Navy scouts submarine-hunting Sonobuoys for Il-38 fleet
The Indian Navy intends to procure 1,000 Passive Directional Sonobuoy systems to hunt submarines for its Il-38SD maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft fleet. The sonobuoys are primarily intended as an aid for search, surveillance and localisation of submarines using the sonobuoy receiver system already integrated on the Il-38SD aircraft.
The navy has stipulated that the sonobuoys should be passive directional and should be capable of being operated with the sonobuoy receiver system of Il-38SD stationed at INS Hansa, Goa. The sonobuoy should have a minimum detection range of 6 km and it should be able to operate for minimum 2 hours post deployment.
The sonobuoy should have the facility to select depths at which the hydrophones can be deployed with the maximum depth that the hydrophone of the sonobuoy should be able to operate being not less than 300 metres. Satisfactory performance of the sonobuoy will be ascertained and certified by the end user through established trial procedures of the Indian Navy in coordination with the vendor.
Navy scouts submarine-hunting Sonobuoys for Il-38 fleet | idrw.org
First Scorpene submarine to be Named ” INS Kalvari ” goes to sea trial Next year
The first Scorpene submarine, to be named INS Kalvari post-commissioning, is almost ready and will go on trial within a year, following which it will be inducted into the Navy in 2016.
The six Scorpene class of submarines will initially be based at Mumbai for trial and later shifted to their operational base at Karwar, which harbours the new aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya with its fleet of MiG-29K fighters.
Two more submarines are in the outfitting stage and are likely to be delivered to the Navy at a gap of eight months each from the commissioning of the first submarine.All the six boats would be ready for operational use by 2018-19, giving the much needed boost to the Navy’s depleting under water wing.
Following a naval tradition, in which warships never die, the new diesel-electric submarines will be named as per the old Foxtrot class boats, which were decommissioned decades ago. They were the first submarines of the Navy. The first two Scorpene submarines would be christened as Kalvari and Khanderi.
As Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and Navy chief Admiral R K Dhowan reviewed the progress in the Scorpene project at the Mazgaon dock in Mumbai, officials said the systems of the first submarine are being “set to work”, which means bulk of the manufacturing is over and what is left now is virtually tightening the nuts and bolts.
The first batch of crew of 10 Navy officers and 35 sailors, headed by the submarine’s skipper Commodore S D Mahendale, have been sent for training, sources told Deccan Herald.
Six French-origin SSK submarines are under construction in a Rs 18,798 crore project at Mazgaon dock under technology transfer from DCNS. The project is almost three years behind schedule.
Following the accidents on INS Sindhurakshak and INS Sindhuratna, the Navy currently has 14 operational submarines. But with the exception of Russian-origin nuclear powered submarine INS Chakra, most of the Indian submarines are old, necessitating mid-life upgrades. The indigenous nuclear submarine Arihant is yet to go for a sea trial.
On the contrary, China is reported to have close to 80 submarines, including more than 10 nuclear powered boats. Though Pakistan has fewer submarines, their boats are equipped with air independent propulsion technology that allows submarines to stay longer underwater.
Jaitley also inaugurated a Rs 800 crore Mazgaon dock modernisation project to enhance the yard’s ability to construct warships and submarine
First Scorpene submarine to be Named ” INS Kalvari ” goes to sea trial Next year | idrw.org
