Govt sets fresh deadline for delivery of Scorpene subs

Faced with a reality of an ageing fleet of submarines, India has set a tight schedule for the state-owned shipyard Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) for the delivery of six diesel-electric Scorpene submarines to the Indian Navy. MDL has been asked to deliver one submarine every six months starting August 2015. All the six have to be commissioned by September 2018.All the six submersible machines are in various stages of construction and each one is hidden behind a covered building yard in Mumbai that is heavily guarded from snooping eyes. This is the first time in decades that India is building the potent submarines on its soil. French Naval engineering company DCNS is the foreign partner.
Originally, the first Scorpene was to be delivered in December 2012 and the other five submarines were to follow at one-year intervals till December 2017. The submarines are being built at $4 billion (approx Rs 18,000 crore).
Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the MDL Vice-Admiral HS Malhi (retd), informing a team of reporters from Delhi on the progress of the important programme, said “The fabrication of the pressure hull is moving before schedule and in line with the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Security. The first submarine will be delivered in August 2015.”
By next year, the fabrication of all six submarines will be done and the MDL will get ready to build the next lot of submarines, under the project codenamed ‘75-India’ at a projected cost of $11 billion (approx Rs 49,500 crore).
Global majors have responded to India’s bid in partnering the project. These include Russia’s Rosoboronexport, French DCNS, German HDW and Spanish Navantia.
The development of the Scorpene is critical for the Navy. At present, the Navy operates 14 diesel-electric submarines after it decommissioned two Foxtrot-class submarines last year. Of the 14 submarines, 10 are Kilo class Soviet-origin vessels and the rest are HDW German-origin vessels. Till the Scorpene comes up, the Navy has re-jigged its maintenance schedule for the existing lot.
India intends to have a 30-vessel submarine force for the Navy that should be in place by 2030. This will include three nuclear-powered submarines, the first of that lot, the INS Arihant, is already launched at sea and is being outfitted.
sources : htt p://www.tribuneindia. com/2011/20110823/main6.htm

China has strengthened nuclear missiles as deterrent against Indian : U.S.

“Pace of its military investments may destabilise regional military balances”

China has substituted liquid-fuelled, nuclear-capable missiles with “more advanced and survivable solid-fuelled” rocket systems, and this has been explicitly aimed at “[strengthening] its deterrent posture relative to India,” according to an annual report on the developments within the Chinese military, authored by the United States Pentagon.

In its report to the U.S. Congress, the Pentagon warned that the People's Liberation Army had replaced the CSS-2 Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles with its CSS-5 Medium Range Ballistic Missile systems. It also emphasised that China was further investing in road development along the Sino-Indian border that could “support PLA border defence operations.”

While the report was principally focused on the rapid step-up in Chinese military investments in recent years, including its aircraft carrier programme, cyber-warfare capabilities, anti-satellite missiles and the top-secret J-20 next-generation stealth fighter, the report also commented on India's concern at some of these regional developments.

Pointing out that India was also improving its infrastructure along its north-eastern border, the report said: “New Delhi remains concerned by China's close military relationship with Pakistan and Beijing's growing footprint in the Indian Ocean, Central Asia, and Africa.”

Despite burgeoning defence rapprochement manifested in the Sino-Indian Annual Defence Dialogue established in 2007, India had pulled out of high-level military exchanges following China's denial of a visa to a senior Indian general in 2010, the Pentagon report said.

Although Premier Wen Jiabao attempted to mend fences during his December 2010 visit to New Delhi “he did not address serious irritants... [and] a high degree of mistrust continues to strain the bilateral relationship,” the report added.

Regional tensions

Discussing the main findings of the Pentagon report, Michael Schiffer, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for East Asia, expressed alarm that the pace and scope of China's military investments were, overall, “potentially destabilising to regional military balances, increase the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation, and may contribute to regional tensions and anxieties.”

The report also warned of maritime implications for regional powers like India. In the context of the continuing tensions in the South China Sea, Mr. Schiffer said, in addition to planning for Taiwan contingencies, China placed a high priority on asserting and strengthening its maritime territorial claims.

“An increased PLA naval presence in the region, including surface, subsurface and airborne platforms and possibly one or more of China's future aircraft carriers, would provide the PLA with an enhanced extended-range power projection capability, with all the implications for regional rivalries and power dynamics that that implies,” Mr. Schiffer added.

sources :  htt p://www.thehindu. com/todays-paper/tp-national/article2398233.ece