LONG ROAD TO THE INS ARIHANT AND BEYOND - MILESTONES REACHED AND THE ROAD AHEAD.

 LONG ROAD TO THE INS ARIHANT AND BEYOND - MILESTONES REACHED AND THE ROAD AHEAD.

Mr  Soumik Pyne

WHY NUCLEAR SUBMARINES

The Recent tensions with China have once again brought into focus the need for India to maintain its primacy in the Indian Ocean while also improving & expanding the underwater arm of its naval fleet as an unassailable hedge against any naval adventurism by Beijing. The Indian Strategic Nuclear Submarine program is key to Indian deterrence and to the maintenance of Indian naval primacy as a guarantor of peace in the Indian Ocean Region. In recent years the development of nuclear weapons & the requirement of a triad of delivery systems has naturally given renewed impetus and additional responsibility to the Indian Navy as stewards & guides of the creation of a capable nuclear missile submarine force that will serve as an assured 2nd strike deterrent while sailing undetected in the deep waters that surround India. A nuclear submarine force also gives India the opportunity to conduct long range submarine expeditions into the Champa Sagar Area( South China Sea) in essence letting the Chinese know that their naval forays into the IOR can be matched by the Indian Navy .

The requirement of a nuclear submarine fleet is increased manifold by the fact that the Chinese Navy has a declared intention to challenge the primacy of the Indian Navy in the IOR, the reason for this challenge lies in the fact that the Indian Ocean carries the bulk of trade between East Asia & the Middle East, Europe ,Africa & It is worth noting that 95% of India’s own trade by volume is carried by vessels crisscrossing this ocean as well. The geography of the Indian Ocean forces the incredible volume of ships using this route to travel through “choke points” that force vessels into well defined maritime highways while entering or leaving this great body of water. This in turn creates risk as well as opportunity for any nation that can control aforementioned passages .The Indian Navy acts as a guarantor of trade in this Ocean & of the greater security of India by the ability to close off trade to China If asked to do so in an India China conflict. Beijing has long planned to overcome this geographical impediment to it’s hegemony by establishing a series of naval outposts in the indian Ocean to forward place naval assets that will act to stop the Indian Navy from impeding any flow of maritime shipping to & from China in Conflict. To further these plans China has built naval outposts in Djibouti & Gwadar & is in the process of building a deep economic military relationship with Iran with some reports indicating China has secured a 25year lease on the Iranian Island of Kish with the view of building a major naval outpost at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which India gets almost all her Oil Supplies.

A Indian nuclear Submarine fleet is essential to undertake sustained undersea operations designed to frustrate & foil these plans. The development of this capability is now at a seminal stage with the first indigenous SSBN INS ARIHANT completing a decade of sailing with the Navy . A 2nd SSBN titled INS ARIGHAT should be commissioned later in 2020, this year should also see the first Submarine of an enlarged design carrying 8 launch tubes called the S4 class take to the water . This article is designed to look into the past at the nascent steps that made this possible as India moves into a larger nuclear submarine capability .

THE EARLY YEARS

 It’s interesting to note that even as the first nuclear submarines were just setting sail in the USA & USSR the planners in India were already worrying about the impact such a system could have on American Naval Dominance in the Indian Ocean. That said nothing much came of this due to financial & technological constraints until 1971 when the role of Soviet nuclear Submarines in deterring a USN CBG from interference in the liberation of Bangladesh added new fuel on a nuclear fire long put away.

The first approval for a naval nuclear reactor was actually granted in 1971 soon after the “Enterprise Incident” & development of an indigenous nuclear submarine was well underway before India had even tested its first nuclear device at Pokhran in 1974. In fact as far back as in 1968 Admiral A.K. Chaterji had laid out plans that if put into motion smoothly could have seen the first Indian SSN sail out in the late 80’s to early 90’s if support could be garnered .That said  no nation was ready to help India develop nuclear submarines during that time and up to 1983 the soviets themselves offered India nothing more than foxtrot class SSKs whenever the topic of support with submarine development came up. That rapidly changed as economic constraints forced the Soviet Union onto the table and India signed deals to acquire ten modern KILO class SSKs also there were reports by 1987 indicating that India would acquire on lease five Soviet nuclear submarines for a total cost of Rs3000cr . In early January 1988, All-India Radio announced that the Soviet Union had 'leased' a nuclear-powered submarine to India with India taking delivery in the Soviet port of Vladivostok." These moves would be still born though , the collapse of the Soviet Union & near financial collapse of India itself in the late 80’s to early 90’s ending all hopes of an Indian Navy Nuclear flotilla sailing by the mid-nineties.

