Navy to rejig acquisition plans with eye on technological advancements & fiscal prudence

NEW DELHI: In keeping with futuristic weapon technologies, coupled with the need for fiscal prudence, the Navy has gone in for a major rationalization and re-prioritization of its long-term force level plans and arms procurement projects.
Defence ministry sources say the Navy is the first among the armed forces to finalize a rationalization plan for its capital acquisition projects, which ranges from withdrawing some tenders or Request for Proposals (RFPs) to reducing numbers in other mega programmes.“The Defence Acquisitions Council (DAC), to be chaired by defence minister Rajnath Singh on January 17, will discuss all this,” said a source.
Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh had himself recently declared his force was “committed to progress modernization using available resources optimally”. The Navy would endeavor to get the “maximum bang for the buck, with prioritization, rationalization and economy of expenditure”, he said.
The maritime force currently has 125 warships and 15 diesel-electric and two nuclear submarines, along with 235 aircraft, helicopters and drones. Given the budget constraints, it would be reasonably happy to become a 175-warship force by 2027 despite the earlier 212-warship plan.
For starters, the RFP for the construction of four large amphibious warfare warships or landing platform docks (LPDs) at a cost of over Rs 20,000 crore by the Indian private sector is going to get scrapped. “The Navy requires LPDs but the existing RFP was based on technical parameters drawn over 12-13 years ago. New up-to-date technical specifications will be drawn for a fresh RFP,” said a source.
The long-pending mega project to build 12 Mine Counter-Measure Vessels (MCMVs), or warships designed to detect, track and destroy enemy mines, at the Goa Shipyard for Rs 32,000 crore will also get slashed. “The project will be limited to eight MCMVs now. A hunt for unmanned minesweepers will also be launched in keeping with technological advancements around the world,” said the source.
Another step will be to cut down the Rs 3,621 crore acquisition of 10 Kamov-31 AEW (airborne early warning) helicopters from Russia to six choppers, while the force will also drop the case for a survey training vessel.
TOI was the first to report last November that the Navy’s case for 10 more Poseidon-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft from the US had also been reduced to just six planes for around $1.8 billion. These six P-8Is will add to the 12 such “submarine-hunting” aircraft already ordered from the US at a cost of over $3.1 billion.
The reduction in the P-8I aircraft will be offset by the proposed acquisition of 30 weaponized Sea Guardian or Predator-B armed drones from the US, with 10 drones each for Navy, IAF and Army to hunt and destroy targets on land and sea.