Administration;
Logistics and Material;
Training;
The Fleets;
The Naval Aviation; and
The Submarine Arm.
The origins of the modern Indian navy are traced to a
maritime force established by the East India Company in
the seventeenth century. This force had a variety of names--the
Bombay Marine, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Marine.
In 1934 the Royal Indian Navy was established, with Indians
serving primarily in lower-level positions. After independence
the navy was the most neglected of the three services
because the national leadership perceived that the bulk
of the threats to India were land-based.
The
first efforts at naval rearmament emerged in the 1964-69
Defence Plan, which called for the replacement of India's
aging fleet and the development of a submarine service.
Between 1947 and 1964, fiscal constraints had prevented
the implementation of ambitious plans for naval expansion.
Consequently, many of the vessels were obsolete and
of little operational value. As part of this expansion
program, the British helped develop the Mazagon Dock
shipyard for the local production of British Leander-class
frigates. The Soviets, however, were willing to support
all phases of the planned naval expansion. Accordingly,
they supplied naval vessels, support systems, and training
on extremely favorable terms. By the mid-1960s, they
had replaced Britain as India's principal naval supplier.
During the 1980s, Indian naval power grew significantly.
During this period, the naval facilities at Port Blair
in the Andaman Islands, in the Nicobar Islands, and
in Lakshadweep were significantly upgraded and modernized.
A new line of Leander-class frigates was manufactured
at Mazagon Dock in collaboration with Vickers and Yarrow
of Britain. These frigates, redesignated as the Godavari
class, have antisubmarine warfare capabilities and can
carry two helicopters. During the 1980s, plans were
also finalized for the licensed manufacture of a line
of West German Type 1500 submarines (known as the Shishumar
class in India). In addition to these developments at
Mazagon Dock, the naval air arm also was upgraded. India
purchased nearly two squadrons of the vertical and short
takeoff and landing (VSTOL) Sea Harriers to replace
an earlier generation of Sea Hawks.
In the mid-1990s, India was preparing for a major modernization
program that was to include completion of three 5,000-ton
Delhi-class destroyers, the building of three 3,700-ton
frigates based on Italian Indian Naval Ship (INS)-10
design, and the acquisition of four hydrographic survey
ships. Also to be built were an Indian-designed warship
called Frigate 2001; six British Upholder-class submarines;
an Indian-designed and Indian-built missile-firing nuclear
submarine--the Advanced Technology Vessel--based on
the Soviet Charlie II class; and an Indian-designed
and Indian-built 17,000-ton air defense ship capable
of carrying between twelve and fifteen aircraft. The
air-defense ship will be, in effect, a replacement for
India's two aging British aircraft carriers, the INS
Vikrant , the keel of which was laid in 1943 but construction
of which was not completed until 1961 and which was
slated for decommissioning by 2000, and the INS Viraat
, which entered service in 1987 and is likely to be
decommissioned by 2005. The problems encountered with
modernizing these and other foreign-source ships led
India to decide against acquiring an ex-Soviet Kiev-class
aircraft carrier in 1994.
In the spirit of international military cooperation,
India has made moves in the early and mid-1990s to enhance
joint-nation interoperability. Indian naval exercises
have taken place with ships from the Russian navy and
those of Indian Ocean littoral states and other nations,
including the United States.
Naval headquarters is located in New Delhi. It is under
the command of the chief of naval staff--a full admiral.
The chief of naval staff has four principal staff officers:
the vice chief of naval staff, the vice chief of personnel,
the chief of material, and the deputy chief of naval
staff. The total strength of the navy in 1994 was 54,000,
including 5,000 naval aviation personnel and 1,000 marines
(one regiment, with a second reportedly forming).
Women were inducted into the Indian navy for the first
time in 1992, when twenty-two were trained as education,
logistics, and law cadres. In 1993 additional women
were recruited for air traffic control duties. By 1994
there were thirty-five women naval officers.
The Indian navy is deployed under three area commands,
each headed by a flag officer. The Western Naval Command
is headquartered in Bombay on the Arabian Sea; the Southern
Naval Command in Kochi (Cochin), in Kerala, also on
the Arabian Sea; and the Eastern Naval Command in Vishakhapatnam,
Andhra Pradesh, on the Bay of Bengal. Additionally,
the navy has important bases in Calcutta and Goa.
The Southern Naval Command is responsible for naval
officer training, which occurs at the Indian Naval Academy
in Goa. Officer candidates are largely drawn from the
National Defence Academy. After commissioning, officers
are offered specialized training in antisubmarine warfare,
aviation, communications, electronic warfare, engineering,
hydrography, maritime warfare, missile warfare, navigation,
and other naval specialties at various naval training
institutions, many of which are collocated with the
Training Command headquarters on Willingdon Island,
near Kochi. |