India host12-nation naval wargame from February 4

Mister X · Feb 8, 2010

Sri Lankan said:
Sri Lanka Ministry of Defense approved the Navel Exercise in the last moment.

Currently Sri Lanka Navy busy with providing Logistic Support to Navies of China, Japan & South Korea to defeat the Pirates.

Sri Lankan Navy personnel march to 'Sare Jahan se Achha'

Port Blair: It was a moment of applause for Sri Lankan Navy personnel as they marched to the tune of 'Sare Jahan Se Achha', drawing cheer from the crowd at the grand finale of the 13-nation Milan-2010 naval exercise here on Sunday.

Heads turned and eyes widened as the song was played to marching tunes by the 30-man contingent from the island nation who joined the "city parade" through the main thoroughfare of this town.

The men were from the Sri Lankan Naval Ship Samudura, an offshore patrol vessel.

The parade, attended by top dignitaries of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration and senior officers from the Tri-services command, was marked by a fly past by Chetak helicopters from naval air station INS Utkrosh, twin-engine Mi-8 transport helicopter from the IAF, Dornier aircraft from the navy and Coast Guard and IAF Sukhoi fighters.

The Sukhois, which took off from Kalaikunda in West Bengal, flew over Port Blair after mid-air refuelling by IL-78 tankers.

There was also a demonstration by Marine Commandos (MARCOS) who para jumped into the water from AN-32 transport aircraft and Mi-8 helicopter, carrying out a simulated attack on a dummy oil rig platform and destroying it with clock work precision.

PTI

SL Navy personnel march to `Sare Jahan se Achha`

Mister X · Feb 8, 2010

Navy for partnership in Indian Ocean region

Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Verma on Friday said the Navy preferred to work together with other navies in the Indian Ocean region rather than assume leadership as envisaged by the U.S.

We are talking about coming together on a constructive level and [Indian Navy] not coming in as a headmaster, Admiral Verma said on the sidelines of a seminar organised as part of the multi-lateral Milan exercise, in which 13 countries are participating here.

He was responding to a question on how the country visualised its role following the Pentagons latest assessment that the Indian Navy was acquiring the capability and could possibly assume a greater security role in the region.

Nine foreign ships and delegations from 12 countries including Australia, Brunei, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam arrived here on Wednesday for the 7th edition of the exercise.

The officers and personnel first held operational interaction and took part in a table-top exercise on Thursday aimed at enabling all participating ships to undertake joint planning towards building mutual confidence and improving inter-operability in dealing with problems like piracy, arms and drug running and illegal migration.

Admiral Verma said the theme of the seminar, Navies in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Operations, gave the flavour of cooperation being envisaged by the different navies in the South and South East Asian region.

Our coming together is not a security bloc but to cooperate to tackle man-made and natural disasters, he said when asked whether the multi-lateral exercise could raise Beijings suspicion considering that some participating countries had maritime disputes with China.

On the Malabar exercises with the U.S., he said, it will remain bilateral. A few years ago, the exercise included navies of the U.S., Singapore, Australia and Japan, a move that did not go down well with China. On Chinas capability and Indian preparations, Admiral Verma said the Navys plans were made taking into account the region and were not country-specific. He said India had the deterrence of conventional capability.

Admiral Verma said creating awareness among the fishing community to threats from the sea, a task undertaken as part of the coastal security plan, has started yielding results. Earlier in his inaugural address at the seminar Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lt. Gov. Bhopinder Singh underscored the need for speed in reaching out to disaster-affected countries.

garibnawaz · Feb 8, 2010

Indian Navy can learn from Malaysian Navy on having women officers onboard

Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Islands): Still not ready to have women officers on board, the Indian Navy can take a hint from the Royal Malaysian Navy which has Lieutenant Farah-al-Habshi onboard a warship here for Exercise Milan, a multinational exercise witnessing the participation of 13 navies of the Asia-Pacific region.

The Indian Navy inducts women officers only in the education, logistics, law and air traffic control branches.

Hailing from an Islamic nation, a love for the seas inspired Lieutenant Farah to join the navy as a weapons officer. This should inspire the Indian Navy to improve the working environment for the women onboard its ships.

I have no problem working onboard with men. We have separate accommodation and I share my cabin with another woman logistics officer, said Lieutenant Farah, who is posted on Royal Malaysian Navy ship K D Perak, which is in India for Exercise Milan.

Wearing the traditional head scarf, she said there is no problem in working onboard as long as our privacy is maintained and we have proper space to work according to guidelines of the Malaysian Navy.

The chief of the Malaysian offshore patrol vessel K D Perak, Commander Ismail Bin Othoman, said: Our new ships are designed keeping in mind the future. We have cabins with attached bathrooms which give privacy to the women officers onboard and to ensure that they do not have any other problems.

We follow proper guidelines and women cannot walk around in any room they like onboard and mix around on their will. If one goes around the ship, one can find no entry signs where men cannot go, he added.