However all was not lost and many key learnings had been imbibed in the few short years the Chakra-1 served with the Indian Navy .Even as the plan to develop an SSN force for the Indian navy had not run smoothly, this had highlighted the enormous technological & financial barriers for a developing country in acquiring & operating nuclear submarines. To begin with, the shore-based facilities needed for nuclear submarines are significantly more complex than those for conventional submarines because of the need for reactor maintenance. There was then no harbor facility in India capable of handling radioactive materials, and the submarine reactor for the INS Chakra had to be shut down when the vessel was in port. This caused India to build a Soviet-designed facility called the Special Safety Service at Visakhapatnam, designed to monitor the health of people working on the INS Chakra and detect any radiation leak emanating from the submarine."

 

STARTING TO GROW

Even as the Chakra returned to the USSR in 1991 western reports suggested that India had managed to induct a number of Russian specialists into its own indigenous nuclear submarine program. The then editor of Jane’s fighting ships Richard Sharpe in 1995 noted that “The initial design strategy was to copy a leased Russian nuclear submarine (Charlie II) using an Indian built nuclear reactor for propulsion. The Russians are said to have provided detailed drawings of the leased submarine minus the reactor design (providing reactor design details would have been a violation of the NPT)” 

By 1996 parliamentary records indicate that India had already spent $285.7 million to develop a nuclear submarine. DRDO officials then estimated that the submarine would be completed in five years and would require an additional $714.3 million in financing to complete the project. Even as success seemed near, official reports in early 1996 indicated the ATV project was reported to be frozen. That said it is worth noting In July of 1996 it was reported by Delhi All India Radio that India had successfully developed a nuclear-powered submarine for the navy. The report went on to say that the submarine named the Advanced Technology Vehicle had been tested successfully somewhere along the East coast in that same timeframe, however this was soon denied by the defense ministry at Delhi .Pressure from the United States & ASEAN alongside financial problems facing the Indian navy were reported as the main reason for the freeze in 1996. It must be noted here that India had four different Prime ministers from three different political parties ruling the roost from January 1996 to March 1998 which derailed military development during this time.

In the midst of all this lower cost developmental work was carried out by the Indian Navy using existing assets, for example the acoustic tiles being developed for the ATV were trialled on existing Type 209 & KILO hulls. The USHUS Sonar was similarly refined by having it installed into & used operationally on KILO submarines, reactor development work continued in parallel & by 1997 the first hull fabrication work had officially begun. It is worth noting that the initial metal cutting and designs were for a SSN & not a SSBN, this in turn necessitated a complete redesign as the requirement changed to that of a SSBN to support the nuclear triad following the tests of 1998.  The Arihant class was subsequently designed & a first boat was laid down at the SBC Visakhapatnam in 2004, this initial design with four launch tubes was launched in 2009 & after seven years of rigorous trials finally joined the Indian Navy fleet in 2016, a 2nd submarine of the same design will be commissioned later in 2020 while the third boat of the modified Arihant class (S4) which has an extended design to incorporate 8 launch tubes should be launched later in 2020 as well. A fourth vessel of this S4 type is expected to be launched in 2021.

UPCOMING MILESTONES

The Arihant & S4 classes are stepping stones to a larger and far more capable class of SSBN called the S5 currently under development. These submarines are expected to displace nearly 13500tonnes while carrying 16 intercontinental range SLBMs with MIRV warheads. Up to four of the S5 class have been approved for construction and the first vessel should begin construction soon after the final S4 class SSBN has been commissioned by 2024. It is worth noting that a 1992 study authored by Brigadier Vijai K. Nair, VSM (Retired) called for the production of Five SSBNs as a minimum deterrence capability against both China & Pakistan with three SSBNs on patrol at all times & two on reserve. Brigadier Nair called for each SSBN to be armed with a minimum of 16 SLBMs, a capability the IN should finally have with the S5 class.

