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Indian Navy’s Quest to employ and equip its warships with UAVs
All the business of war is to endeavor to find out what you do not know; that’s called guessing what is on the other side of the hill… Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley – The Iron Duke of Wellington (1769–1852)
By Commodore (Retd) Ranjit B. Rai Published: November 2013
THE PRINCIPLES of war do not vary, but advances in technology bring about changes in warfare and employment of weapons and systems. The famous and victorious British General, Duke of Wellington who won seminal wars for England against France and finally defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, in 1815 (Belgium now) is quoted above. He expressed his need to know what is on the other side of the hill which his eye could not see. This is the crux of any battle. It is that intelligence of the domain that enables military leaders to plan tactics and launch missiles or direct mortar and gun fire on enemy targets, which is paramount for success. Radar was a first break through but it had limited range.
In the last century, the Wright Brothers proved their machines for flights in 1903, and the aero plane came in to being as a powered fixed-wing ‘manned flying platform’. Planes proved their efficacy for militaries in the First World War. Air power has become a decisive factor in war and helicopters followed for quick take offs and landings from pads. Today the unmanned, aerial vehicle (UAV), is a more recent entrant on the world scene, and is nothing but a light flying machine without a pilot on board and is controlled by wireless or satellite airwaves for ‘up linking and down linking’ data, either autonomously by on board computers, or by qualified controllers on the ground.
In more advanced developments, aircraft can also control UAVs, which provide wide area surveillance and can be linked with 1553 STD data buses and incorporate Moving Target Indication (MTI) which is a mode of operation of a radar to discriminate a target against sea clutter, and over ground with GMTI. UAVs are supported by compact multi-purpose advanced stabilised systems (COMPASS), and data can be transmitted by V/UHF and SATCOM to computers with all-weather detection of targets at long ranges.
The typical launch and recovery of a UAV is called “Pop for take-off, and Stop for landing “and is accomplished by an automatic preset computer system or by an external ground controller. UAVs can fly for long durations, high and far and relay back real time day time photos and thermal IR/EO and radar images and electronic transmissions to the ground station. UAVs are also variously called ‘Drones’ or Unmanned Airborne Systems (UAS). Modern large unmanned combat airborne vehicles (UCAVs) can carry weapons for attacks, and all UAVs employ geo-positioning systems (GPS) for navigation and accurate targeting. Therefore every nation strives for its own GPS system and India is setting up the six satellite Indian Regional Satellite System (IRNSS) and the first satellite is operational. GPS also is needed for targeting of missiles. China has set up a larger Bedou/Compass system.
Varities of UAVs and employment
There are a wide variety of UAVs in shapes, sizes from hand-held like Raven C, to propeller driven with piston engines, turbo-props, turbo-jets and jet propelled in configurations, with characteristics to carry payloads of cameras, radars, electro-optical, infra red systems and EW receivers. DRDO has a programme for the large Rustom and hand held UAVs which can be deployed for special and military operations and also used in a small but growing number of civil applications, such as media reporting, search and rescue (SAR), policing and firefighting, mapping and military cum security work, such as surveillance of pipelines, hunting terrorists and cross border surveillance.
UAVs are being preferred for missions that are too “dull, dirty or dangerous” for manned aircraft and where the pilots lives are in danger, and proving to be cost-effective. The control and the use of its sensors during the mission, to receive and process the surveillance imagery collected by sensors, can be disseminated as data to computers in various command and control centers.
The war in Afghanistan Op Enduring Freedom saw the use of UAVs, the RQ-4A Global Hawk (Atomic), RQ-1 Predator (Northrop Grumman) and EP-3A (Aries Electronic) and other experiments with great success. The Indian Armed Forces became aware of the need for UAVs and India’s DRDO began the Nishant project over fifteen years ago. The 380 kg Nishant with camera payloads has 4.5 hours endurance with a propeller piston engine and is launched by a rocket from a vehicle and recovered by a parachute drop and is in service with the Army with orders from the Coast Guard.
