Future of the Indian Navy

Naval Ensign of India
Indian Navy carrier battle group in formation, showing some of the latest additions to the fleet (2014)

The Indian Navy has been focusing on developing indigenous platforms, systems, sensors and weapons as part of the nation's modernisation and expansion of its maritime forces. As of November 2023, the Indian Navy had 67 vessels of various types under construction including destroyers, frigates, corvettes, conventional-powered and nuclear-powered submarines and various other ships.[1] It plans to build up to a total of 200 vessels and 500 aircraft by 2050. According to the Chief of the Naval Staff's statement in December 2020,[2] India has transformed from a buyer's navy to a builder's navy.[3]

As of September 2024, the Indian Navy has 66 ships on order of which 50 are under construction in various stages (early fabrication to sea trials) and 12 ships are to be delivered in the next 12 months. These ships sum up a tonnage of over 200,000 tons and a value of ₹1.1 lakh crore (US$13 billion). The ships are being constructed across 6 shipyards in India while 2 ships are under construction in Russia. The 2 Russian origin ships are the last warship to be imported for the Indian Navy.[4] The Indian Navy is aiming to have between 155-160 warships by 2030 and between 175-200 warship navy by 2035.[5]

The increasing interest of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy in the Indian Ocean region[6] has led the Indian Navy to invest more in anti-submarine ships, such as the Kamorta-class corvette, long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft such as the Boeing P-8 Poseidon and ships such as the Saryu-class patrol vessel[7] and unmanned aerial vehicles such as the IAI Heron-1.[8] However the lack of a strong submarine fleet has diminished its capabilities to some extent.[9] Post-Chinese intrusions into Ladakh in 2020, it has been announced that the Indian Navy plans to upgrade the military facilities in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on the eastern seaboard as well as Lakshadweep on the western seaboard, with the aim of having a network of island airbases in both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal which provides an infrastructure which will guarantee freedom of navigation and overflight to all Indian territories.[10]

As for indigenisation the Indian Navy is following the "Roll-on Plan for 2023-26" while the progress is being monitored by Centre for Indigenisation & Self Reliance (CISR) at Coimbatore. The CISR has two Indigenisation Units (IUs) with one at Visakhapatnam, whose area of responsibility includes the Eastern Naval Command & Andaman and Nicobar Command and the other at Mumbai to supervise Western Naval Command. Three aspects are recognised for evaluating the indigenous content of a ship which includes Float (Hull and its related fittings and components), Move (Engines, Complete propulsions systems, etc.) and Fight (Sensor suites and Weapon systems) categories. As of October 2024, 90%, 60% and 50% of the respective categories have been indigenised. The Navy also plans to increase the indigenous content on already-commissioned frontline warships like INS Vikramaditya, Kalvari-class submarine, Talwar-class frigate and Deepak-class fleet tanker.[11]

  1. ^ "Crest of Navy warship 'Surat' to be unveiled in city it's named after". Business Standard. 5 November 2023.
  2. ^ Chatterjee, Sayan (5 December 2020). "Navy Day, 2020: Year-End wrap-up on our sentinels of the sea". The Statesman. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Indian Navy has transformed from buyer to builder: Naval Chief". Zee News. IANS. 4 September 2014. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014.
  4. ^ "India's 50 Warships at Various Stages of Construction, 12 to be Delivered in a Year". Defence.in. 1 September 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  5. ^ Ray, Kalyan (19 September 2024). "Indian Navy to get 88 ships and subs; preferred security partner in IOR: Rajnath Singh". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  6. ^ Krishnan, Anantha (27 October 2014). "Experts see several implications to Chinese submarine's visit to Colombo". Oneindia. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014.
  7. ^ Rahmat, Ridzwan (24 July 2014). "Indian Navy receives fourth Saryu-class OPV". Janes. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014.
  8. ^ "India's Growing Unmanned Naval Fleet". Archived from the original on 30 October 2014.
  9. ^ Shukla, Ajai (October 2014). "A powerful surface navy lacks sub punch". Business Standard India. Archived from the original on 30 October 2014.
  10. ^ Gupta, Shishir (19 July 2020). "Navy's forward posture against PLA aggression in Ladakh muscles out Chinese threat on high seas". Hindutan Times. Archived from the original on 19 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  11. ^ Singh, Mayank (27 October 2024). "Indian Navy's 262 indigenous projects under advance stage". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 28 October 2024.