India desperately needs a carrier. With the loss of Viraat, decommissioned in January 1997, just as Vikrant is in overhaul, their Harriers have been landed and an important, expensive component of their naval power is being wasted. This is the largest, but not the only problem of the Indian Navy as it struggles to modernize its aging fleet. The foremost problem is money. The Navy is lowest in priority of all the Indian armed services, and the Indian defense budget itself is nothing to shout about. The Navy also wasted a lot of money fiddling around with Chakra, her leased Russian Charlie I, before giving her up as a bad idea. That money could have been used for modernization. Another problem is her supply line. Dependent on Soviet/Russian systems for the last two decades, her supplier is now unreliable, demanding cash for spare parts and even then not always able to deliver. Her mix of Russian and Western weapons also creates severe logistic problems. Readiness and maintenance suffer as a result of this. Many sources put the availability of vessels for service at 50%. Whether this is taken on a system-for-system or ship-for-ship basis, it is a terrible burden for any Indian admiral trying to plan or fight. The original news about the acquisition of Admiral Gorshkov (ex-Baku, the fourth Kiev CVHG) has changed several time. It first broke as if the deal had been done, but later reports indicated it was only in "negotiation." Still later, one Indian officer stated that the originally quoted price of $1.8 billion dollars was actually $3 billion, and another Admiral announced that he fully supported the building of an indigenous carrier, which would take about ten years. It would take some time to make Gorshkov seaworthy. She hasn't sailed since 1980. She suffered a fire in her engineering spaces several years ago and the damage was never repaired. (talk about your fixer-upper!). And she would have to be refitted. Gorshkov's elevators are too small to operate Harriers, so they will have to modified, which will be expensive. Several authorities have discussed extending the deck and adding a ski jump for Su-33 or MiG-29s. I believe modifications would have to be minimal, both to save time and money. Besides modifying the elevators, the SS-N-12 Sandbox launchers would almost certainly be removed, and the defunct Sky Watch radar would be stripped out, but the other weapons systems would probably be retained. The SA-N-9 point-defense missile system would be especially useful. In addition to this major unit, India is may purchase two or three, and possibly as many as six, Project 1135.6 (modified Krivak III) frigates. These modern units would join the locally-produced Delhi (Type 16) class, which is being slowly produced in local yards. Russian Project 1135.6 FF Displacement: 3175 std In class: 0+1+2 Acoustic Counterm: 2nd Gen Twd In Service: 200? Electronic Counterm: 3rd Gen J&D ESM: 3rd Gen Propulsion: COGOG Crew: 200 Size Class: Small Signature: VSmall/Noisy Weapons: ROF F(1)2 AK-100 100mm/59 //1 MR-105 Turel' [Owl Screech] C/Russia F(R)4 AK-630M 30mm/65 w/15 bursts //1 MR-123 [Bass Tilt] C/Russia F&A(6)1 Klinok [SA-N-9] w/20 msl //2 Cross Sword (x) D/Russia PB&SB(4)4 Kh-35 Uran [SS-N-25] w/4 Switchblade//1 Garpun-B (8) D/Russia PB/SB(2)2 533mm TT w/x SET-65 F/Russia PB/SB/PQ/SQ 8 Kashtan [CADS-N-1] w/32 Kortik & 15 bursts//8 Hot Flash C, D/Russia Aft pad (1)1 Ka-28 Helix B Sensors: 2 Volga [Palm Frond], Half Plate, Garpun-B J/Russia Zvezda M-1 [Ox Yoke & Ox Tail] M/Russia Remarks: Improved Krivak III design. Shaping to reduce RCS. Radars and displacement estimated.The Kh-35 Uran missiles receive targeting information from the Garpun-B radar for RBL launches. Damage and Speed Breakdown: Dam Pts: 0 26 52 78 93 103 Surf Speed: 32 24 16 8 0 Sinks A new Project 877EKM [Kilo], INS Sindhurakshak, was commissioned in December 1997, and another is due some time in 1998. Newer subs may also be ordered as well, but as many as half of the subs they have right now are in poor condition and are probably not operable. Delhi (D61) entered service on the 15 November 1997. The second and third units are Mysore (D62) and Bombay (D63) due out in 98/99 & 99/ 00 respectively. For their size, they are heavily armed, and questions of crowding and topweight will dog this class. The Indians are very proud of their new ship, and equally sensitive to foreigners poking around. They recently filed a formal protest with the Australian government because an Australian P-3 orbited near the ship, taking photos and dropping sonobuoys. Other corrections to the Indian ship listings in the Harpoon 4 Data Annex Booklet include: The Improved Godavari, Godavari, and Leanders have 2nd Gen Towed Acoustic Countermeasures. The Tarantul I/Veer class has 12 units. The last two units may have PB&SB(4)2 Kh-35 Uran [SS-N-25] w/4 msls instead of SS-N-2C. The Indians are of course upgrading their Air Force with the Su-30MK (which was detailed in issue #11). These will be supported by at least two and as many as six Il-78 Midas tanker aircraft. This will give the multirole Flankers the ability to strike targets far out in the Indian Ocean. The Indian Su-30s are being bought in four batches: 1997 Batch 1: 8 as Su-30K fighters with Ballistic bombsights. 1998 Batch 2: 10 as Su-30MK fighter/bombers with rear radars. 1999 Batch 3: 12 as Su-30MK with canards (ATA 5.0?) 2000 Batch 4: 10 as Su-30MKI with thrust vectoring (ATA 5.5?) 2001 Upgrade: 6 Su-30K to Su-30MKI 2002-2007 Upgrade: Remaining to Su-30MKI standard. Another 60 will be licence built-for a total of 100 in five squadrons. They will also use the Kh-31 air-to-surface missile. Two or three Ka-31 AEW helos will be purchased. These are the export version of the Russian Ka-29RLD. The radar is designated E-801 Oko (Eye) and has an air search range of 200/128/ 80/36/20 nm and a surface search range of 135/86/54/24/13.5 nm. It has 360° coverage. Other corrections to the Indian aircraft listings in the Harpoon 4 Data Annex Booklet include: The antishipping Jaguars had their Agave radars replaced by EL/M-2032 in 1997. (Israeli radar LD/SD, SS with ranges of 55/35/22/10/5.5). The numbers are to increase to 10 in 1997 and 12 in 1998. The normal Jaguars are to get the Litening laser pod. The MiG-21-93 can also use KAB-500Kr guided bombs. The Jaguars, MiG-21-93s & Sea Harriers will all get EL/M-8222 ECM pods (2nd Gen defensive Jammer, 200 kg (?) pod). The Tu-142Ms will be integrated with the Sea Eagle ASM, possibly carrying 4 or 8 underwing. Recommended Reading: No Easy Answers, by James Goldrick, Lancer Publishers, 1997. This describes the histories of the Indian and Pakistani Navies, the 1971, and also covers several smaller navies of the region. It's a small book, but a good one. Also, check out the Indian armed forces page at www.bahrat-rakshak.com Special thanks to A.D. Baker III, Andrew Pfister, Peter Grining, and Paul D. Carrier for their contributions to this article. BT Back to The Naval Sitrep #14 Table of Contents Back to Naval Sitrep List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Larry Bond and Clash of Arms. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com