THE THREE SERVICE CHIEFS

1.  Chief of the Army Staff(COAS) :  The current COAS is General Bipin Rawat who took office on 31st December, 2016 following the retirement of General Dalbir Singh. He is the 27th Chief of Army Staff to assume the office.

2. Chief of Air Staff(CAS) : Air Chief Marshal Birendra Singh Dhanoa is the current CAS who assumed office on 31st December, 2016 following the retirement of Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha. He is the 25th officer to reach this post.

                                            

3. Chief of Naval Staff(CNS) : The current position of CNS is occupied by Admiral Sunil Lanba. He is the 23rd Navy Chief  preceded by Admiral R K Dhowan who retired from service on 31st May, 2016.

                                              

Image Courtesy : Wikipedia  

PROJECT 15B

"INS MORMUGAO" launched yesterday is the second warship being built under the "PROJECT 15B" (Visakhapatnam Class Destroyer) at Mazagaon Dockyard, Mumbai. This project worth about 30, 000 crore rupees, is a follow-on order of successful "PROJECT 15" (Delhi Class Destroyer) and "PROJECT 15A" (Kolkata Class Destroyer).

The Visakhapatnam Class is a class of 4 stealth guided missile destroyers currently under construction. The project is based on Kolkata class design and incorporates many improvements in it. The first ship under the project(INS VISAKHAPATNAM) was launched last year and is expected to get commissioned in 2018. 

Having a displacement of 7400 tonnes, the ship is 163 m long and 17.4 m wide at beam. It has a speed in excess of 30 knots and has a range of 4000 nautical miles. The ship has a crew of 300 which includes 50 officers and 250 sailors. The ship is propelled by gas and diesel turbines which have been built by Ukraine.

The Made in Israel Multi Function Surveillance Threat Alert Radar (MF-STAR) is the main radar of the warships.Stealth features of this ship will be better than its predecessors as the shape of the hull and radar transparent deck fittings will make it difficult to be detected by enemy radars.

The ship is armed with 32 Barak surface to air missiles(SAM) and 16 Brahmos cruise missiles. It has a 127 mm main gun and AK-630 close in weapon system(CIWS) as anti submarine warfare. Besides these, it also has 4 torpedo tubes and anti submarine rocket launchers. The ship will also have a hangar for 2 Sea-king, Chetak or HAL Dhruv helicoters.

The ships once commissioned will be a great addition to the capabilities of the Indian Navy and its goal of becoming a blue water navy. 

   

INS ARIHANT

अरिहंत (SLAYER OF ENEMIES).......

INS ARIHANT is India's first indigenously developed nuclear powered submarine. With this India has become 6th nation in the world to construct a submarine that uses the radioactive material as fuel. It is currently under sea-trials in Bay Of Bengal and is expected to join the force in February, 2016 during the International Fleet Review.

Launched on 26th July, 2009 on the anniversary of KARGIL Vijay Diwas, the vessel has a length of 111 meters and draft of 11 meters. It has a displacement of 6,000 tonnes and is powered by a 83 MW nuclear reactor. Reactor is a pressurized light-water reactor and uses enriched uranium as fuel. Reactor went critical in 2013. ARIHANT has a crew size of 100.

Nuclear powered submarines are a very important part of a country's defense as these vessels can stay under water for a very very long time. They have an infinite range(except the food supplies). They can roam near the enemy territory without getting noticed and can launch the strike at a short notice.

Developing a nuclear submarine indigenously was very crucial for Indian Navy, in its aim to mark itself as a blue water navy. Besides ARIHANT, we also have INS CHAKRA, as a nuclear powered submarine which has been leased from RUSSIA for a period of 10 years. At the end of this year, during the visit of PM Narendra Modi to Russia, a contract will be signed to lease another nuclear powered submarine. The contract was finalised in the ongoing Russian visit of our Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar. 

Induction of INS ARIHANT  will increase the force of our navy many-fold. 

My next article is going to be on INS VIKRAMADITYA. Don't miss that out....

""JAI HIND""   

INS KALVARI (S-50)

INS KALVARI is the first of the Indian Navy's six Kalvari class submarines being built in India under PROJECT 75 at Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL), in Mumbai, under license from DCNS. The work on vessel started in  April, 2009 and now is currently under sea trials. The vessel was floated out in the sea for trials after a ceremony in presence of our Defense Minister Mr. Manohar Parrikar. If all goes well, the the trials will get over in September, 2016 and then the ship will be commissioned into the navy.   

Project 75 is a $3.6 billion submarine construction programme at MDL under license from French firm DCNS. Under this project, six scorpeon class diesel electric attack submarines will be constructed, among which 4 would be conventional submarines while the remaining 2 are to be equipped with Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system, which enables the vessel to stay under water for long time.

With a length of 61.7 meters and a draught of 5.4 meters, the submarine has a displacement of 1565 tonnes. It can achieve a speed of 37 km/h in deep water and has a range of 12,000 km. It has superior stealth technology. It has been designed to achieve a depth of 310 meters under sea. The main arnament of the submarine is 6x533 mm torpedo tubes for 18 heavy-weight torpedoes. Besides this, the vessel can also carry 39 anti-ship missiles or 30 mines in place of torpedoes.

Indian Navy is in full swing to mark itself as a blue-water navy. Induction of INS CHAKRA (nuclear powered submarine) and INS  VIKRAMADITYA (aircraft carier) have helped the cause a lot. Besides this, the induction of KOLKATA class destroyers is also a major boost to the navy. Many other vessels like INS ARIHANT and INS VIKRANT are also to be commissioned in the near future.

My next article is going to be on INS ARIHANT. Don't miss that out.

""JAI HIND""  

INS KOCHI

"जहि शत्रुं महाबाहो"........"ARMED TO CONQUER THE WORLD"......

The second ship of the Kolkata Class Guided Missile Destroyers(Project 15-A) and the largest warship made by INDIA, INS KOCHI was commissioned to the Navy on 30th September, 2015. The vessel was first launched on 18th September, 2009, has been built at Mazagaon Docks at Mumbai and costs around Rs. 4000 crores .

With a displacement of 7500 tonnes, the ship has a length of 164 meters and a width of 17 meters and can achieve a speed in excess of 30 knots. Thanks to the 4 gas turbines. It is equipped to operate 2 Sea-King or Chetak helicopters. 

The ship incorporates new design concepts for improved survivability, stealth and manoeuvrability.  The ship is equipped with state of the art weapons and sensors. It has a 76 mm SRGM(Super Rapid Gun Mount) and AK-360 CIWS(Close In Weopon System), which can take on air and surface targets. It is also packed with long range BARAK-8 SAM(Surface To Air missile) along with world's best supersonic cruise missile, BRAHMOS. 

The ship is second in the class after INS KOLKATA, which was commissioned in August last year, and the third ship of the class, INS CHENNAI is expected to be commissioned in late 2016.

""JAI HIND""

1965 INDO-PAK WAR

Golden Jubilee celebrations of a golden win.......

15-20 September, SHAURYANJALI, India Gate Lawns.......open for public........

""JAI HIND""