[dragracer567]

Indian Navy's dramatic 40-hour stand-off operation against 35 Somali pirates holding hostages

In what is probably one of the most complex missions attempted by the Indian Navy in the 21st Century, the Indian Navy came to the rescue of the MV Ruen which was hijacked by 35 Somali pirates holding 17 hostages. The Indian Navy deployed its assets including the destroyer INS Kolkata, the patrol vessel INS Subhadra, MQ-9B drone and P8I surveillance aircraft. Even more dramatically, the Indian Navy flew in and para-dropped MARCOS commandos in a C17 - similar to an operation by the US Navy who deployed Navy SEALS during the mission to rescue 'Captian Phillips' (latter immortalized in a Tom Hanks movie). While such dramatic anti-piracy missions aren't new for the Indian Navy, I believe para-dropping MARCOS into the scene is. Moreover, the Indian armed forces are finally learning to ensure video evidence for information warfare. This also cements India's role as a net security provider as it has always been for the region - something for our neighbor to the North to watch and learn instead of bullying its neighbors.

Such drastic action was seemingly in self-defense as the pirates fired back at Indian military assets - assuming they had strength in numbers, only to face the wrath of the second most powerful military in the Indian Ocean Region.

The first image shows the C17 paradropping the commandoes onsite. The episode also shows just how important aerial assets like the C17, P8 and MQ-9Bs and large surface assets like the INS Kolkata are to quickly mobilize troops and ensure situation awareness.

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[FiatDiesel]

This is top news on CNN today.

[V.Narayan]

Work commences on first Fleet Support Ship for the IN. 5 to be built.

https://indiannavy.nic.in/content/st...-visakhapatnam

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...le68050712.ece

‘Steel Cutting’ ceremony of first of the five Fleet Support Ships (FSS) was held at Hindustan Shipyard Limited, Visakhapatnam on 10 Apr 24. Contract with Hindustan Shipyard for acquisition of five Fleet Support Ships was signed in Aug 2023.

The ships, with more than 40,000 tonnes displacement will carry and deliver fuel, water, ammunition and stores enabling prolonged operations without returning to harbour, thus enhancing the Fleet’s strategic reach and mobility. In secondary role, these ships would be equipped for humanitarian aid and disaster relief operations for evacuation of personnel in emergency situations and quick delivery of relief material at site during natural calamities.

Currently the IN operates 4 fleet support ships a little less than what we need with our expanding naval commitments.

Tentative data available {Wikipedia}

Displacement: ~45,000 tonnes

Length: ~230 metres

Speed: 20 knots

Fuel delivery rate: 2400 tonnes per hour

Artist's rendition:

[dragracer567]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Work commences on first Fleet Support Ship for the IN. 5 to be built.

IIRC wasn’t this contract originally awarded to a Turkish consortium and then later cancelled due to poor relations?

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by dragracer567

IIRC wasn’t this contract originally awarded to a Turkish consortium and then later cancelled due to poor relations?

Yes, this is the same project. Other than the Turks being the lowest bidder it was also felt this could be the thin end of the wedge to open up a new chapter in our fragile relations. But apparently something did not click. As you know the Turks have done a commendable job in ship, aircraft and drone design without our bureaucracy style crakes.

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Work commences on first Fleet Support Ship for the IN. 5 to be built.

We’ve won the contract for the construction of 2 ships beating CSL. Just broke! After GRSE’s survey vessels were built and handed over, we are in the process of beginning the trials for the first ASW SWC. Good times ahead!

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

We’ve won the contract for the construction of 2 ships beating CSL. Just broke! After GRSE’s survey vessels were built and handed over, we are in the process of beginning the trials for the first ASW SWC. Good times ahead!

Congratulations. This is great news and a landmark in Indian Naval procurement from the private sector. All the best. I visited your shipyard outside Chennai in February. Your ship lift is very impressive.

[ads11]

Nice video summary on the Nilgiri class frigates. For context Aaron is a former sonar tech on US submarines so it's interesting to see the elements that impress him and the public numbers he's able to correctly work out as being placeholders. You can also tell that the mess of the USN's own botched frigate programme irks him so, and how the IN has a rare programme that has sensible design choices. Only thing that stood out as a bit of an omission is him stating the number of tracks of the hull mounted sonar being too low - which again, is in his wheelhouse so I'd say that's room for improvement if true.

He's really impressed with the radar systems on board, especially the air surveillance radar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeUSoUzFu28

PS: Pretty sure he circled the wrong place for GRSE.

[dragracer567]

The INS Shivalik in Japan - possibly Yokosuka for a maritime exercise, these are some stunning photos (courtesy @Alsace_class)!

[dragracer567]

India to award 70,000 crore contract to build P17B frigates

According to this article by the Economic Times, the defense ministry is set to clear a 70,000 crore contract to build the P17B frigates - follow on of the P17A i.e the Nilgiri Class frigates. The front runners are the Mazagon Dockyards Limited (MDL) and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), there is also a good possibility that the orders will be split between the shipyards as with the P17A Nilgiri class frigates.