A SSBN is only as useful as it’s missile component & India has at least three different Submarine launched Ballistic missiles in service & development. The K15 SLBM which currently serves as the primary armament for the INS ARIHANT is a short legged missile with a 750-1000km range depending on the payload carried, that said the INS ARIHANT carries upto 12 K-15 in its four launch tubes with each tube holding three missiles as these tubes are  already configured for larger SLBMs which remain in development. The INS ARIGHAT on being commissioned later in 2020 is likely to be the first SSBN to field the K4 missile , this missile has reportedly cleared all it’s trials in January 2020 & been cleared for induction. The K4 is a much heavier weapon than its predecessor and is reported to have the ability to carry a 2Ton payload for upto 3500km, with lighter nuclear payloads that range is likely to be much greater. An even larger heavier Submarine launched missile called the K5 with 5000km range remains in development & should come into service as the SSBN fleet grows.

The Government of India in February 2015 approved the design & subsequent production of a class of six indigenous SSNs, a report in the Economic times dated February 2020 indicated that the preliminary design of this SSN class has been completed and detailed design studies are currently in progress. Apart from this India has already operationalized an ELF communications facility at INS Kattabomman Tamil Nadu. It is interesting to note this same facility housed a VLF facility set up using US support in the early 1980’s. An additional ELF facility has been approved & is expected to come up at Donakonda in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh. In June 2020 India also operationalized a deep submergence rescue vehicle complex at Vizag . This is the only such facility in the Indian Ocean Region ,this complex is equipped with two James Fisher Deep Submergence rescue vehicles & is a key component in creating the infrastructure for sustained deep ocean Nuclear Submarine operations.

India is also ramping up on nuclear submarine base infrastructure in parallel with the first dedicated nuclear submarine base called INS Varsha coming up at Rambilli near Visakhapatnam. This base once complete by 2024 is likely to incorporate degaussing facilities while also having underground submarine pens cut into a mountain with direct access into the deep waters of the Bay of Bengal. This feature is likely designed with a Bastion model of SSBN deployment in mind with the Bay of Bengal serving as a deep water bastion for the Indian Navy SSBN fleet . INS Varsha is likely to help decongest the Visakhapatnam naval base & could be used as a dedicated submarine base with Eastern command SSK assets also being based in the facility. Some reports in 2017 also indicated the construction of a new nuclear submarine production facility adjacent to the Rambilli base however nothing much has been heard on that front post the initial reports. A similar massive Naval Base called INS Vajrakosh with upto 20 underground submarine pens has already been partially operationalized &  commissioned at Karwar in Karnataka, this base once complete will spread across 1000acres & is slated to become the premier naval Facility for the western fleet of the Indian Navy.

In conclusion we can say that the Indian nuclear Submarine program is now one of the four largest & fastest growing nuclear submarine fleet construction programs in progress  globally now. Once complete the already approved strength of 14 Indian nuclear submarines will be the fourth largest in the world after the USA,Russia & China . The Arihant is but the first of many , the harbinger of a nuclear age in the Indian Navy !

2020-2030 The rising tide

While much has been written about the ongoing naval buildup in South East Asia as a response to China, almost nobody has focused on a similar buildup going on in South Asia as the subcontinent’s economies mature enough to build and maintain larger naval forces. This buildup is also interesting as the buildup of the Indian Navy is primarily a byproduct of a rapidly expanding economy coupled with the need to maintain its primacy in the Indian Ocean Region, whereas the Pakistani buildup is designed to contain & frustrate the Indian Navy. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh are both stepping into uncharted waters by planning to operate larger vessels which they haven’t done as yet & grow from semi-green water navies to true green water navies.

INS Trikand enters Haifa Israel ,the Indian Navy is acquiring another four vessels of this class.

