Defense News
June 7, 2004
India's New Naval Ambition
Plan for Blue-Water Force Includes Ballistic Missile Sub
By Vivek Raghuvanshi, New Delhi
India is adopting a new naval doctrine that calls for building a nuclear
ballistic missile submarine and a blue-water fleet able to project power
into the Arabian Gulf and beyond.
Adopted in May by Navy leaders, the Indian Maritime Doctrine spells out the
service's role in national security and the concepts it will use to fulfill
it, said Navy spokesman Cmdr. Vinay Garg.
In contrast to earlier, inward-looking strategies, the new doctrine seeks
to deal with "conflict with extra-regional power" and "protecting persons
of Indian origin and Indian interest abroad," an Indian Navy long-range
planning officer said.
The depletion of world oil reserves will inevitably bring more regional
powers to the Indian Ocean, which controls water access to the oil-rich
Arabian Gulf. This compels the Indian Navy to beef up its striking power
and its command-and-control, surveillance and intelligence abilities, he said.
The planning officer said the doctrine takes particular note of China,
which has nuclear missile subs and growing ties with Indian Ocean Rim
nations such as Bangladesh, Iran, Myanmar, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri
Lanka and Thailand.
Nuclear Comparisons
The 148-page document lists China, the European Union, India, Japan, Russia
and the United States as major naval players and claims India is the only
nuclear state without a nuclear triad, the ability to launch nuclear
weapons from land, sea and air ¬ an assertion that is not quite right.
Countries with a declared nuclear triad include Britain, China, France,
Russia and the United States. Pakistan and Israel are nuclear states that,
like India, do not appear to have a seaborne deterrent capability.
"There is a strong case for India to acquire a non-provocative, strategic
capability and the most viable platform by all accounts is the submarine,"
says the document, a copy of which was obtained by Defense News.
Defense analyst Nitin Mehta said the doctrine calls for development of a
fleet that could operate far from Indian coastal waters toward the Arabian
Gulf.
"There is a good indication from the doctrine that India will place
[greater] emphasis on the sea for its nuclear delivery systems, including
the establishment of nuclear command-and-control structures," Mehta said.
Stuart Slade, a naval analyst at Forecast International, Newtown, Conn.,
said the doctrine reflects a decades-long ambition for India.
"This realizes an Indian naval ambition that goes back to the 1950s," Slade
said. "They take the term Indian Ocean very seriously and have a picture of
themselves as a regional power. That means your defense starts at sea. They
never quite funded the Navy, but the dream has always been there."
Stephen Cohen, a Foreign Policy Studies senior fellow at the Brookings
Institution, Washington, noted this doctrine has been in the works for some
time.
"They're going very slowly because of costs," said Cohen, an expert on
India, Pakistan, South Asian security and proliferation issues. "I look at
this as more of a theoretical goal, an emulation of the U.S. and France" in
terms of building a nuclear deterrent.
He said the country's conventional capabilities "are far more important
than nuclear capabilities. The only question is if they developed a
capability to reach East Asia. This government is less likely than the
previous government to develop such a capability."
"I would take this as more a statement of policy" of the government of
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee that was ousted in April elections, he
said. "What's a surprise is that this [new] government is reiterating the
previous government's policy without modification."
The Indian planning officer said the new government of Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh could choose to review the doctrine, but likely would not
because it represents up to three years of work by several government
departments.
An Indian Boomer?
The doctrine codifies the strategic framework for the nation's existing
plan to acquire nuclear-missile subs, the Indian planning official said.
Under the 30-year plan known as Project 75, Indian shipyards will use
foreign technology to build about two dozen subs by 2030, the Navy official
said.
India is considering licensing designs for the French Scorpene and Russian
Amur-class subs.
As an interim measure, India is considering leasing at least one Russian
attack submarine, likely of the Akula class, which would be delivered in
about two years.
