India’s Once-Secret Sub Will Join War Games with US, Japan

NEW DELHI: It has been called a “hole in the water,” a submarine so quiet that detecting it is often impossible for even the most advanced navies.

For years, the Russian designed ‘Kilo’ class submarine was the ace in the pack of the Indian Navy. It would stealthily monitor warships traversing the waters of the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

The tactical significance of this is enormous. China, which poses a naval challenge for all three countries, presently operates 12 ‘Kilo’ class submarines, 10 of which are advanced variants of the version the Indian Navy has had in service since 1987. Training with the Indian Navy will give the US and Japanese navies the opportunity to know exactly what they may be up against in the waters of the Pacific or the South China Sea.

What the Indian commander does have on his side is deep knowledge of the conditions of the Bay of Bengal. The Sindhudhwaj, based in Visakhapatnam, regularly operates in these waters and her commanding officer would look to take advantage of the salinity, variable temperatures and current patterns of these waters which often make submarine detection extremely challenging.

The exercises also include damage control drills, mine disposal training, and air defence training against the Indian Navy’s Hawk jet trainer aircraft. Significantly, Indian and US crews, who both operate the Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime reconnaissance aircraft, will be able to share notes on how to best use the platform.

But anti-submarine exercises are not all that have been planned. Warships of the three Navies will be firing their quick reaction close-in-weapon systems (guns) to try and destroy ‘expendable aerial targets,’ which simulate subsonic anti-ship missiles. They will also be firing their main guns against targets which are towed by other ships at sea.

Also participating in these exercises is the 104,000-tonne US nuclear powered aircraft carrier, the Theodore Roosevelt, effectively a floating airfield which embarks as many as 90 aircraft – fighters, helicopters, airborne early warning aircraft and transports. Accompanying the Roosevelt is the USS Fort Worth, among the newest ships in the US Navy meant specifically to defend island territories and a Los Angeles Class nuclear attack submarine. Japan, for its part, has brought in a very new warship, the guided missile destroyer Akizuki which entered service in 2012.

At the inaugural US-India-Japan trilateral ministerial dialogue in New York last month, all three sides “highlighted the growing convergence of their respective countries’ interests in the Indo-Pacific region. They also underscored the importance of international law and peaceful settlement of disputes; freedom of navigation and overflight; and unimpeded lawful commerce, including in the South China Sea.”

Whether these Malabar Exercises pave the way for a new naval alliance in the Asia-Pacific region is unclear but what is clear is that India, Japan and the United States are now engaged in the highest possible level of naval exercises, not just in terms of the complexity of the war games but also in terms of the willingness of all sides to expose sensitive naval technology to one another.

Kindly send reply or comments on this topic to [email protected]
Source:Ndtv