The Indian navy has a long term plan to grow from a 137 ship navy presently to a 200 ship navy by 2027. This plan is currently under implementation with at least 59 vessels under construction in various yards for delivery in the 2020-30 time period. Another 55 vessels are at the tendering stage and orders for the same should be awarded in some time. The aforesaid 59 vessels already ordered include 1 indigenous aircraft carrier, 3 Scorpene conventional submarines (3 delivered pre-2020), 4 nuclear missile carrying submarines (2 delivered pre 2020), 4 P15B class destroyers, at least 4 Talwar class frigates, 7 P17A Class frigates, 2 Missile range instrumentation vessels and 5 new offshore patrol vessels. The Indian Navy will be adding airpower as well and programs for the induction of 57 new fighter aircraft, 15 new MPA and some 260 odd helicopters are already in progress with orders for 24 MH60R Helicopters & another 4 P8I MPA having already been placed. Discussion on a deal for the acquisition of 22 Sea Guardian Maritime surveillance drones from the US is also well underway. These ships &aircraft once delivered will provide a substantial augmentation to the firepower of the Indian Navy.

Type 054A FFG like being acquired by Pakistan

The Pakistan Navy has also begun its own program of naval growth. Most recently the Pakistan Navy signed a deal in late 2015 to purchase 8 Chinese S20 AIP equipped submarines with all being delivered by 2026. Apart from this Pakistan is also buying 4 054A Frigates from China and another 4 fast attack craft still remain in discussion .Pakistan is also purchasing some 4 ADA MILGEM class corvettes from Turkey while acquiring 2 OPVs from DAMEN in Denmark and 2 OPVs from Swift ships in the USA. These acquisitions will ensure the Pakistan navy maintains a very credible force level of eleven modern submarines and eight frigates all the way to 2030 & give it its first ever force of corvettes and OPVs. Pakistan is also planning on augmenting its maritime aircraft force levels with the induction of modern MPAs and JF-17 fighter aircraft as well.

Ex PLAN Ming Class SSK now serving with Bangladesh Navy as BNS NABJATRA

The Bangladesh and SriLankan Navies are also working on their own expansion plans. The Bangladeshi navy has a well chalked out growth plan called forces 2030 under which they will be acquiring 2 more type56 corvettes from China while also looking to Chinese yards for support with building 6 frigates. The Bangladesh navy submarines corps is still in its infancy having just acquired its first 2 MING class SSKs from China nevertheless plans for expanding this into a six submarine fleet with the addition of 4 more KILO or CHANG-BOGO class SSKs is in discussion. The Sri Lankan Navy has a much more modest expansion plan lined up with the induction of one Ex USNAVY Hamilton class cutter and an ex PLAN Type 53 Frigate being the only vessels lined up for now, though there have been earlier reports of the Sri Lankan Navy looking at a possible acquisition of one or two Gepard 5.1 class frigates from Russia.

Myanmar Navy Kyan Sittha Class FFG -UMS Sinbyushin

An often ignored factor at least in the Bay of Bengal is the Myanmar Navy. The Myanmarese have embarked on their own Naval expansion program & have in fact acquired a complete Shipbuilding facility from China in the late 1990's. Myanmar has since gone ahead and built three indigenous missile armed frigates and have detailed plans to build another five ships of the Kyan Sittha Class.

Myanmar has also become the first navy in the region (Beating India as well here) in acquiring a brand new LPD capability with the acquisition of a single Makassar class LPD from South Korea christened the UMS Mottama , now the largest vessel in the Myanmar Navy.

A Robust Submarine capability is also being acquired with the acquisition of a KILO class submarine from India to be followed up by two new KILO Class boats acquired from Russia.

Suffice to say that the Indian subcontinental region will soon witness a large and unprecedented naval buildup of Regional Navies complementing the rise of economies in the region. While this would create more challenges for opposing navies as in the Arabian Sea, in the Bay of Bengal and Northern Indian Ocean this growth would be more benign and complementary as most of the navies here are loosely allied to one another. This should overall help in increasing the security of merchant vessels passing through regional waters and help to control piracy in the waters around the horn of Africa.

MY 0.02 ON THE HAPPENINGS IN THE DEFENCE SPHERE TODAY-PART 2

1)      SSKs TO BE PRIORATIZED BEFORE CVNs.

-          GOOD MOVE, THIS IS SOMETHING I HAD BEEN BATTING FOR A LONG TIME.