India also is building its own nuclear submarine, the Advanced Technology
Vessel (ATV), and now expects to roll it out by the end of 2005, two years
earlier than originally planned.
The submarine is the result of a classified, $1.5 billion program run by
the Navy, the state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation,
and the state nuclear research agency, Bhaba Atomic Research Centre.
Either the Akulas or the ATV could be used as missile boats, Slade said.
The ATV is based on Russia's Cold War-era Charlie-class nuclear-powered
cruise missile sub, with eight vertical launching tubes. India leased a
Charlie-class boat from Russia between 1988 and 1991.
"Akula originally was intended as a cruise missile carrier, but was
redesigned for attack," Slade said. "But it has 26-inch diameter torpedo
tubes that could be used to launch missiles. Rough calculations indicate
that the Indians might be able to get five or six missiles of six to seven
hundred mile range on an Akula."
With that kind of range, Slade said, India could strike about 80 percent of
what it would consider a target in China.
Indian vs. Chinese Subs
"From a military perspective, it's a long way from India to Northern China.
But it's not a long way from the North China Sea to Northern China."
The expansion of the Indian Navy comes as China also presses ahead with a
major naval modernization effort that includes new nuclear attack and
ballistic missiles submarines, analysts said.
"The Chinese submarines aren't very good," Slade said. "The five Han-class
attack subs represent a very early level of nuclear submarine technology.
They are dangerous, extraordinarily noisy, not well armed, and their
sensors are primitive and limited. They have one boomer, the Xia, but it's
not entirely clear what its status is."
The Xia is not very good, Slade and other analysts said, in large part
because it's a Han attack boat that has been crudely increased in size by
cutting it in half and welding in a 12-missile section.
"It has the same flaws as the Han, only louder," Slade said. "Two new
classes of sub are coming down the road, one a hunter killer, the Project
093, that may be based on a Russian design, and the Project 094, a missile
sub that is a 093 with a missile compartment added."
China's diesel submarine force is of either the antiquated Romeo type, or
derivatives with only a handful of more modern Kilo boats.
"The Indians have a more modern force with their four German Type 1500s and
eight, with two more coming, Russian Kilos," Slade said. "It's more modern,
and if the Indians get the two Akulas they want, they should be able to
clean the Chinese clock."
"The PLA's Navy will move from brown- to blue-water, i.e., transit from
being a coastal navy to become an ocean-going one," said one Navy
long-range planning officer. "In addition to the existing potent submarine
force, the PLA Navy plans to configure its force levels around two carrier
groups. This is clearly indicative of China's resolve to acquire a
formidable naval capability."
Expeditionary Forces
The document also calls for a marine-based rapid mobility force: "The war
on land and mounting of expeditionary forces from the sea in support of the
war on land has become a prime element," the document says, as have
aircraft carriers.
"An enemy's littoral cannot be dominated unless his air and underwater
forces can be suppressed. Strong air support is critical and navies with
integral air capability which only aircraft carriers can provide are best
positioned to deal with such a situation," it says
The Indian Navy will get a second aircraft carrier, the Admiral Gorshkov,
from Russia this year after it is refitted and equipped with MiG-29K
fighters and Kamov Ka-31 helicopters.
India also is developing its own aircraft carrier, called the Air Defense
Ship, to be built at state-owned Cochin Shipyard, Kochi. The ship is
expected in 2012, three years later than planned, thanks to a last-minute
decision to increase the ship's size from 30,000 metric tons to more than
37,000 metric tons.
The planning officer said the Navy intended to increase its spending by 40
percent over the next decade. The Navy received about $7.5 billion between
1997 and 2001, and $18.3 billion has been slated for 2002 through 2007.
Among other things, this will build three frigates at state-owned Garden
Reach Shipbuilding and Engineers Kolkata and buy a third Krivak-class
stealth frigate from Russia.
Vago Muradian and Christopher P. Cavas contributed to this report from
Washington.
