Indian expertise and Thai carrier may dovetail

NEW DELHI, APRIL 15: Indian Navy has offered to train marine aviators of the Thailand Navy at the Western Naval Command. The move follows ...

NEW DELHI, APRIL 15: Indian Navy has offered to train marine aviators of the Thailand Navy at the Western Naval Command. The move follows Thailand’s acquiring an aircraft carrier, Chakri Narubet, from Spain recently.

Sources at the naval headquarters said: “They (Thailand) have the aircraft carrier, aircraft and helicopters, but not the expertise. Following the talks between the chiefs of Indian and Thai naval forces, Admiral Sushil Kumar offered to train the Thai marine aviators at the Indian marine aviation facilities in Goa.”

Though Indian Navy does not have an operational aircraft carrier at the moment, its pilots are considered among the best in the world. “They (Thailand) have the carrier and we the expertise. The effort is to dovetail the two,” an official said.

Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sushil Kumar said Indian Navy was training the navies of 27 countries and would train the Thai navy too. According to the sources, the naval forces of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanamar, Ghana and Nigeria, are receiving training from Indian Navy as a goodwill gesture.

The Thai Navy, which has purchased helicopters to land on board its carrier, is compatible to Indian Navy’s Sea Harriers. India’s only aircraft carrier INS Viraat is undergoing the second phase of its upgradation in Mumbai and would be ready only by 2001.

Many such goodwill gestures will be shown in the new millennium as the Navy is planning to undertake more visits to friendly countries. The Western Fleet, recently back from a visit to Israel and Egypt, is gearing up to send two warships to the United States. Then on it will be the era of maritime diplomacy, according to the sources.

The Indian Navy will also grow in strength and has embarked on a massive upgradation project for its fleet. “Nine new ships will be commissioned this year along with the launching of five more. The keel of two ships will be laid in the year 2000,” Admiral Kumar said.

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“The first in the series was the fleet tanker INS Aditya, which was commissioned in Calcutta recently. This was followed by another first in the series — INS Brahmputra (the Rs 700-crore guided missile frigate),” he added. The Garden Reach Ship Builders and Engineers are also going to deliver three fast-attack craft to the Navy within three months each. The end of the year 2000 will also see the commissioning of Navy’s dream warship INS Mumbai (a guided missile destroyer), Kirch, a corvette, and Darshak, a survey ship.

Russia is also contributing to the growth of Indian Navy by providing INS Sindhushastra, a missile submarine. The submarine, likely to enter Indian ports from St. Petersburg, will be armed with the deadly Klub missile. The missile would give the Navy land-attack capabilities, Admiral Kumar added.

From the Baltiskie shipyard in St. Petersburg will also come Tabar, a guided missile frigate, the keel of which will be laid this year.