Navy proposes to build huge ship landing docks.

[Mohammed Azizuddin]

Having cleared the decks for manufacture of large aircraft carriers indigenously, the navy is now proposing to venture into building huge ship landing docks to give it the capability to carry heavily armed troops and armaments over oceans.

The Naval Design Bureau has now finalised plans to go ahead to manufacture over 20,000 tonne displacement landing ship docks on the pattern of the INS Jalashva, which it recently acquired from the US Navy.

Along with trying its hand on manufacturing such large warships, the navy has also proposed to the government to set up two more public-sector shipyards located on the east and west coast, as its order book for vessels grow.

India, at present, only has the knowhow to manufacture smaller amphibious warships of 4,000 to 6,000 thousand tonne displacement. The navy has three such vessels on deployment but with New Delhi's commitments growing in view of demands for humanitarian assistance at sea, plans have now been cleared to go in for larger ship landing docks.

However, as in the case of aircraft carriers, the navy lacks the design expertise to build such huge warships. In the case of the indigenous carrier being built at Kochi shipyard, the navy has roped in an Italian firm Fincantieri.

In order to build the country's first ever blue water troop carrier, the navy is looking at a number of designs, including American and French.

INS Jalashva, formerly USS Trenton, which the Indian Navy recently acquired from the US navy is an Austin class vessel and New Delhi is looking at its more modern versions like Cleveland or Denver class.

With a 17,000 tonne displacement, Cleveland class Ship landing docks can carry six CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters and 900 marines.

India is also looking very closely at the French landing ship dock Mistral, which is a much larger 21,300 displacement warship with an operational range of 19,800 nautical miles and four huge landing barges, naval sources said here today.

Mistral, which was recently here to participate in the Varuna-2008 Indo-French naval exercises has the capability of carrying 16 helicopters and 900 fully armed marines.

French shipbuilders DCN international which is already collaborating with India on building Scorpene submarines under technology transfer at Mazagoan docks has offered to collaborate in building of the Ship Landing Dock.

Source:outlookindia.com | wired

 

[Energon]

I remember reading an article published by an Ivy League institution's India specific department which was talking about the lack of modular ship construction techniques in the Indian ship yards that has made it impossible for them to build megaships in large numbers. This issue needs to be resolved first and foremost before taking on any ambitious projects.

Second, I think its time for the government to get out of the ship building business. The GoI has been very reluctant to let go of this lucrative industry for obvious reasons; and their domination of this sector has kept it back (on a global scale) for quite some time now. I know everyone will jump in saying that India is one of the biggest ship manufacturers etc. but even those capabilities could have been far advanced had the private sector been allowed to enter and operate autonomously in conjunction with the government. The operations of this industry should be privatized with the state keeping the major stakeholder status on only two or three big yards where the final assembly of sensitive military ships and submarines is conducted. However if big manufacturers like L&T become big fish of the marine defense industry (seem to headed in that direction) then of course they will have the ability to carry out big projects in their own facilities.

As far as the LPDs themselves are concerned, IMO the IN really needs to have a sizable fleet of these ships. In the past few years the most demanding operations have been humanitarian ones and LPDs can prove very handy in such cases. If I'm not mistaken, contrary to what the article states, the Trenton class subtype is newer than the both the Cleveland or Denver class subtypes. I would personally pick the Mistral design over the modified Austin Class variants simply because the latter are at least 3 decades old.

 

[Mohammed Azizuddin]

I remember reading an article published by an Ivy League institution's India specific department which was talking about the lack of modular ship construction techniques in the Indian ship yards that has made it impossible for them to build megaships in large numbers. This issue needs to be resolved first and foremost before taking on any ambitious projects.

Second, I think its time for the government to get out of the ship building business. The GoI has been very reluctant to let go of this lucrative industry for obvious reasons; and their domination of this sector has kept it back (on a global scale) for quite some time now. I know everyone will jump in saying that India is one of the biggest ship manufacturers etc. but even those capabilities could have been far advanced had the private sector been allowed to enter and operate autonomously in conjunction with the government. The operations of this industry should be privatized with the state keeping the major stakeholder status on only two or three big yards where the final assembly of sensitive military ships and submarines is conducted. However if big manufacturers like L&T become big fish of the marine defense industry (seem to headed in that direction) then of course they will have the ability to carry out big projects in their own facilities.

As far as the LPDs themselves are concerned, IMO the IN really needs to have a sizable fleet of these ships. In the past few years the most demanding operations have been humanitarian ones and LPDs can prove very handy in such cases. If I'm not mistaken, contrary to what the article states, the Trenton class subtype is newer than the both the Cleveland or Denver class subtypes. I would personally pick the Mistral design over the modified Austin Class variants simply because the latter are at least 3 decades old.

You are right,

this should be turned into a public-private relationship.Look at the Indian Railways, this is a great model.All the construction is being conducted by private companies, look at the Delhi Metro for God's sake, look at the new airports, the same I agree should be done with the above.

 

[shrivatsa]

I think l&t is building a huge shipyard in Tamil nadu for building huge(tankers&military)ships.i will try to get the source,

 

[nitesh]

India Today - The most widely read newsweekly in South Asia.

Italians are coming

Last year, when Paolo Girasole, a senior executive with Italian arms major Finmeccanica, was given the option of a foreign posting, he instantly picked India.

The slow-moving decision-making process would need getting used to but the world's second-largest defence market marked an exciting business opportunity.

Reason enough for Italian arms major Finmeccanica to pack its coffee, olive oil and pasta and head for New Delhi.