Naval UAVs and Indian Navy Acquisitions
The first Navy-led joint-services programme was the Tactical Control System (TCS) by USA to take off and land from ships, and its goal was to provide common UAV ground-station software on board to replace the unique systems associated with different UAVs. It would mean that a Captain at sea or a battlefield commander could receive imagery from any UAV from any service in his area of operations and, in some cases, could modify or otherwise direct its surveillance missions. The Indian Navy latched on to this.
The Indian Navy particularly required UAVs for reconnaissance and surveillance with high resolution photography, meteorology, air sampling, target acquisition and missile targeting, and for tracking damage assessment and electronic intelligence gathering. There were very few naval UAVs which could operate from frigates so the Navy ordered land based UAVs which could operate from shore and be controlled from nominated fleet ships for longer ranges, till a ship borne UAV is inducted.
In 2002-3 the Indian Navy signed a contract with Israel Aerospace Industries IAI/Malat for one squadron of Searcher 2 and one Squadron of larger Heron UAVs and tasked Orbit Technologies of Israel which has also supplied the Rukmani terminals on ships for UHF, S, C and Ku band data transfer to and from GSAT 7, to design and fit container control stations on board INS Taragiri and INS Vindhyagiri. The IAI Searcher (Meyromit) is a 500 kg reconnaissance UAV with a 68kg payload and a 47hp piston engine developed in the 1980s with 18 hours endurance with IR/EO and cameras and an 18,000 feet ceiling. The IAI Heron (Machatz-1) is a medium altitude long range (MALE) UAV with almost 40 hours’ duration up to 30,000 feet ceiling. The Navy has a clear line of sight (LOS) to control UAVs from ships on Charlie Band 4.1 to 7 Ghz with “Get Home Capability”. The Navy has attained confidence to operate the Heron for 24 hour capability for surveillance and targeting with the synthetic aperture (SAR) radar EL/M 2055 fitted by Elta. The Navy essentially needs a radar picture. The tactics were developed by two professional Directorates that study UAVs. One is DSR (Directorate of Staff Requirements) and the other is DNAS (Directorate of Naval Air Staff) at NHQ and both studied the US Navy’s Pioneer that takes off from the ship’s deck and is recovered into a net on a big ship, and Canadian Bombardier systems.
The Camcopter S-100 with 3D GIS capability from Schibel Austria was tried out at sea by the Indian Coast Guard few years ago and looked to be a good economical choice for starters. It now flies from French Gowind OPV L’Adroit and on other platforms and displayed its capabilities in piracy operations. The Navy advanced funds in 2006-07 to Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) to convert the Alouttee helicopters into rotary wing UAVs, as Malat of Israel claimed it was possible but the project has not fructified.
Currently the Navy has disclosed the acquisition of a minimum of fourteen UAVs and operates two squadrons of heron and Searcher Mk II based in Kochi (IN342) and Porbundar (INAS 343). On March 26, 2009, the Navy commissioned a forward operating base, Rajali II, a former World War II air station as naval air station INS Parundu at Ramnad in Tamil Nadu. This was the same airfield that operated Alizes to take on the LTTE ‘Sea Tigers’ in 1989-90, which never attacked IN ships, and now has a 3,000 ft runway. Rajali II hosts Dorniers and Chetaks. The Navy has since upgraded the base to operate larger aircraft along with dedicated facilities to operate UAVs.
The Navy has plans to have at least two more squadrons of UAVs to be controlled from ships to increases the range of surveillance. There are plans to introduce rotary UAVs on ships. The contenders are the Northrop Grumman’s MQ-8 Firescout with the Telephonics RDR 1700B or General Atomics Lynx radar and Skeldar from SAAB which has a system which is a derivative of the SAAB -2000 ERIEYE system that Pakistan flies among others. Notably MIL-1553 specs and other discrete data busses to interface with other systems on board such as radar, inertial navigation sensors, mission computer, GPS and weapon systems are looked at by the Indian Navy’s WEESE i.e. ‘Weapons, Electronic, Electrical Systems Engineering’ Group at New Delhi which has assembled the data bus for integration in to INS Delhi and other class of ships.
