INDIA’S FUTURE MARITIME FORCE

A capable maritime force could play a decisive role in any face-off

Navy Week 2011 will see the Indian Navy reliving its memorable exploits in the 1971war, during which it successfully undertook the full spectrum of maritime operations.

If the 1971 war was the Navy’s baptism by fire, the 2004 tsunami was a defining moment which established it as a regional force of substance and resolve. The professionalism with which the Indian Navy brought succour to our distressed Sri Lankan, Maldivian and Indonesian neighbours left an abiding impression on international observers. The sea-lift operation mounted to evacuate refugees from war-torn Lebanon in 2006 and Libya in 2011, and the resolute conduct of anti piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden by Indian Navy units has further added lustre to our Navy’s image.

India’s long coastline, studded with deep-water ports, a well-endowed EEZ, peninsular configuration as well as its burgeoning economy, reliant on seaborne trade and energy, makes it as dependent on the seas as any island nation. One telling example illustrates this: India’s industrial, power and transport sectors consume 3.1 million barrels of oil per day, ofwhich2.2 million is imported from overseas. This requires that at least one Super tanker (or 2-3 smaller tankers) must discharge cargo in an Indian oil terminal every single day of the year. Disruption of this seaborne oil supply could have serious consequences on industry, agriculture and the economy. It is in this context that threats such as those posed by Somalian pirates give cause for unease.

Apart from its vital role of protecting the nation’s trade and energy, the Indian Navy provides a most useful transnational military capability which can be deployed for crisis management. Conflicts are rare; and this capability is used, in peace time, to ensure good order at sea while fostering cooperation and interoperability with maritime neighbours. Unlike other services, navies are fortunate in having a serious peacetime role to discharge because the oceans make neighbours of distant nations. Foreign co-operation in the maritime context has wide connotations. Countries in our immediate neighbourhood, many of them island nations, seek maritime security, sometimes through direct naval presence, but more often through urgent requests for material aid, training assistance and advice. The slow pace of decision-making in the MoD, and often MEA, has served to stall many naval initiatives and driven potential allies into the arms of other donors of assistance. Making long-term plans for foreign co-operation will pay great dividends in the long term.

In a great leap of faith fifty years ago, the Indian Navy decided to become a“ builder’s navy” and placed its destiny in the hands of public sector shipyards. This faith has not always been justified, because these shipyards suffer from outdated infrastructure as well as poor work culture, and their sluggish productivity is jeopardising the Navy’s modernisation plans. Infusion of innovative private-sector business and production practices is an option that may offer deliverance.

Focusing on capabilities rather than numbers, and relying on force multipliers such as high-quality weapons, sensors and networking, the navy envisages task-forces built around two aircraft-carriers, along with an adequate number of destroyers and frigates, sustained by logistic ships and supported by a capable aviation arm.

Restoration of our badly depleted diesel submarine force is being planned, albeit belatedly, by a series of home-built boats of suitable design. However, the ‘game changer’ of the future maritime battle-space will not be the aircraft carrier or a surface combatant but the missile armed nuclear attack submarine (SSN) which can interdict shipping with impunity. Our first nuclear-powered submarine the Arihant, launched in 2009, is armed with ballistic missiles and is designated a SSBN. While Arihant will form the third leg of India’s secret nuclear triad, if we desire to wield influence in the Indian Ocean, we need to plan a small force of SSNs.

Many other contours of India’s 21st century navy are already emerging: India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier is being built in Kochi, and eight stealth frigates, six diesel submarines and 30 other warships, awaited from shipyards, will take the Indian Navy to the front ranks of navies. Indigenous effort is being pragmatically supplemented by judicious imports. Two new tankers were recently received from Italy, a SSN is due to be delivered shortlyona10-year lease by Russia, and the refurbished Russian aircraft-carrier Admiral Gorshkov is expectedby2013. Eight US built P-8 (I) maritime reconnaissance aircraft and 45 Russian MiG-29 (K) fighters will add teeth to the air arm.

The Indian Navy finds itself in a peculiar situation where weapons, such as the BrahMos missile, far out-range the detection capability of its sensors. As the 2008 Mumbai terror strikes demonstrated, whether in war or in peace, it is imperative to know who is plying in our waters or approaching our shores. In operational situations, the Commander at sea, with 3-dimensional forces scattered over a vast area, will need to locate and identify the enemy before destroying him. In other words, he needs Maritime Domain Awareness. In such a scenario, integration of information through networking assumes crucial importance. This entails the pooling of information available to widely dispersed platforms, through a geostationary satellite, and its fusion, for real-time availability to any unit which needs it. This junction of the Maritime, Space and Cyber domains is now being referred to as “the extended Commons”. All three Services need awareness in their particular domains. However single- service initiatives would not merely be imprudent but also counter-productive during combat operations. This domain offers fertile ground for a bold initiative for Jointness, which will receive a big boost by the formation of a Joint Information Warfare Command.

Finally, in spite of historical evidence, we have given insufficient cognizance to the potential of sea power as the arbiter of India’s destiny. Many factors, including the growth of China’s overall influence and the rapidly evolving geo-politics of South and Southeast Asia will demand adroit diplomacy to avoid confrontations. But diplomacy, unless backed by credible security policies, is unlikely to be effective. If the military equation along our Himalayan borders is going to be unfavourable or evenly matched, the Indian Ocean would be the arena where we should seek a better reckoning. Given India’s advantageous geographical configuration, a capable maritime force could play a decisive role in any face-off.

(This article appeared in the supplementary edition, The Indian Navy, of the Indian Express on December 4, 2011)