-          WILL HELP THE IN REPLAN CAPEX, THE $20BN ESTIMATED COST OF THE CVN WOULD HAVE LEFT NO MONEY FOR OTHER PURCHASES IN THE IMMEDIATE.

-          THE PENINSULA COMMAND PLAN WILL LIKELY TAKE AWAY THE NEED OF A THIRD CARRIER  BY ALLOCATING BOTH OPERATIONAL CBGS TO AN OCEANIC COMMAND WHILE LAND BASED FIGHTER AIRCRAFT CAN PROVIDE RAPID AIR COVER TO ANY NAVAL FORCE IN THE BAY OF BENGAL AND ARABIAN SEA.

-          MORE SSKs WILL HELP MAINTAIN THE BALANCE OF POWER IN THE FAVOUR OF THE INDIAN NAVY IN ANY FUTURE CONFLICT IN WAYS A CV COULD NOT, IN BOTH THE 1965 & 71 WARS THE IN HAD TO SPEND INORDINATE ASSETS GUARDING CVS FROM OPFOR SSKs. HAVING A LARGE MODERN FORCE OF SSKs ALONGWITH A LARGE FLEET OF SUBMARINE HUNTING CGS AND AIRCRAFT COULD HELP US MAINTAIN SUPERIOROTY UNDER THE SURFACE.

-          IN VIEW OF THE BANGLADESH, INDONESIA AND PAKISTAN NAVIES MOVING AHEAD WITH SUBMARINE ACQUISISTON PLANS IT IS IMPERATIVE THE NUMBER OF MODERN SSKS IN THE IN KEEPS PACE TO MAINTAIN OUR DOMINANCE.

-          THE IMPETUS ON REDUCING COST MAKES IT MOST LIKELY THE SUBMARINE SELECTED FOR P75I WILL MOST LIKELY BE EITHER THE SCORPENE OR THE AMUR AS THE SCORPENE SHOULD BE ABLE TO USE IT’S EXISITNG BASE OF SUPPLIER TO REDUCE PRODUCTION COSTS & MATCH HORNS WITH THE  RUSSIAN AMUR SERIESWHICH  IS POSSIBLY THE CHEAPEST OF THE COMPETITORS.

2)      ATHOS ARTILLERY GUN PRODUCTION WITH BHARAT FORGE(THOUGH OTHER MEDIA MENTIONED OFB)

-          NOT A POSITIVE GIVEN THAT BHARAT FORGE ALREADY HAS CLEARED INDIAN ARMY TRIALS WITH THE BHARAT-52 155/52 GUN.

-          THIS INDICATES THAT THE INDIAN ARMY HAS LIKELY CHOSEN THE ATHOS OVER THE BHARAT -52 ON ACCOUNT OF IT’S LIGHTER WEIGHT AT 13 TONNES COMPARED TO 15 FOR THE KSSL GUN.

-          WOULD ALSO INDICATE THIS PURCAHE IS BEING UNDERTAKEN WITH ECONOMIC COSTS & GEOPOLITICAL OBJECTIVES WRT THE INDIA ISRAEL EQUATION IN MIND.

-          THE ONLY POSITIVE HERE IS THAT IT WILL GIVE BABA KALYANI A CHANCE TO PROVE HIS CLAIM THAT HE WILL BE ABLE TO BUILD ONE ARTILLERY GUN EVERY 2^ND DAY.GIVE KSSL A CHANCE TO COMPLETELY UPSTAGE THE OFB AS THE PERMIER 155/52GUN FACTORY IN INDIA.

-          LIKELY LINES UP THE MOUNTED ARTILLERY COMPETITON INTO A TWO HORSE RACE BETWEEN THE BHARAT FORGE 155/52 GUN & THE ATMOS2000 WHICH IS ON OFFER IN A JV WITH KSSL.

3)      TRANCHE PURCHASE OF FIGHTER AIRCRAFT

-          INDICATES EITHER G2G IMPORTS WHICH NEGATE ANY MAKE IN INDIA COMPONENT OR PRODUCTION AT A FACILITY THAT ALREADY EXISTS BECAUSE IT WILL NOT BE FINANCIALLY VIABLE FOR ANY MANUFACTURER TO BUILD AN ECOSYSTEM IN INDIA WITHOUT THE CONFIRMATION OF FUTURE TRANCHES.