From one-off suppliers of torpedoes, radars and naval guns to India, Italy is the arriviste in the Indian defence market, quietly becoming one of India's largest potential military equipment suppliers.

Earlier this year, the Indian Navy signed a ¤200 million (Rs 1,300 crore) contract with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for a new fleet tanker.

The tanker to be built in Italy and delivered by 2010 will greatly increase the naval fleet's endurance at sea.

Finmeccanica's helicopter division, Augusta Westland, is the frontrunner in a multi-million contract to supply 12 AW-101 VVIP helicopters worth around Rs 110 crore each for use by the President and prime minister.


The AW-101 has been shortlisted to carry the President, prime minister and SPG
Four of these are for the use by the Special Protection Group. In a replay of the Marine One contest for the US presidential helicopter last year, field evaluations conducted by the Indian Air Force (IAF), the triple-engined Italian helicopter trumped its only competitor, the US Sikorsky S-92.
The contract to be signed later this year for the flying offices equipped with advanced communication aids and self-protection devices could well be the greatest Italian export to India since the iconic Vespa scooter in the 1960s.

The Italian story rides mostly on the 'two Fins'-state-owned Finmeccanica which supplies electronics, radars, artillery and aircraft, and Fincantieri that makes ships.

Co-located in a single building in downtown Delhi's Nehru Place and co-incidentally headed by two engineers who attended the Italian naval academy together, the firms with turnovers of ¤12.5 and ¤2.5 billion (Rs 81,250 crore and Rs 16,250 crore) respectively are frontrunners in practically every significant defence contract.

"India is the number one export priority for us," says Massimo de Benedictis, country representative, Fincantieri.

Italy on the go

With an EU-imposed arms embargo against China, India is the largest potential arms market. The Italians are front-runners in a number of aerospace and naval programmes. Rapid delivery schedules, high technology and competitive costs make them attractive for tie-ups. For good reason. Current European Union (EU) arms embargoes against China make India, with $45 billion (Rs 1.89 lakh crore) earmarked for defence acquisitions over the next five years, an attractive alternative.

Fincantieri's FREMM stealth frigate is a contender for a seven-warship order worth Rs 30,000 crore. The shipbuilder is also vying to sell six advanced offshore patrol vessels to the navy and coast guard.


If the 38,000-tonne Indigenous Aircraft Carrier being built at the Cochin Shipyard Limited looks like a bigger version of Italy's new carrier, the Cavour, it is because it was designed with assistance from Fincantieri which is also integrating the ship's propulsion system. Italy has emerged as an attractive shipbuilding destination due to rapid delivery schedules, high technology and competitive costs.

While accepting a new oceanographic survey vessel from Fincantieri in December 2007, Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal joked how it had taken his ministry three years to get the financing for a ship which took the yard just 18 months to build.

The navy will get its new Italian tanker in just two years, while it took Garden Reach Shipyard 12 years to build the navy's last tanker- the INS Aditya.

The induction of the AW-101 will give Italy a toe-hold into the burgeoning defence aerospace market.

Augusta Westland's NH-90 is a frontrunner to supply 16 Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) choppers for the navy, 324 light utility choppers for the air force and army, 13 ATR turbo-prop maritime patrol aircraft to the navy and coast guard and two C-27J Spartan medium transport aircraft for the Border Security Force.
The company owns 40 per cent of Eurofighter which is a contender in the $10 billion (Rs 40,000 crore) contract to supply 126 fighter aircraft to the air force.
The entry of the Italians is not incidental. Ever since the nations decided to enhance bilateral cooperation in defence production in 2002 and inked a memorandum of understanding on defence industrial cooperation the following year, defence ties have been on a steady trot.

The joint working group on defence, headed by the defence secretaries, held its seventh meeting last March.

One reason for the Italian connection is the recent policy of diversifying India's arms suppliers.

Over 70 per cent of the Indian military machine is of Soviet and Russian origin with the navy almost entirely dependent on Russian weaponry for its warships, submarines and aircraft.

A troublesome relationship, particularly over the acquisition of spares has left the armed forces keen on alternate sources.

"Overall it is best to diversify the supplier base and enter into technological collaboration with the best in different fields because we always face the risk of resumption of sanctions," says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal, director, Centre for Land Warfare Studies.

India's Defence Procurement Procedure, floated in 2005, calls for open tenders for procuring all major arms systems, transfer of technology and offsets of 30 per cent (suppliers have to procure 30 per cent of the value of their contracts from Indian industry).

Italian firms are vying for



Patrol vessels: At least 12 advanced offshore patrol vessels for the navy and the Coast Guard.


Frigates: Seven stealth FREMM frigates worth Rs 4,000 crore each for the navy’s Project 17A programme.


Fleet tanker: ¤200 m contract signed with Fincantieri for delivery of tanker in two years.


Patrol aircraft: Italy’s ATR is in the reckoning to supply medium range patrol aircraft for the navy and the Coast Guard.


NH-90 helicopter: Sixteen anti-submarine warfare choppers for the navy.


C-27J Spartan: Two for the Border Security Force for rapid deployment of forces around the country.

"While Italy has expertise in the production of high-tech weapon systems, India brings in the great asset of manpower," says a defence official.

This allows Italian majors to acquire stakes in private and public sector Indian defence industry and even setting up shop.

This hasn't happened because the cap of 26 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is not attractive enough for the Italian majors.

The Government says it is only a matter of time before FDI is hiked to 49 per cent. And when that happens, the Italians would have truly arrived.

 

[Mohammed Azizuddin]

^^^^ WOW, thats a long shopping list!!!

 

[QuickSilver]

pretty big list there man.. good find.