Sri Lanka, just south of India, has also acquired the IAI Searcher which immensely aided operations, in its long-running fight against the LTTE Tamil Tigers. Pakistan Navy has also acquired UAVs to operate from shore reportedly from Selex of Italy and China.
© India Strategic
Link - ..:: India Strategic ::. Navy: Indian Navy’s Quest to employ and equip its warships with UAVs
All the business of war is to endeavor to find out what you do not know; that’s called guessing what is on the other side of the hill… Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley – The Iron Duke of Wellington (1769–1852)
By Commodore (Retd) Ranjit B. Rai Published: November 2013
THE PRINCIPLES of war do not vary, but advances in technology bring about changes in warfare and employment of weapons and systems. The famous and victorious British General, Duke of Wellington who won seminal wars for England against France and finally defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, in 1815 (Belgium now) is quoted above. He expressed his need to know what is on the other side of the hill which his eye could not see. This is the crux of any battle. It is that intelligence of the domain that enables military leaders to plan tactics and launch missiles or direct mortar and gun fire on enemy targets, which is paramount for success. Radar was a first break through but it had limited range.
In the last century, the Wright Brothers proved their machines for flights in 1903, and the aero plane came in to being as a powered fixed-wing ‘manned flying platform’. Planes proved their efficacy for militaries in the First World War. Air power has become a decisive factor in war and helicopters followed for quick take offs and landings from pads. Today the unmanned, aerial vehicle (UAV), is a more recent entrant on the world scene, and is nothing but a light flying machine without a pilot on board and is controlled by wireless or satellite airwaves for ‘up linking and down linking’ data, either autonomously by on board computers, or by qualified controllers on the ground.
In more advanced developments, aircraft can also control UAVs, which provide wide area surveillance and can be linked with 1553 STD data buses and incorporate Moving Target Indication (MTI) which is a mode of operation of a radar to discriminate a target against sea clutter, and over ground with GMTI. UAVs are supported by compact multi-purpose advanced stabilised systems (COMPASS), and data can be transmitted by V/UHF and SATCOM to computers with all-weather detection of targets at long ranges.
The typical launch and recovery of a UAV is called “Pop for take-off, and Stop for landing “and is accomplished by an automatic preset computer system or by an external ground controller. UAVs can fly for long durations, high and far and relay back real time day time photos and thermal IR/EO and radar images and electronic transmissions to the ground station. UAVs are also variously called ‘Drones’ or Unmanned Airborne Systems (UAS). Modern large unmanned combat airborne vehicles (UCAVs) can carry weapons for attacks, and all UAVs employ geo-positioning systems (GPS) for navigation and accurate targeting. Therefore every nation strives for its own GPS system and India is setting up the six satellite Indian Regional Satellite System (IRNSS) and the first satellite is operational. GPS also is needed for targeting of missiles. China has set up a larger Bedou/Compass system.
Varities of UAVs and employment
There are a wide variety of UAVs in shapes, sizes from hand-held like Raven C, to propeller driven with piston engines, turbo-props, turbo-jets and jet propelled in configurations, with characteristics to carry payloads of cameras, radars, electro-optical, infra red systems and EW receivers. DRDO has a programme for the large Rustom and hand held UAVs which can be deployed for special and military operations and also used in a small but growing number of civil applications, such as media reporting, search and rescue (SAR), policing and firefighting, mapping and military cum security work, such as surveillance of pipelines, hunting terrorists and cross border surveillance.
UAVs are being preferred for missions that are too “dull, dirty or dangerous” for manned aircraft and where the pilots lives are in danger, and proving to be cost-effective. The control and the use of its sensors during the mission, to receive and process the surveillance imagery collected by sensors, can be disseminated as data to computers in various command and control centers.
The war in Afghanistan Op Enduring Freedom saw the use of UAVs, the RQ-4A Global Hawk (Atomic), RQ-1 Predator (Northrop Grumman) and EP-3A (Aries Electronic) and other experiments with great success. The Indian Armed Forces became aware of the need for UAVs and India’s DRDO began the Nishant project over fifteen years ago. The 380 kg Nishant with camera payloads has 4.5 hours endurance with a propeller piston engine and is launched by a rocket from a vehicle and recovered by a parachute drop and is in service with the Army with orders from the Coast Guard.
