INS INS Kamorta, India's first indigenously built anti-submarine warship, inducted

 

India's first indigenously built submarine hunting ship, INS Kamorta was handed over to the Navy byGarden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd. (GRSE) here Saturday, a defence statement said.

 

The super-sophisticated frontline warship will be formally handed over by GRSE chairman and managing director, Rear Admiral (retd) A.K. Verma to the Indian Navy at a brief ceremony at GRSE's fitting-out jetty.

 

INS Kamorta, first in its class of four ASW corvettes being built by GRSE for the Indian Navy, is the first Indian naval warship ever built in the country with almost 90 percent of indigenous content, a defence ministry release said.

 

It is also the first naval warship built in the country with indigenously developed special grade high-tensile (DMR249A) steel produced by Steel Authority of India. The hull of the ship encompasses the bulk of sensors and weapon systems that are also indigenously manufactured by various Indian industries.

 

The ASW corvette brings to fruition a significant project in India's pursuit for self-reliance in indigenous warship building, bringing closer home the navy's quest to be a "Builder's Navy" as well as a true "Blue-water Navy" with ships and submarines designed and built within the country.

 

Designed by Directorate of Naval Design (DND), the successful construction of ASW corvettes with advanced stealth features also bears testimony to GRSE's growing capabilities in building state-of-the-art naval combatants comparable with the best in the world, the release added.

China considers buying four Russian Amur-Class AIP submarines

China reportedly signed two military sale frameworks with Moscow, of which Russia will jointly build four Amur-Class AIP submarines with China and sell them to the country while China will buy 24 Su-35 fighters from Russia, reports Sina's military news portal.

 

It is the first major military procurement China has made with Russia in 10 years, said the report. China needs submarines to counter threats from India's fleet and build a fleet to resist America's influence, said the Voice of Russia, the Russian government's international radio broadcasting service. A manager for a Russian national defense export company said Moscow and Beijing have been negotiating over submarine technologies. China has not revealed how many submarines it wants to buy and has not scheduled to sign a supply contract.

 

It is natural for India and China to show interest in Russia's Amur-Class submarines, said a retired Russian Navy general named Sivkov. The submarine is superior to the export version of China's 877 submarine and China would want the Amur-Class vessel since India has them. The Russian submarine can also effectively fight against American submarines and destroy Los Angeles and Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines from long distances. Since it produces little noise underwater, American submarines cannot detect the its presence. The characteristic allow the submarine to make fire warning shots or destroy enemy ships effectively during real battles.

 

Although the Amur-Class submarine can attack multiple targets on land, it cannot carry an anti-guided missile system. China does not own any submarine-based anti-missile systems as of now.

 

India's defense ministry made emergency orders over concerns of the country's declining defense capabilities. India has skipped the bidding process and ordered two diesel-electric Amur-Class submarines 677 from Russia to enhance its sea combat capabilities.

 

Currently China owns 60-plus submarines while India has 14 with a leased Russian-made nuclear-powered submarine Nerpa since 2012. The vessel is superior to Chinese submarines since it produces far less noise, said Russian experts. He believes China will not wage a war against India now even though the Chinese fleet has greater combat power than India's. China considers its fleet as a force against America and does not feel threatened by India.

Israel Shipyards Introduces the SAAR 72 Mini-Corvette Design

Israel Shipyards is expanding the SAAR class of missile boats, extending the range from missile boats into ‘Mini Corvette’ class vessels. The new class is addressing the growing requirements of Israel and other nations in extending maritime control and sovereignty far from their territorial waters. Defense-Update reports from IMDEX 2013.

The Israel Navy is required to expand the security and responsibility over much larger area while doing that with an ageing  fleet of Saar 4, 4.5 missile boats and 5 corvettes. If only to maintain the numbers of boats in service, the Israel Navy will require several new vessels in the coming years. Many of these vessels are becoming obsolete – some of the oldest missile boats in service – INS Atzmaut (Independence) and INS Nitzahon (Victory) are reaching 35 years in service – an age considered the end of service life for such boats. Therefore, new platforms will be required in the near future. 

Through the years the Navy acquired 20 Saar 4/4.5 vessels, but the cash-strapped service could not afford to buy larger vessels, and, therefore limited the procurement of the larger Saar 5 corvettes to the three vessels built in the U.S. funded by Washington’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS).

 

The new Saar S-72 unveiled by Israel Shipyard at the recent IMDEX event in Singapore fits between the Navy’s existing Saar 4.5 missile boats, and Saar 5 corvettes. Through the years Israel Shipyards have built 33 Saar 4 and 4.5 class missile boats; 20 were delivered to the Israel Navy over the years. With the new Mini Corvette the shipyard hopes to expand it’s offering to meet the evolving requirements, of the Israel Navy, as well as of international customers overseas.

