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Prithvi to find naval platforms on Republic Day

The naval version of India's most advanced Prithvi missile, in the developmental stage, will be put on board ship by January 26, chief of naval staff Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat said yesterday.

The project was progressing according to schedule, the admiral told journalists, adding that launching the Prithvi from a ship was demanding since a ship was often an unstable platform. Correcting for such variations took a lot of time, he said.

He brushed aside as 'speculation' and 'an invention of the Internet' questions regarding the 'Sagarika' missile.

''We have no project called Sagarika,'' Bhagwat said, adding that the truth was that the navy was developing a short-range anti-ship weapon system. ''At the moment all other speculations are wrong,'' he said.

Bhagwat said they were awaiting cabinet clearance to build an indigenous aircraft carrier. The defence minister has cleared the project twice now, he said.

He said the delivered cost of the aircraft carrier would be around Rs 16 billion. Three or four studies had been conducted after which this kind of a costing had been worked out. This would be only five times costlier than INS Delhi, India's first indigenous frigate.

''The aircraft carrier is a very versatile weapon. It (the project) is not the navy's hobby horse. An aircraft carrier will last one-and-a-half-times more than a destroyer does. It absorbs more punishment and deliver a punch 50 times deadlier than the destroyer," he said.

Asked about moves to buy the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov from Russia, the naval chief said, "It is under discussion."

The navy has also taken up the issue of restructuring the intelligence system as the force was not getting ''actionable intelligence'' from the Research and Analysis Wing and the joint intelligence command, he said. Fifty per cent of the intelligence that was coming in at present was for the armed forces and of little use to the navy.

Bhagwat said since all intelligence was concentrated in the hands of the National Security Council, it has been highlighted that a change may be necessary.

Bhagwat said the navy had commissioned the first information warfare air squadron with dedicated aircraft with means to gain information and transfer it with almost real-time connectivity.

Asked about the upgradation of Sea Harriers, he said the navy was studying and exploring the amount of avionics and radar systems that could be accommodated on the aircraft. A time-frame had been set for the mid-term upgradation of the planes.

The naval chief evaded questions regarding the nuclear submarine issue, saying that developing all the sub-systems and technologies would take time. ''It's not that we do not want it''. Asked about the upgradation of kilo class submarines to include missiles, Bhagwat said shortly, "You should expect it."

He said it was part of the tenth plan to get the submarine rescue vessel for the navy since the improvised ones currently being used by the navy weren't ideal.

Asked about India's submarine building project, he said it would have to be a sustained one. "We need a 30-year time-frame to build a real home grown navy," he said.

He said the navy had added two more thrust areas -- information technology and information warfare -- to the existing three core areas -- skills in design, system integration and software engineering.

The naval chief said, essentially, the aim of the naval staff has been to enrich the force's human capital. Human resources had received top priority. Flattening the hierarchy to make more people in the force directly involved, say in the launch of weapons during war, was being done in the navy, he said.

The 'manpower plan' of the navy, still to be approved by the finance minister, would revolutionise the service, he said. Already, the naval chief said it was a pleasure to see the efficiency and saving that was being added as new ideas and innovations came in every week.

He said information dominance was going to play a big role, not only in warfare but also in the present situation where proxy wars and covert, subterranean actions are the order of the day.

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