June 7, 2004
India's New Naval Ambition
Plan for Blue-Water Force Includes Ballistic Missile Sub
By Vivek Raghuvanshi, New Delhi
India is adopting a new naval doctrine that calls for building a nuclear
ballistic missile submarine and a blue-water fleet able to project power
into the Arabian Gulf and beyond.
Adopted in May by Navy leaders, the Indian Maritime Doctrine spells out the
service's role in national security and the concepts it will use to fulfill
it, said Navy spokesman Cmdr. Vinay Garg.
In contrast to earlier, inward-looking strategies, the new doctrine seeks
to deal with "conflict with extra-regional power" and "protecting persons
of Indian origin and Indian interest abroad," an Indian Navy long-range
planning officer said.
The depletion of world oil reserves will inevitably bring more regional
powers to the Indian Ocean, which controls water access to the oil-rich
Arabian Gulf. This compels the Indian Navy to beef up its striking power
and its command-and-control, surveillance and intelligence abilities, he said.
The planning officer said the doctrine takes particular note of China,
which has nuclear missile subs and growing ties with Indian Ocean Rim
nations such as Bangladesh, Iran, Myanmar, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri
Lanka and Thailand.
Nuclear Comparisons
The 148-page document lists China, the European Union, India, Japan, Russia
and the United States as major naval players and claims India is the only
nuclear state without a nuclear triad, the ability to launch nuclear
weapons from land, sea and air ¬ an assertion that is not quite right.
Countries with a declared nuclear triad include Britain, China, France,
Russia and the United States. Pakistan and Israel are nuclear states that,
like India, do not appear to have a seaborne deterrent capability.
"There is a strong case for India to acquire a non-provocative, strategic
capability and the most viable platform by all accounts is the submarine,"
says the document, a copy of which was obtained by Defense News.
Defense analyst Nitin Mehta said the doctrine calls for development of a
fleet that could operate far from Indian coastal waters toward the Arabian
Gulf.
"There is a good indication from the doctrine that India will place
[greater] emphasis on the sea for its nuclear delivery systems, including
the establishment of nuclear command-and-control structures," Mehta said.
Stuart Slade, a naval analyst at Forecast International, Newtown, Conn.,
said the doctrine reflects a decades-long ambition for India.
"This realizes an Indian naval ambition that goes back to the 1950s," Slade
said. "They take the term Indian Ocean very seriously and have a picture of
themselves as a regional power. That means your defense starts at sea. They
never quite funded the Navy, but the dream has always been there."
Stephen Cohen, a Foreign Policy Studies senior fellow at the Brookings
Institution, Washington, noted this doctrine has been in the works for some
time.
"They're going very slowly because of costs," said Cohen, an expert on
India, Pakistan, South Asian security and proliferation issues. "I look at
this as more of a theoretical goal, an emulation of the U.S. and France" in
terms of building a nuclear deterrent.
He said the country's conventional capabilities "are far more important
than nuclear capabilities. The only question is if they developed a
capability to reach East Asia. This government is less likely than the
previous government to develop such a capability."
"I would take this as more a statement of policy" of the government of
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee that was ousted in April elections, he
said. "What's a surprise is that this [new] government is reiterating the
previous government's policy without modification."
The Indian planning officer said the new government of Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh could choose to review the doctrine, but likely would not
because it represents up to three years of work by several government
departments.
An Indian Boomer?
The doctrine codifies the strategic framework for the nation's existing
plan to acquire nuclear-missile subs, the Indian planning official said.
Under the 30-year plan known as Project 75, Indian shipyards will use
foreign technology to build about two dozen subs by 2030, the Navy official
said.
India is considering licensing designs for the French Scorpene and Russian
Amur-class subs.
As an interim measure, India is considering leasing at least one Russian
attack submarine, likely of the Akula class, which would be delivered in
about two years.