Naval UAVs and Indian Navy Acquisitions
The first Navy-led joint-services programme was the Tactical Control System (TCS) by USA to take off and land from ships, and its goal was to provide common UAV ground-station software on board to replace the unique systems associated with different UAVs. It would mean that a Captain at sea or a battlefield commander could receive imagery from any UAV from any service in his area of operations and, in some cases, could modify or otherwise direct its surveillance missions. The Indian Navy latched on to this.
The Indian Navy particularly required UAVs for reconnaissance and surveillance with high resolution photography, meteorology, air sampling, target acquisition and missile targeting, and for tracking damage assessment and electronic intelligence gathering. There were very few naval UAVs which could operate from frigates so the Navy ordered land based UAVs which could operate from shore and be controlled from nominated fleet ships for longer ranges, till a ship borne UAV is inducted.
In 2002-3 the Indian Navy signed a contract with Israel Aerospace Industries IAI/Malat for one squadron of Searcher 2 and one Squadron of larger Heron UAVs and tasked Orbit Technologies of Israel which has also supplied the Rukmani terminals on ships for UHF, S, C and Ku band data transfer to and from GSAT 7, to design and fit container control stations on board INS Taragiri and INS Vindhyagiri. The IAI Searcher (Meyromit) is a 500 kg reconnaissance UAV with a 68kg payload and a 47hp piston engine developed in the 1980s with 18 hours endurance with IR/EO and cameras and an 18,000 feet ceiling. The IAI Heron (Machatz-1) is a medium altitude long range (MALE) UAV with almost 40 hours’ duration up to 30,000 feet ceiling. The Navy has a clear line of sight (LOS) to control UAVs from ships on Charlie Band 4.1 to 7 Ghz with “Get Home Capability”. The Navy has attained confidence to operate the Heron for 24 hour capability for surveillance and targeting with the synthetic aperture (SAR) radar EL/M 2055 fitted by Elta. The Navy essentially needs a radar picture. The tactics were developed by two professional Directorates that study UAVs. One is DSR (Directorate of Staff Requirements) and the other is DNAS (Directorate of Naval Air Staff) at NHQ and both studied the US Navy’s Pioneer that takes off from the ship’s deck and is recovered into a net on a big ship, and Canadian Bombardier systems.
Currently the Navy has disclosed the acquisition of a minimum of fourteen UAVs and operates two squadrons of heron and Searcher Mk II based in Kochi (IN342) and Porbundar (INAS 343). On March 26, 2009, the Navy commissioned a forward operating base, Rajali II, a former World War II air station as naval air station INS Parundu at Ramnad in Tamil Nadu. This was the same airfield that operated Alizes to take on the LTTE ‘Sea Tigers’ in 1989-90, which never attacked IN ships, and now has a 3,000 ft runway. Rajali II hosts Dorniers and Chetaks. The Navy has since upgraded the base to operate larger aircraft along with dedicated facilities to operate UAVs.
The Navy has plans to have at least two more squadrons of UAVs to be controlled from ships to increases the range of surveillance. There are plans to introduce rotary UAVs on ships. The contenders are the Northrop Grumman’s MQ-8 Firescout with the Telephonics RDR 1700B or General Atomics Lynx radar and Skeldar from SAAB which has a system which is a derivative of the SAAB -2000 ERIEYE system that Pakistan flies among others. Notably MIL-1553 specs and other discrete data busses to interface with other systems on board such as radar, inertial navigation sensors, mission computer, GPS and weapon systems are looked at by the Indian Navy’s WEESE i.e. ‘Weapons, Electronic, Electrical Systems Engineering’ Group at New Delhi which has assembled the data bus for integration in to INS Delhi and other class of ships.
Sri Lanka, just south of India, has also acquired the IAI Searcher which immensely aided operations, in its long-running fight against the LTTE Tamil Tigers. Pakistan Navy has also acquired UAVs to operate from shore reportedly from Selex of Italy and China.
© India Strategic
Link - ..:: India Strategic ::. Navy: Indian Navy’s Quest to employ and equip its warships with UAVs
