New Delhi: The Indian Navy has approached the Ministry of Finance with some funding models, especially for shipyards, similar to the Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) model, its chief Admiral Karambir Singh said Thursday.
The IRFC is the finance arm of the Indian Railways, which raises resources for expansion and running through capital markets and other borrowings.
“Those (models) are still under discussion, and if they come through, then possibly we will be able to provide a little better liquidity to these shipyards,” Admiral Singh said, without detailing what the funding models are.
The Navy has been battling a depleting budget, which it had repeatedly emphasised is too little to cater for its future acquisitions and inadequate to meet its committed liabilities. In the last Union Budget, the Indian Navy was allocated only Rs 41,259 crore against the projected amount of Rs 64,307 crore.
The Navy chief was speaking to the media a day before India celebrates the force’s contributions on Navy Day, 4 December.
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Priorities due to budget crunch
Admiral Singh said the force will prioritise ordnance delivery, networking and unmanned solutions such as drones/UAVs with the resource envelope that will be made available to it. Ordnance delivery includes gunnery systems, missiles and launchers, while networking comprises maritime domain awareness, combat management systems and targeting, among other things.
He said the Navy is aware of the Covid-19 situation, and is hopeful the economy is going to bounce back very quickly. But whatever resources are given to it, the Navy will have to make sure procurements under its Maritime Capability Perspective Plan are prioritised to meet requirements.
In the three priority areas of ordnance delivery, networking and unmanned solutions, indigenisation is helping the Navy as certain equipment becomes available at a lower price.
Earlier this year, the Navy had inducted two ‘Predator’ drones on lease for a short period. Admiral Singh said they are capable platforms with endurance of over 33 hours. The drones’ manufacturer, American energy and defence firm General Atomics, will be responsible for their maintenance, while operations will be in the hands of the Navy.
“As far as the revenue is concerned, the main focus is on our spares and inventory holding. We are working on it very aggressively to make sure that we have a smart inventory and carrying costs are less,” he said, referring to the operational logistics supply chains for spares and other inventories.
Future tech, underwater capabilities
The Navy chief said some introspection has also gone into the MCPP recently, and a lot of focus has been put on future technologies, unmanned solutions and networking, keeping in mind the threats envisaged.
The document, which lists the Navy’s long-term procurement plans, is often re-evaluated keeping in mind emerging future threats.
Admiral Singh also said the underwater domain awareness and capability is a key focus area for him, and the force is focussing hard on being able to do war-fighting in the underwater space.
He said the P-8Is —long-range surveillance and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft — are great force enablers in this aspect, and when the MH-60R helicopters arrive from the United States, they will also help out in this particular domain.
He added that the Kamov 28 helicopters that are undergoing upgrades will also become far more potent for the underwater space, and that the three services’ for 30 HALE UAVs is being advanced.
Admiral Singh said the two Predators leased earlier are pre-production models and the planned procurement of 30 Predators for the three services will have much more underwater and ASW capability.
The lease option could be used in case there’s a gap found in achieving critical capabilities, he explained, adding that the lease option has also been used for logistics for the naval bases in the Lakshadweep islands.
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On Ladakh stand-off
Admiral Singh said the Navy deployed its P-8I long range reconnaissance aircraft on the northern borders on several occasions during the ongoing stand-off with China in eastern Ladakh. Earlier, the Navy had also deployed the P-8Is for surveillance during the 2017 Doklam stand-off with China at the countries’ tri-junction with Bhutan.
“The P-8I is a potent platform that has certain equipment that can be used on the border. Based on the requirements of the Army and IAF, we have deployed the P-8I on several occasions. We have also deployed the Heron UAV from one of the northern bases,” he said.
The Navy chief admitted that the Covid-19 pandemic that has defined 2020 and permeated and disrupted lives, and the near-simultaneous attempt to change the status quo on India’s northern borders, has increased the complexities in the security situation.
“This dual challenge scenario continues as we speak,” he said.
However, he assured there has been no infringement into Indian maritime boundaries, even as Chinese research vessels and fishing vessels have been deployed in the Indian Ocean Region.
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US Predator drones are only good for assassinating camel riders in Afgh and Gulf. Iran has proven it can shot down US best predator drone using Chinese SAM or capture with Russia EW.
Low grade Heron drones will be absolutely useless under PLA Electronic Warfare. In fact Chinese has the world best drones with wide varieties & of course anti drone system.
PI8 submarines hunter is ill fitting for land border surveillance, its like a big bird awaiting to be shot by SAM.
Alas when India economy is falling 30% with highest jobless rate in 40yrs, plagued by uncontrollable COVID crisis, Adm Singh is proposing 3 a/carriers doctrine that will bankrupt India.