-          THIS BASICALLY CONFIRMS THAT THE FUTURE MMRCA IS MOST LIKELY TO BE THE RAFALE AS DASSAULT HAS ALREADY ACQUIRED A FACILITY WHERE IT HAS ALREADY BEGUN PRODUCTION OF SOME PARTS OF RAFALE AS CONFIRMED BY MEDIA A FEW DAYS AGO.

https://theprint.in/defence/india-begins-manufacturing-parts-for-rafale-fighter-jets-in-nagpur/363702/

MY 0.02 ON THE HAPPENINGS IN THE DEFENCE SPHERE IN INDIA TODAY- PART 1

1)      PENINSULA THEATRE COMMAND TO BE FORMED.

-GOOD MOVE THAT BASICALLY TURNS THE ENTIRETY OF PENINSULAR INDIA INTO ONE THEATRE OF BATTLE.

-THIS WILL LIKELY INDICATE THIS COMMAND WILL MAKE USE OF THE PENINSULA   AS ONE GIANT AIRCRAFT CARRIER WITH IAF & IN GROUND BASED COMBAT AIRCRAFT LIKE P8I & THE RECENTLY INDUCTED BRAHMOS EQUIPPED SU30 SQUADRON AT THANJAVUR FORMING THE TIP OF A SPEAR.

-THIS THEATRE WILL LIKELY DOMINATE BOTH THE ARABIAN SEA & BAY OF BENGAL USING LAND BASED ASSETS BACKED UP BY A LARGE FLEET OF CONVENTIONAL SUBMARINES, CORVETTES & POSSIBLY A FEW OLDER FRIGATES AND DESTROYERS. OLDER LPDS LIKE THE JALASHWA WILL LIKELY BE DEPUTED TO THIS COMMAND AS WELL.

-THIS COMMAND WILL ALSO LIKELY CONTROL THE COASTAL RADAR NETWORK &THE INVENTORY OF SHORE BASED ASCM LAUNCHERS WHICH WILL SERVE AS its EYES & IT’S SPEARS.

CHANGES THE WAY THE IN WILL GO TO WAR FROM ONE BASED ON THE SURFACE OF THE SEA TO ONE BASED ON THE SURFACE OF LAND AS WELL.

-THIS INDICATES THAT THE FUTURE PURCHASES OF THE IN GEARED TOWARDS THIS COMMAND WILL BE CHEAPER SHORTER RANGED SSKs & MISSILE ARMED CORVETTES.

- THIS ALSO POINTS TOWARDS AN OCEANIC COMMAND (INDO PACIFIC) COMING UP AS THE 2^ND IN COMMAND IN THE NEAR FUTURE WHICH WILL TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF GUARDING THE SLOCs AND DISTANT FOREIGN OUTPOSTS LIKE ONE’S IN MAURITIUS & OMAN. THIS FORCE WILL LIKELY BE EQUIPPED WITH TWO CBGS COMPOSED OF THE BULK OF THE DDG ,FFG & REPLENISHMENT VESSLES  IN THE NEAR TERM ALONGWITH THE ENTIRETY OF THE IN SSBN & SSN FORCE.

2)      AIR DEFENCE COMMAND FOR INDIA COMING UP.

-GOOD MOVE THAT BASICALLY COMBINES MULTIPLE TIERS OF RADARS & SURFACE TO AIR INTERDICTION ASSETS INTO ONE NET. THIS HAS ALREADY BEEN PARTIALLY REALIZED VIA THE IACCS NODES WHICH TIE MULTIPLE MILITARY & CIVILIAN RADAR INTO ONE NET &TAKES IT ONE STEP FURTHER BY PUTTING ALL SURFACE BASED INTERDICTION ASSETS FROM THE BMD UNITS TO THE SPAAG UNITS UNDER ONE COMMAND. LIKELY TO HELP CREATE A BETTER INTERCEPTION PACKAGE WITH OVERLAPPING ARCS OF FIRE.

