India to Sell Two OPVs to Lankan Navy in 2017

[mkb95]

India is to sell two Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) to Lanka in 2017, Lankan naval spokesman Capt.Akram Alavi told Express here on Thursday.

“The first will be delivered in February 2017 and the second at the end of that year. Both vessels are being constructed at the Goa Shipyard,” Capt.Alavi said.These will be the first brand new OPVs to join the Lankan navy.

In 2017, the Lankan Coast Guard will be getting two Japanese vessels as part of the Japanese government’s efforts to strengthen maritime security cooperation in the Indian Ocean region.

Daily Mirror has quoted Lankan navy chief Vice Adm.Ravindra Wijegunaratne as saying that by 2025, the Lankan navy will have acquired five more OPVs.

The Lankan navy has, at present, three OPVs. “SLNS Sayura, which is the navy’s flagship, was acquired from India on a soft loan. SLNS Sagara was a gift from India. The third OPV, SLNS Samudura, is a second hand one bought from the US,” Capt.Alavi said.

It was thanks to SLNS Sayura, that the Lankan navy was able destroy eight Floating Warehouses of the LTTE in international waters during Eelam War IV thus preventing the LTTE from getting vital arms replenishments.

As per Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’ plans, indicated at the last Galle Naval Dialogue, Lanka will have a small Blue Water navy not only to safeguard its coast but to take part in international maritime security operations in far flung areas in the Indian Ocean. Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean, just north of the international East-West sea trade route, casts a great responsibility on it to keep the route safe from pirates, smugglers and aggressive states seeking domination.

It is because of Lanka’s strategic location that 25 naval ships of various countries have recently called at Colombo. Three Chinese naval vessels were at the harbor from January 17 to 21. On January 21 came the Indian Aircraft Carrier INS Vikramaditya. The British destroyer HMS Defender will dock in Colombo on January 30 and six vessels from other navies are due in February. Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has described these visits as a “blessing”.

 

[kaykay]

I think these OPVs are 75 metre long and 1250 tons in displacement.
http://www.goashipyard.co.in/products_offshore_patrol_vessel.asp

 

[KingRaj]

I think these OPVs are 75 metre long and 1250 tons in displacement.
http://www.goashipyard.co.in/products_offshore_patrol_vessel.asp

The ones being built for Sri Lanka are 105m long with 2200+ ton displacement.

 

[Raftaar]

Good indian policy....probably this will calm em down !

 

[Tejasfan7]

that is good.
As per Bloomberg report India will export arms worth of 200 Mil USD this FY, doubling is two years. Here is the content

India is seeking to boost arms exports 20-fold in a decade to $3 billion, a push that if successful would transform one of the world’s biggest importers into a major seller of defense equipment.

Steps by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to spur defense manufacturing, if properly implemented, open up the possibility of hitting that figure by 2025, Defense Production Secretary A. K. Gupta said. The challenge is to boost private-sector investment and technological expertise, he said.
"This will not only take us toward the goal of self-reliance in defense production, but will also create tremendous employment opportunities," Gupta, one of the top bureaucrats in India’s Defense Ministry, said in the interview in New Delhi last month.

India sells about $150 million of arms overseas yearly -- a fraction of the $64 billion in worldwide defense trade -- ranging from parts for Russia’s Sukhoi fighter jets to a naval vessel recently commissioned in Mauritius. The nation relies on strained state manufacturers that lack some of the expertise of global defense majors, signaling a need for more private-sector involvement even as companies are wary of difficult business conditions.
"India’s exports target seems ambitious," said Deba R. Mohanty, a defense analyst and chairman of Indicia Research & Advisory in New Delhi. "If it’s able to meet such targets, then it will in all likelihood be a competitor to many countries, including China."

The sectors where India has export potential include naval ships, helicopters and components for aircraft, according to consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
China’s defense exports reached $1.5 billion in 2014, the eighth-largest in the world in a ranking dominated by the $23.7 billion sold by the U.S., according to IHS Inc. research. India imported $5.6 billion, the most after Saudi Arabia.
Climbing Shipments

India estimates exports of materiel more than doubled over the two fiscal years ended March 2015 to 9.9 billion rupees ($145 million).
Modi’s policy changes include fewer curbs on foreign investment in defense, looser export controls and a reworked procurement policy that’s set to encourage domestic output. His government has authorized about $65 billion of arms purchases since taking power in May 2014 and is targeting a major naval expansion with locally made ships.

The administration is also sharing the blueprints of state equipment -- such as the Rustom drone -- with the private sector for the first time, to spur technological development and possible overseas sales.
Companies ranging from Larsen & Toubro Ltd., India’s biggest engineer, to Airbus Group SE sense opportunities from less onerous rules and the drive for modernization.
State Companies

But there’s a long way to go.

Modi in April scaled back a long-pending order for 126 Dassault Aviation SA Rafale warplanes, which stalled partly because the tender included the challenge of making 108 of the complex jets at India’s state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
In the end, the premier opted for 36 Rafales from France in fly-away condition. France’s Safran SA subsequently shelved plans to make engine parts for Rafale aircraft in India. The episode shows the task Modi faces to catalyze a defense-industrial complex.
State companies account for more than 80 percent of defense production and are already stretched, according to Anurag Garg, a director of defense at Strategy&, a consulting group of PwC. Depending on the private sector to spur exports significantly would need companies to design weapons systems to sell abroad, and that’s no easy task, he said.

The government is trying to do its bit by improving the policy framework, but the push needs the support of industry, said Gupta from the Defense Ministry.
"Industry also needs to come up and accept the challenge," he said.

 

[45'22']

The ones being built for Sri Lanka are 105m long with 2200+ ton displacement.

I thought SL will go for the older ones

 

[Shah Nawaz khan]

Saam dam dundh Bed !

 

[Bad Guy]

Saam dam dundh Bed !

But your country even can't do that.

 

[Shah Nawaz khan]

But your country even can't do that.

my country is Ukraine/Russia

 

[Bad Guy]

my country is Ukraine/Russia

Confusing. Your profile pic is saying something else, your country flag is Indian.
Are you an Indian Bro?