improve its aviation wing strength by
inducting 60 more aircraft and another 60 helicopters during
the same period.
Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma today told an annual
press conference just ahead of Navy Day on December 4 that
these new inductions would be done as per its Maritime
Capability Perspective Plan till 2017.
"The Navy has placed orders for 34 ships with Indian
shipyards and another six ships with foreign shipyards. Among
those to be inducted include Destroyers, Frigates, Fast Attack
Craft, Fast Interceptor Boats, Survey Vessels, submarines and
Fleet Tankers," he added.
Upset over delays in warship delivery at Indian
defence shipyards, Verma said there was a need to "revisit"
the shipbuilding strategies and warned that the Navy would be
forced to go in for imports if the domestic shipyards were
unable to meet the demands of the Navy.
The present rate of delivery of warships from the
three defence public sector shipyards was one ship a year.
The Navy has ordered ships with foreign shipyards in
the case of 'Talwar' class frigates -- being built in Russia,
the 'Gorshkov' aircraft carrier also from Russia and two Fleet
Tankers being built in Italy.
Among those to be inducted are seven Delhi-class
destroyers, three Shivalik-class frigates, six Scorpene
submarines, an Indigenous Aircraft Carrier, six survey
vessels, four anti-submarine corvettes, four offshore patrol
vessels (OPVs), six fast attack craft and a training ship.
Among the future projects for which approval is being
sought from the government, he said, were five follow-on OPVs
and mine clearance vessels, apart from 80 fast interceptor
boats for the newly raised 1,000-man 'Sagar Prahari Bal' post
26/11 terror attacks.
Verma said India's first indigenous nuclear-powered
submarine, INS 'Arihant', was set for induction into the Navy
fleet in two years from now.
"INS Arihant will be inducted into the Navy in two
years or so," he said.
However, he refused speak about Russia leasing out
its Akula-II 'Nerpa' nuclear-powered submarine to India for 10
years.
On 'Gorshkov' aircraft carrier, the Navy chief said
the protracted price renegotiation between India and Russia
was in "the final stages," but refused to set a time-frame for
the talks to conclude.
To a question on Pakistan joining the Indian Ocean
Navy Symposium (IONS), an Indian Navy initiative, Verma said
it would participate in the next meeting in United Arab
Emirates (UAE) in May next year.
Pakistan's Navy Chief did not participate in the first
IONS meeting held in New Delhi in February 2008.
He also said the IONS leadership would pass from India
to UAE for a two-year period from May next.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, December 02, 2009, 23:54