The K D Perak is a new generational vessel from Malaysia and was launched in 2007. The ship has a displacement of 1650 tonnes and is fitted with surface to air and surface to surface missiles.

Apart from Malaysia, the Australian, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka navies which are participating in Exercise Milan, too have separate facilities for women onboard their warships.

Exercise Milan is a biennial gathering of navies of the Indian Ocean region and is held for building friendship and mutual understanding between participating navies. This years multinational exercise takes place from February 4-8 at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Naval ships of Singapore (two ships), Sri Lanka, Thailand, Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar, with representatives from navies of Brunei, Philippines, Vietnam and New Zealand joining Exercise Milan.

Source ANI

India News :: Indian Navy can learn from Malaysian Navy on having women officers onboard

GB

Mister X · Feb 8, 2010

Australian Navy agrees to India assuming policing role in Indian Ocean

Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), Feb 7 (ANI): Despite tensions rising in India over the racist attacks against Indian students Down Under, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has said that it is not against its Indian counterpart assuming a policing role in the Indian Ocean region.

Buzz up!
The RAN wants to have joint operations to counter threats from terrorists, pirates and other criminals in the sea lanes.

The RAN is participating in Exercise Milan hosted by India to bring together navies of the Asia-Pacific region to promote understanding and cooperation in the areas of common interest and safeguard sea lanes from poaching, piracy and terrorist activities, promote interoperability to the extent possible and engage in joint search and rescue and humanitarian operations.

Australia has sent the HMAS Glenelg to participate in Exercise Milan, which started on February 4.

"It is obvious for every country to jointly participate in exercise to counter piracy, criminal activity and terrorism," said Lieutenant Commander Shane Doolin, the commander of the ship.

"Milan is a good example where two navies learn from each other to operate in an emergency situation. The visit so far has been fantastic. We have been continuously supported to explore the environment here," he said.

"We are part of Indian Ocean nations and this exercise is a joint nation exercise witnessing participation of 13 navies in order to provide joint task force to counter threats appearing in the sea lanes," said Lieutenant Commander Shane Doolin.

He added: "We are all partners in the Indian Ocean and in reality this exercise focus' on providing humanitarian assistance and disaster relier relief as quick as possible," he said.

The HMAS Glenelg is a next-generation ship with a crew of 25 members. The offshore patrol vessel is a newly-built ship having state of art satellite navigation system that enables the ship position to be determined with great accuracy.

Lieutenant Commander Shane Doolin said the Indian Navy has experience of combating piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Australian Navy has maritime experience, which they can use to work together to solve the problems.

Milan 2010 will will also provide opportunities to promote understanding and camaraderie amongst the navies of the Asia-Pacific region and encourages ship visits, social interactions and cultural presentations by the participating countries.

Naval ships of Singapore (two ships), Sri Lanka, Thailand, Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar, with representatives from navies of Brunei, Philippines, Vietnam and New Zealand joining Exercise Milan. By Praful Kumar Singh (ANI)

Australian Navy agrees to India assuming policing role in Indian Ocean - Oneindia News

RPK · Feb 8, 2010

Multi-nation exercise Milan concludes successfully in Andaman

Port Blair, Feb 8 (ANI): The multination naval exercise hosted by the Indian Navy at Andaman and Nicobar islands with an aim to build mutual confidence between the navies of the Asia Pacific region successfully concluded with a passage exercise at sea.

The seventh edition of exercise Milan was held within the context of the Indian Navy’s “Look East” policy and naval interactions to this effect. The 2010 edition of the exercise took place from February 4-8 at Port Blair.

The naval officer in-charge of the Andaman and Nicobar command, Commodore P Suresh, took the salute from naval ships of different countries during the passage exercise.

Commenting on the successful conclusion of Milan, Commodore P Suresh said: “The achievement of Milan is that our navy is capable of hosting an event of this nature, building friendship across the seas and to obtain more interoperability.”

The focus of Milan 2010 was to promote understanding and cooperation in the areas of common interest and safeguard sea lanes of communication from poaching, piracy and terrorist activities, promote interoperability to the extent possible and engage in joint search and rescue and humanitarian operations.

“The significance of the passage exercise is that it allows us to streamline communication procedures so that in future if we have to operate together the first and foremost thing is communication interoperability followed by mutual understanding,” said Captain Sunil Kumar, commander of INS Kesari.

Naval ships of Singapore (two ships), Sri Lanka, Thailand, Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar, with representatives from navies of Brunei, Philippines, Vietnam and New Zealand participated in Exercise Milan.

The Indian Navy was represented by INS Kesari, the largest Landing Ship Tank, a Fast Attack Craft and other ships in Exercise Milan.

So far six Milans have been held, in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2006 and 2008. The event was not conducted in 2001 and 2005 as, in 2001, the Indian Navy was hosting a significant international event -the International Fleet Review and in 2005, the region was recovering from the after effects of the Tsunami of 26 Dec 2004. (ANI)

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