-WHILE THE EARLIER IACCS & AFNET PLAN TIED TOGETHER PRIMARLY AIR FORCE DEFENSE RADARS WITH CIVILIAN RADAR THIS COMMAND WILL ALSO TIE INTO A VAST NETWORK OF RADARS OPERATED BY THE ARMY &THE NAVY LIKE THE EXCELLENT MFSTARS ON BOARD THE KOLKATA & OTHER DDGS TO HELP CREATE A MUCH MORE DETAILED PICTURE.

-SIMILARLY THIS COMMAND WILL BE ABLE TO BUILD A MUCH BETTER INTERCEPTION NETWORK UTILIZING ARMY ORGANIC SAM ASSETS & NAVAL SAM UNITS IN CONJUCTION WITH EXISITNG AIR FORCE SAM UNITS.

-THIS COMMAND WILL LIKELY ALSO BE THE HEADQUARTERS FOR A SPACE DEFENCE & A BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENCE CORPS.

3)      J&K TO BE SEPARATE THEATRE.

-     GOOD MOVE THAT LETS VARIOUS MILITARY UNITS IN JAMMU & KASHMIR BE FORMED INTO ONE INTEGRATED UNIT.

-      THIS WILL LIKELY REDUCE RESPONSE TIMES & ALLOW REQUIRED ASSETS TO REALLOCATED TO AREAS WHERE THEY ARE REQUIRED MUCH FASTER THAN THEY ARE TODAY. THIS COMMAND SHOULD BE ABLE TO SURGE TROOPS & EQUIPMENT QUICKLY IN AREAS WHERE REQUIRED WITHOUT HAVING TO GO THROUGH MULTIPLE COMMAND LAYERS.

REBUILDING THE SHIELD

REBUILDING THE SHIELD

If we lose the war in the air we lose the war and lose it quickly.

— Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery

The slumbering defense establishment of India was jolted awake on December 17, 1995 when a Russian AN-26 plane with a Latvian crew and passengers that included a British arms dealer and a Danish smuggler flew over West Bengal, dropped 2,500 AK-47 rifles and 1,500,000 rounds of ammunition over five villages in the Purulia district and flew off to Thailand. Though these men were later arrested when they attempted to fly a return flight to Europe using Indian airspace, the very fact that a slow lumbering cargo plane had managed to airdrop such a large cache of weapons without getting detected by Indian air force units was a wakeup call to the military & a massive embarrassment for the Indian air force & the then INC India govt under PV Narasimha Rao.

The massive gap in air defense & Radar that the Purulia arms drop exposed meant that our shield was broken & that if India had to enter into a major conflict large swathes of territory would be free game for enemy aircraft to come & go at will. This was the catalyst that kick started a multi decade long plan to upgrade & augment the Radar Detection & SAM interdiction capabilities of the IAF. The first thing done was to look at improving and augmenting the radar coverage; the INDRA radar developed by the LRDE (Electronics & radar development establishment) in the 1980’s was upgraded to the INDRA 2 & deployed. India also approached Israel with a proposal to buy multiple units of the Arrow Anti-ballistic missile defence system in 1999. A purchase of the entire system was denied by the US which was a major partner in the project , however India did managed to procure two units of the “Green Pine” High power AESA Radar from Israel. These initial steps have now given rise to the Indigenous “Swordfish “AESA that lies at the core of our BMD. One unit of the Swordfish has been deployed as per media reports dated 2015. The LRDE also developed the ROHINI 3D Central acquisition radar which is currently under acquisition.

In 2010 the Indian air force formally inaugurated operations of the AFNET & IACCS. This system was in development or over a decade & now interlinks all civilian and military radars including AWACS to provide air defence commanders with a real time multi layered picture detailing civilian and military aircraft movement throughout India & much of the subcontinent as well. The Indian Air Force has already established 5 IACCS nodes in the western sector facing Pakistan at Barnala (Punjab), Wadsar (Gujarat), Aya Nagar (Delhi), Jodhpur (Rajasthan) and Ambala (Haryana). Four new major nodes and 10 new sub-nodes are in the process of being raised under Phase-II of the IACCS project. While 3 nodes will be deployed in eastern, central and southern India, the fourth is meant for the strategically-located Andaman and Nicobar Islands archipelago in the Bay of Bengal, watching over Malacca Strait. 