India also is building its own nuclear submarine, the Advanced Technology
Vessel (ATV), and now expects to roll it out by the end of 2005, two years
earlier than originally planned.
The submarine is the result of a classified, $1.5 billion program run by
the Navy, the state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation,
and the state nuclear research agency, Bhaba Atomic Research Centre.
Either the Akulas or the ATV could be used as missile boats, Slade said.
The ATV is based on Russia's Cold War-era Charlie-class nuclear-powered
cruise missile sub, with eight vertical launching tubes. India leased a
Charlie-class boat from Russia between 1988 and 1991.
"Akula originally was intended as a cruise missile carrier, but was
redesigned for attack," Slade said. "But it has 26-inch diameter torpedo
tubes that could be used to launch missiles. Rough calculations indicate
that the Indians might be able to get five or six missiles of six to seven
hundred mile range on an Akula."
With that kind of range, Slade said, India could strike about 80 percent of
what it would consider a target in China.
Indian vs. Chinese Subs
"From a military perspective, it's a long way from India to Northern China.
But it's not a long way from the North China Sea to Northern China."
The expansion of the Indian Navy comes as China also presses ahead with a
major naval modernization effort that includes new nuclear attack and
ballistic missiles submarines, analysts said.
"The Chinese submarines aren't very good," Slade said. "The five Han-class
attack subs represent a very early level of nuclear submarine technology.
They are dangerous, extraordinarily noisy, not well armed, and their
sensors are primitive and limited. They have one boomer, the Xia, but it's
not entirely clear what its status is."
The Xia is not very good, Slade and other analysts said, in large part
because it's a Han attack boat that has been crudely increased in size by
cutting it in half and welding in a 12-missile section.
"It has the same flaws as the Han, only louder," Slade said. "Two new
classes of sub are coming down the road, one a hunter killer, the Project
093, that may be based on a Russian design, and the Project 094, a missile
sub that is a 093 with a missile compartment added."
China's diesel submarine force is of either the antiquated Romeo type, or
derivatives with only a handful of more modern Kilo boats.
"The Indians have a more modern force with their four German Type 1500s and
eight, with two more coming, Russian Kilos," Slade said. "It's more modern,
and if the Indians get the two Akulas they want, they should be able to
clean the Chinese clock."
"The PLA's Navy will move from brown- to blue-water, i.e., transit from
being a coastal navy to become an ocean-going one," said one Navy
long-range planning officer. "In addition to the existing potent submarine
force, the PLA Navy plans to configure its force levels around two carrier
groups. This is clearly indicative of China's resolve to acquire a
formidable naval capability."
Expeditionary Forces
The document also calls for a marine-based rapid mobility force: "The war
on land and mounting of expeditionary forces from the sea in support of the
war on land has become a prime element," the document says, as have
aircraft carriers.
"An enemy's littoral cannot be dominated unless his air and underwater
forces can be suppressed. Strong air support is critical and navies with
integral air capability which only aircraft carriers can provide are best
positioned to deal with such a situation," it says
The Indian Navy will get a second aircraft carrier, the Admiral Gorshkov,
from Russia this year after it is refitted and equipped with MiG-29K
fighters and Kamov Ka-31 helicopters.
India also is developing its own aircraft carrier, called the Air Defense
Ship, to be built at state-owned Cochin Shipyard, Kochi. The ship is
expected in 2012, three years later than planned, thanks to a last-minute
decision to increase the ship's size from 30,000 metric tons to more than
37,000 metric tons.
The planning officer said the Navy intended to increase its spending by 40
percent over the next decade. The Navy received about $7.5 billion between
1997 and 2001, and $18.3 billion has been slated for 2002 through 2007.
Among other things, this will build three frigates at state-owned Garden
Reach Shipbuilding and Engineers Kolkata and buy a third Krivak-class
stealth frigate from Russia.
Vago Muradian and Christopher P. Cavas contributed to this report from
Washington.
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