For Coast Guards and non-military operations the S-72 is a new platform that better fits the category of Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV). For naval applications the same 800-ton vessel can be finished as a versatile ‘Mini Corvette’. Both are highly applicable to asymmetric warfare at sea, providing sufficient space for command and control, accommodation for special task forces on military or counter terror missions, or supporting rapid response or rescue operations. The large hangar stores a medium size helicopter and UAVs. The adjacent 15 meter long flight deck supports medium size helicopters up to AW139 class. The vessel is configured with loading crane, storage and berth deploying rubber boats / RHIB’s or unmanned surface vessels.

In the military configuration the Saar-72 will offer a significant upgrade over the current Saar 4.5 – in performance and combat capabilities. Applied with a slanted stealth finish, recessed exhausts, and radar integrated mast, designed to host both emitters (radar, EW) and passive sensors (ESM) without interference. The vessel can accommodate the IAI Elta EL/M-2258 Advanced lightweight Phased Array (ALPHA) multi-mission naval radar, designed for blue water and littoral warfare support. This radar was selected by the Israel Navy for the upgrading of existing vessels as well as for its new combatants. The vessel can carry different weapons, including IAI’s Barak 8 type missiles, various anti-ship missiles and precision surface attack weapons. The naval configuration is also fitted with an advanced naval gun.

Saar 72 type vessels are designed with spacious accommodation to 50 crewmembers plus 20 additional accommodations for passengers or special troops. It is equipped to sail on a 21 day missions, with mission range above 3000 NM.

Sources at the Israeli shipyard said they can complete the design and construction of the lead S-72/Saar-72 ship within a period of 30 months, and produce follow-on vessels in eight months. The shipyard can build the 72m’ vessel with its current facilities, but to accommodate the 85 meter version some expansions will be necessary.

Surface Forces - Buyan The Giant Killer

In March Russia put into the service the first of their Buyan-M class corvettes. This is one of several new Russian designs intended for coastal patrol. At the high end there is the 2,200 ton Stereguschyy class corvettes that entered service in 2007. Six of these have been ordered or are in service. At the low end there’s the 550 ton Buyan that entered service in 2006. Only three were built before it was decided that the larger and more heavily armed Buyan-M was the way to go.

 

Buyan-M is a 950 ton ship that is 74 meters (243 feet) long and has a crew of 36. Top speed is 45 kilometers an hour and endurance is ten days. Armament consists of a 100mm gun, two 14.5mm machine-guns, two AK-630 multibarrel 30mm autocannon for close range defence against missiles and aircraft. There are eight vertical launch tubes holding 1.2 ton 3K14 Kaliber anti-ship missiles (range 300 kilometers). There is also a short-range (5-6 kilometers) missile system (Gibkha 3M47) with eight missiles. There is an air/surface radar and optional sonar. The heavily armed Buyan-M provides you with a low-cost patrol vessel that can handle just about anything it runs into during coastal patrols and can even be useful in wartime.

US think-tank: The Philippines needs jetfighters, submarines, warships

The Philippines needs 48 F-16 jet fighters, four to six mini submarines, more armed frigates and corvette-size combat vessels and minesweepers if it is to have a credible military defense capability, the Center for a New American Security said on Friday.

The assessment of the center, an independent, non-partisan, and non-profit organization that develops strong, pragmatic and principled national security and defense proposals based in Washington, DC, came amid the standoff between Beijing and Manila over the Panatag or Scarborough Shoal, which is within the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone but is being claimed by China as its own.

The shoal is a coral reef surrounding a lagoon, and it is 124 nautical miles from Zambales and 472 nautical miles from China’s Hainan province.

The Philippines’ Armed Forces has been struggling to get financing for its modernization program for over two decades, leaving its Air Force without a single jet fighter interceptor since 2005 and the Navy with old warships, some of them of World War II vintage.

The Philippines’ Air Force and Navy were second to none in Asia except Japan from 1947 up to the ‘70s, but then it was slowly overtaken as a result of the poor financing of the military’s modernization.

Most of the country’s aircraft and ships were provided by the United States when the Americans still had their air and naval bases in the Philippines under the RP-US Military Bases Agreement, which expired in 1991 when the Philippine Senate did not extend the agreement.

Air Force records showed that in 1965 the US provided the Philippines 30 F-5A/B supersonic jet fighters, becoming one of the first countries in the world to acquire US-made fighter jets.

In 1979 the Air Force bought 25 F-8 Crusader war jets and some helicopters from the US, but due to wear and tear and the lack of spare parts the F-8s and F-5s were decommissioned in 1988 and 2005, leaving the Air Force with no jet fighters to guard Philippine airspace.

As a result, the country’s “air defense capability became practically zero,” said Col. Raul del Rosario, commander of the Air Defense Wing based in Pampanga.

“Our Air Force is referred to as a Helicopter Air Force [and] we have only one operating radar with very limited capability,” Del Rosario said.

“What’s disheartening is that, with this token capability, our nation is faced with enormous security challenges.

“We need to develop facilities for the equipment that will be acquired such as radar sites, forward operating bases, hangars and command and control facilities.”