The navy's plan to build three Russian Talwar-class frigates has a less than wholesome odour.
The BrahMos systems for the two ships are estimated to cost Rs 25 billion, making it the world's most expensive anti-ship missile.
There has been a considerable drop in India's dependence on arms and equipment from Russia but the Indian military cannot operate effectively without Russian-supplied equipment and will continue to rely on its weapons systems in the near and middle terms, a Congressional Research Service report has said.
China has been commissioning three new destroyers every year while India has barely completed one destroyer every 2-3 years.
A new Talwar class stealth frigate built by Russia for the Indian Navy was launched at a solemn ceremony at Yantar Shipyard in Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad.
Russia on Thursday commenced sea trials of the India Navy's first of the three advanced stealth frigates in the Baltic Sea and the first of these warships will be delivered by early next year.
The Indian Navy has sent a naval warship to the Somali coast in order to secure the release of seven of its citizens held captive by pirates despite taking ransom.A Talwar Class stealth warship has been deployed near the Somali coast, which will remain close to the hijacked ship and ensure that MV Asphalt Venture doesn't get hijacked again and other groups don't harm its crew.The decision was taken in a high level meeting.
In any conflict with China, the unmanned BrahMos could be advantageously used in the opening stages for pinpoint strikes on heavily defended targets -- such as air bases, headquarters, key roads and railways or logistics dumps -- which are too dangerous for manned fighter aircraft to attack.
Rediff.com tells you all you need to know of some of the major ships from different countries that will participate in what is being described as 'Indian Navy's biggest event'.
India and Russia have been in talks for over a year for the purchase of at least five systems of S-400 that will be a game changer in the region.
India on Monday successfully test-fired the 290 km-range BrahMos supersonic anti-ship cruise missile from the country's largest indigenous warship INS Kolkata off the coast of Karwar in Karnataka.
Without advanced towed array sonar systems, all warships the navy has built and bought since the 1990s would be sitting ducks in war.
Beyond the British and Russian strands interwoven into the Indian Navy's equipment profile and the strong drive towards indigenisation evident today, its future in aircraft carriers appears increasingly linked with America.
'An ASW corvette without towed array sonar and an ASW helicopter is nothing more than a feeble joke,' says a retired navy commodore.
As armed forces prepare to showcase 'Nari Shakti' (women's power) at the Republic Day parade on January 26, the Navy is working on a policy to allow women officers on-board warships in the next few years.
India must develop structured multilateralism to its defence buys
'With Pakistan's 'first use doctrine' threatening the use of nuclear weapons early in a war with India, the S-400 will shield vulnerable targets like Delhi and Mumbai, complicating Pakistan's targeting calculations.'
'What should worry India and which needs to be expressed is Russia's simultaneous proximity to both China and Pakistan from a strategic angle. That hasn't happened ever before,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
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