IN chief wants a wired-Navy

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New chief wants a wired-Navy

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=50049

SRINJOY CHOWDHURY
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, July 31. — A space-satellite to ensure a network-centric or entirely ‘wired’ Navy is the new chief, Admiral Arun Prakash’s priority.
In an interview to The Statesman, Admiral Prakash, who took over today from Madhvendra Singh, spoke of a communication satellite by Isro virtually dedicated to the Navy’s needs for network-centric warfare. “The backbone will be the communication satellite, largely dedicated to the Navy. This should be ready in a few years,” he said.

Once the satellite and its transponders are in place, it would allow each naval ship, submarine and aircraft to communicate with each other. Some of them could have sensors on them, others weapons, including long-range missiles. The system will allow all of them to know where they are, whether on the surface or under the ocean or in the sky miles away from each other, ensuring proper action.

The Admiral said India is looking at long-range missiles from Israel, Russia and France. But an immediate issue are aging ships, though he clarified that a large number of them are not. While the Navy isn’t feeling the strain of too many older ships as yet, and if the shipbuilding programme continues, it will stay ahead of the “obsolescence line”. The current budget, he said, has taken care of the immediate commitments of the Navy.

After taking over, Admiral Prakash stressed the need for nuclear-powered submarines for the Navy, saying it was a government decision. The Statesman has earlier reported about Russia leasing an Akula-class nuclear-powered submarine for a decade to India.

The other problem has been with spares, especially for Russian vessels. “We have passed through a bad patch. Things are being streamlined... Buying anything abroad is a mug’s game. So, we are concentrating on indigenous systems even at the cost of reduced capability. The infrastructure is available. The private sector has the talent and capacity. There is very little we cannot do.”

The shortage of long-range maritime patrol aircraft is a worry. For the Il-38s and Tu-142s are aging and there aren’t enough of them. “As for medium-range patrol aircraft, we are in a happy situation. We could be in a better situation. We have one or two options. We could modernise the fleet, buy more of the planes we have from Russia,” he said.

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