While augmenting its surveillance capabilities the IAF was well aware that it had only resolved part of the puzzle, the question of interdiction of any hostile aircraft these radars would detect would mean newer and better air defence missiles & guns would be required as well. The workhorse of the IAF Sam fleet then was the SA-3 Gammon which with its 35km range was simply outclassed by the 4&4+ Gen aircraft then being acquired by our opposition. The IAF then embarked on a plan to develop & acquire an entirely new series of SAMs more suited to modern combat which led to the Akash program being sped up. The Indian military also acquired the SPYDER LLQRM from Israel while ordering AKASH SAM units from BDL. A national BMD development program was also started by DRDO alongside JV programs for air defense missiles with MBDA of Europe and IAI OF Israel. The Israeli JV developed the MRSAM system 18 units of which are currently on order. While these entire Surface to Air missile programs would be able to intercept airborne threats at the medium to short range the lack of capability for a long range intercept was still present. The option of the S400 was brought in to counter this deficiency.

In October 2015 India formally announced an intention to purchase the S400 system from Russia as a direct deal, though the initial requirement for 12 such systems was pared down to only 5 on account of costs. On 05/10/2018 Prime Minister Modi of India and President Putin of Russia signed in a deal that will see Russia supply 5 units of the strategic Air defense missile system S400 delivered to India for use by the Indian Air Force starting 2020. This system along with the BARAK 8 (deliveries from 2020) will in many ways usher in a paradigm shift for the IAF which till date has utilized surface to air missiles as mere point and area defense weapons with maximum ranges of engagement from 18 to 45km. There is some information from CASIS about a possible transfer to India of two S200 class 150km ranged missile systems in 1989 but without official acknowledgement it is safe to assume the IAF cannot engage airborne targets form the ground at greater than 45km ranges as on date.

The S400 system will give the SAM crews in the IAF “strategic” reach & for the first time allow a SAM system to be used as an offensive asset instead of a simple defensive weapon. This will mean that now a SAM crew sitting in Ambala will be able to kill a ZDK-03 AWACS or an IL-78 tanker of the PAF flying over Islamabad if called upon to do so using the 40N6 missile. However the 40N6 is a strategic weapon & will not be used regularly. The 48N6, 9M96E2 &9M96E missiles of the S400 will be the workhorse missiles & do most of the heavy lifting defending Indian airspace from arrange of 40-240km.

 The S400 system coupled with the “SWORDFISH” BMD radar and AAD+PAD combo will also give India a multi layered anti-ballistic missile defence capability & should form the core of our national Air defence for a number of decades to come. This formidable system will be the tip of the sword for the IAF air defense and the longest ranged anti-aircraft asset in a multilayered air defense network comprising of the indigenous BMD system, S400, MRSAM, AKASH & SPYDER apart from older assets like the SA-3 & OSA SAM systems. Apart from recent media reports about the possible acquisition of an American NASAMS2 system an indigenous QRSAM & LRSAM called XRSAM are in the works as well. India is also upgrading its entire arsenal of AAA guns with modern fire control radar & electro -optical target acquisition systems.

It is safe to say that with the acquisition of the S400 we are close to achieving the near zero gap air defence coverage which we had planned for since the 1990’s Purulia airdrop Incident. Our skies have never been this secure.

 

This image shows a representational layered air defense coverage that can be achieved on the western front with

1)      1x Swordfish LRTR based between Jaipur & Delhi (Red Circle)

2)      3x S400 batteries based close to Bhuj, Bikaner & Dharamsala(Blue Circles)

3)      9x BARAK-8 MRSAM batteries based close to Kandla, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Sirsa, Bikaner, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Dharamsala & Leh.(Green Circles)

4)      1x NASAMS 2 battery based in Delhi (Yellow Circle)

 

his image shows a representational layered air defense coverage that can be achieved on the eastern front with

5)      1x Swordfish LRTR based close to Sahibganj (Red Circle)

6)      2x S400 batteries based close to Jorhat & Darbhanga(Blue Circles)

7)      12x AKASH SRSAM batteries based close to Kolkata, Durgapur, Kharaghpur, Silchar, Shillong, Siliguri, Gangtok, Hashimara, Tawang, Tezpur & Tinsukhia.