Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the exceptional coordination among the three armed forces -- fear instilled by the Navy, extraordinary skills of the Air Force and bravery of the Army -- forced Pakistan to its knees during Operation Sindoor in no time.
The 22nd edition of the India-France bilateral naval exercise Varuna was conducted from September 2 to September 4, 2024 in the Mediterranean Sea.
Indian Navy spokesperson on Wednesday said its stealth frigate INS Tabar, currently deployed in the Gulf of Aden for anti-piracy surveillance and patrol operations, had successfully sorted out the pirates last evening 285 nautical miles south west of Salalah in Oman.
Modi lauded the Navy following the announcement that a woman officer would be commanding a Naval ship for the time time.
The BrahMos systems for the two ships are estimated to cost Rs 25 billion, making it the world's most expensive anti-ship missile.
Indian and Russian warships have carried out an anti-piracy drill, including stealth frigate and a destroyer, off the Somali coast, according to a top official in Moscow.Indian navy's 'INS Tabar' stealth frigate and the Russian Pacific Fleet's Udaloy class 'Admiral Vinogradov' destroyer have carried out a drill for joint anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast, Captain Igor Dygalo said.
A suspected pirate vessel that was destroyed by India's INS Tabar last week in the Gulf of Aden was in fact a Thai fishing trawler which had been hijacked, a maritime bureau confirmed today.
Indian shipping companies' reluctance to take piracy insurance is probably linked to sky-rocketing costs. According to the site of London-based corporate security firm BGN Risk, piracy in the Gulf of Aden could increase insurance and transport costs by $400 million. Special risk insurance for crossing the Gulf has soared from $500 a voyage last year to $20,000 now, the company said.
A day after a Thai shipowner claimed it was his trawler with 15 men on board that the Indian war ship INS Tabar had sunk off the Gulf of Aden last week, the Indian Navy on Wednesday maintained that it was a pirate ship that the Tabar had sunk. "The navy's stand is the same," a spokesperson said. Asked if the navy had any details about the hijack claim of the Thai company, the spokesperson said: "See there are no special pirate ships. When they capture a ship, they use it."
There are problems with the surface-to-air missiles on the ships.
'The Indian Navy has sufficient combat power in areas of interest to India that can quickly scale up operations if the need arises.' 'This includes all the choke points leading into the Indian Ocean as also areas within.'
'The Chinese navy is large and expanding both in numbers and capability by the day.' 'India too must take measures to safeguard its own interests, now and in the future.'
'An ASW corvette without towed array sonar and an ASW helicopter is nothing more than a feeble joke,' says a retired navy commodore.
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