SOMEWHERE IN THE ARABIAN SEA, FEB 27: The Indian Navy is to now spend more on enhancing its combat potential over the next few years, reducing its teeth to tail ratio, or adding more combatants rather than manpower. This seems to be a direct fallout of the Kargil conflict last year, which the Indian Navy helped limit by deploying both eastern and western fleets in the Arabian Sea.``It's better to increase our teeth. Our naval expenditure is only 45 per cent of the total defence budget, we spend 55 per cent for modernisation. As a matter of policy we have decided we will spend more of the defence budget to enhance our combat potential,'' Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sushil Kumar told press persons on board the guided missile destroyer INS Delhi, some 20 nautical mils off the Goa coast.The 6700-tonne Delhi was the flagship at the conclusion of the Phase III of the annual Springex joint tactical exercises in the Arabian Sea in which 14 warships participated.In a massive demonstration of naval firepower, shells from the 100 mm naval cannon of the INS Delhi and those from four Rajput class destroyer stitched the waves, even as a surface-to-air missile from a Godavari class spiralled into the sky, Harrier fighter jets rocketed the sea and Sea Kings dropped depth-charges, looking for elusive enemy submarines.Forty-three ships and 40 aircraft, including 14 from the air force, took part in these massive tactical exercises which began on January 27, pointing to the uprecedented mobilisation of the navy following the Kargil conflict. And for a third time in barely seven months, warships from the eastern and western fleets again exercised in tandem under the command of Vice Admiral Madhvendra Singh, Commander-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command.``When both fleets are in one theatre, inter-operability helps us to concentrate forces and streamline procedures so that we have a common operational doctrine,'' the CNS said.``Right now the operational readiness of both fleets is at its highest following these joint exercises,'' said Rear Admiral Venkat Bharatan, Eastern Fleet Commander. INS Aditya, the new fleet tanker which is to join the eastern fleet this year, significantly enhancing its reach and capability is only one ship in the massive drive to enhance the navy's combat potential.The Navy is to begin construction of two new classes of sophisticated warships.In the first official confirmation, Admiral Kumar announced that the Navy had made a formal proposal to the government for a follow-on the Project 15 Delhi class destroyers.``We are awaiting formal government clearance for (three ships of) the Project 15A Delhi class destroyers and we know that the government is formally inclined.''The ships would be built almost simultaneously with three units of the Project 17 New Generation Frigates at the Mazagon Docks Ltd as soon as formal orders were placed.The navy had completed its evaluation of the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov which is being offered on sale to India to replace the INS Vikrant. ``Now it is up to the government to determine its refit and cost.''Referring to the Chinese navy's acquisition of a Sovremenny class destroyer from Russia (on which the Delhi is modelled), which has several weapon systems in common with the Delhi, the CNS denied that it would compromise the navy in any way. The navy in fact would be getting newer and better missile systems with the three ships of the Project 1135.6 Krivak class frigates now being built in Russia. ``These will be equipped with a different breed and generation of missiles,'' he said, referring to the 300-km range vertically-launched `klub' supersonic cruise missiles which will equip these ships. The first ship INS Talwar will join the navy next year.He denied that the navy was placing orders for a further three Krivak class frigates. Priority would be given to indigenous construction, he said. When asked about long lead times in building indigenous warships, especially submarines, he said that the submarine fleet would be modernised to offset this. ``We are modernising our present fleet of submarines to ensure that the capability of the submarine arm does not lag behind because of non-induction.'' The navy is presently carrying out trials and design studies on the indigenous 32,000 tonne aircaraft carier, the Air Defence Ship (ADS) which will be built at the Cochin Shipyard Ltd. CSL was presently mobilising infrastructure to build the ship. ``Construction will start in a year's time and it will be a phased programme spread over 7-8 years,'' the CNS said.Replying to whether the navy hoped for a larger chunk of the defence budget, the CNS said that the navy always structured its budgets on an even keel. ``Our planning of force levels is based on very conservative estimates of what the budget would be.''
