Vice Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma, who once commanded India's sole aircraft carrier INS Viraat, on Monday took over as the new Navy chief.
Vice Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi, Western Naval Command chief and a specialist in anti-submarine warfare, was on Tuesday named as the new Navy Chief to succeed Admiral Nirmal Verma whose tenure ends on August 31.
Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma will be on a 10-day visit to the United States beginning Thursday where he will meet the defence top brass to discuss furthering of relations between the two militaries.
Admiral Vladimir Sergeevich Vysotskiy, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, is in India on a three-day visit from January 17 -19 at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Admiral Nirmal Verma.
Joshi, who was the Western Naval Commander, has taken over the force at a time when it is set to operate two aircraft carriers and induct a large number of warships, long-range surveillance aircraft and submarines. He will have a three-year tenure.
Favouring self-reliance in military technologies and weapons production, Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma on Wednesday said that India should arrest the trend of importing arms.
"Targeting ships at high seas is not an easy task or as simple as land warfare," Admiral Verma told media persons on the sidelines of a seminar on aircraft carriers organised by the National Maritime Foundation in New Delhi.
Naval warships INS Jalashwa and INS Mysore which have been dispatched to evacuate the Indian nationals stranded in strife-torn Libya would start their operations from March 8, Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma said.
The sophisticated Russian-made MiG-29K maritime fighter aircraft, which will be based on under-construction aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, were formally inducted into the Navy by Defence Minister A K Antony on Friday.Four MiG 29Ks of the 'Black Panthers' squadron were inducted at a ceremony that was also attended by Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma.
The problems of terrorism and lack of movement in punishing the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks were hindering progress in Indo-Pak ties, Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma said on Monday.
The 6500-ton ship, to be named INS Kochi, is being built by Mazagon Docks Limited in Mumbai.
INS Teg, which has been inducted into the Indian Navy, incorporates innovative stealth technologies to reduce her radar cross-section, infrared and magnetic signatures, as well as radiated underwater noise, reports RS Chauhan
Arihant, the first submarine under the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) programme, was launched for sea trials on July 26 this year at a naval yard in Visakhapatnam by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's wife Gurcharan Kaur.
India's indigenous nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant will be ready for deterrent patrols in two years from now, completing the nation's capability to deliver strategic weapons from land, air and undersea.
Union Defence Minister A K Antony on Friday asked the three services to remain alert and step up vigilance around the first anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
Days after the brush off incident between their warships in the Gulf of Aden, Indian Navy on Friday said Pakistani ship PNS Babur had damaged a part of INS Godavari by moving too close to it.
Observing that the Indian Navy is prepared to tackle 26/11-type attack from outfits such as the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Admiral Nirmal Verma on Tuesday said the "core concern" of the maritime force was about the coalescing of state and non-state actors.
"We talk about coming together in a constructive manner. That has been our (India's) theme always. India becoming the headmaster; that is never the intention. There are similar threats like piracy that affect all nations equally like the piracy off the Somalia coast... to that extent, yes," Verma told media persons in Port Blair when asked to comment on the US suggestion in this regard last week.
The Centre held that seniority is not the sole criterion for selection.
This will be the first instance since Independence that two of the three service chiefs will be the government's chosen men.
In his fresh petition, Verma said he had filed a statutory complaint with the defence ministry, challenging appointment of Vice Admiral Singh as the next navy chief, and asked it to respond within 10 days.
Naval Chief Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma on Friday said that responsibilities of the Indian Navy have increased post 26/11 terror attacks and suggested to bring all coastal vigilance agencies 'under a single security magnet.'
If the government of the day would like to set in place a smooth and well-planned changeover and facilitate the incoming chief to chalk out his action plan well in advance, the announcement of a successor needs to be done early, observes Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
With the launch of the first indigenous aircraft today, India will join a club of nations like the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France that possess nuclear-powered submarines
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