The quantity is unknown but based on the budget and the cost of the Nilgiri class frigates, it's safe to assume at least 7 additional P17B frigates. This is good timing as the first P17A frigate - the INS Nilgiri should be delivered this year with 6 more in quick succession as the frigates are simultaneously built by the Mazagon Dockyards Limited (MDL) and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) and all 7 should be commissioned by 2027! A quick order will ensure continuity at the shipyards. The exact changes in the P17B vis a vis P17A are unknown but likely similar to the differences between the P15A Kolkata class & P15B Visakhapatnam class destroyers. So, by 2035, the Navy would've built 18 new frigates (7 Nilgiri, 7 P17B, 2 new Talwar class & 2 Triput class) and 4 new destroyers (the Visakhapatnam class) with the P18 class destroyers under construction - a respectable feat. The Army & Air Force should take notes!



Photo of the first P17A frigate - the INS Nilgiri being launched in 2019.

[dragracer567]

INS Brahmaputra Severely Damaged In Fire & Listing to its Side

The INS Brahmaputra, the lead ship of its class has been severely damaged and is listing quite dangerously as evident from the photo. One junior sailor is unaccounted for. The ship was undergoing refit at the Mumbai naval dockyard when the accident happened.

While the Navy is continuously adding vessels including multitude of frigates as indicated in the previous post, this will be a significant reduction in capacity given the number of large corvettes, frigates and destroyers available with the Navy right now.

I assume the cause will be established after a thorough investigation though I do wonder if it is normal to lose vessels like this during refit or when docked. Select list of major incidents from Wikipedia below, is this normal with other professional navies worldwide?

• August 2013: Blasts ripped through the torpedo compartment of the submarine INS Sindhurakshak while it was berthed at the naval dockyard off the Mumbai coast. Fifteen sailors and three officers were killed. Other sources state that a small explosion occurred around midnight which then triggered the two larger explosions. The disaster was thought to be the Indian navy's worst since the sinking of a frigate by a Pakistani submarine during the Bangladesh Liberation War.
  
• May 2014: INS Ganga suffered a minor explosion in the boiler room while undergoing a refit at the Mumbai dockyard. Four people suffered minor injuries. There was no fire and no equipment was damaged.
  
• June 2016: Two people, a sailor and a civilian contractor, were killed by a toxic gas leak that occurred during maintenance work in the Sewage Treatment Plant compartment during the first refit of the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya at Karwar, Karnataka. Two other people were injured and taken to the naval hospital.
  
• October 2021: Four sailors were injured when a fire broke out on the INS Ranvijay while it was berthed in Vishakapathanam.
  
• January 2022: Three sailors died and eleven others were injured when an explosion took place aboard the INS Ranvir while it was docked in Mumbai.

[NomadSK]

Originally Posted by dragracer567

I assume the cause will be established after a thorough investigation though I do wonder if it is normal to lose vessels like this during refit or when docked. Select list of major incidents from Wikipedia below, is this normal with other professional navies worldwide?

Prima facie, looks like ballasting and deballasting procedure gone wrong !!

[handsofsteel]

There are challenges at sea and this incident highlights the biggest of them.

A ship is one of the most complex designs that defies most logic. It has ammunition, fuel, mammoth amounts of electric cables, coats of paint, high temperature and other flammable materiel. You would be hard pressed to name similar platforms anywhere else with all these in such close proximity. The crew keeps her taut, shining and proud. They wear their ship's name not only on their chest on the ship's T-shirt, but proudly in their hearts and they breathe the ship's name.

However, like everywhere in life, accidents happen. There are mechanisms in place, methodologies adopted, personnel trained and regularly sensitised, SOPs in place. But, accidents happen.

Refits are always the most challenging, when personnel are putting in their heart and soul to get their ship back to being shiny and taut. With deadlines to meet and targets to achieve, there's always that one chance of something going awry. This is what makes the profession a challenge. A single spark can lead to a conflagration and the ultimate loss, in many parts on a ship, it’s always war.

Open source will give you scores of peace time losses across navies - resulting from crew fatigue to inadvertently ignored SOPs to myriad other reasons, often beyond the control of the individual. Right from the well known incidents involving the USN ships to the recent incidents with the Chinese subs, nobody escapes the unforgiving and harsh environment onboard. The question is not whether this is normal - God forbid it were to be ever considered as such - but how to minimise these. This is an age old endeavour and the subject of countless hours of instructions - classroom and on job and yet, the twisted vagaries of nature, fate and the harsh conditions onboard conspire to overcome all efforts from time to time.

The Navy will introspect, as it does for every minute incident, and will undoubtedly emerge the better for it.

For now, prayers for the missing individual and hoping for strength to the traumatised crew.

Paraphrasing the Navy’s motto - May the Ocean Lord be auspicious unto them!

[NomadSK]

Originally Posted by NomadSK

Prima facie, looks like ballasting and deballasting procedure gone wrong !!

In addition it might be during fire fighting activity, water was getting drained in ballast tanks under gravity which might have caused this listing.

We lost a floating roof tank during firefighting when the pontoons got filled with water and collapsed under its own load. The drainage for pontoons were supposed to be open, but was closed during that time and in time of emergency no one checked if it was closed or open. Water is very heavy. Seems similar buoyancy principle.

Sad loss of tax payers money though !

[dragracer567]

Originally Posted by dragracer567

Select list of major incidents from Wikipedia below, is this normal with other professional navies worldwide?

I missed INS Betwa which is a ship from the same class that listed the same way as INS Brahmaputra in the same port! This was back in 2016. Sorry to say but coincidence?

This was returned to service however, so there’s hope.