Four more Boeing Poseidon 8I Neptune for India

So, the Narendra Modi regime has gone ahead, and meekly followed the earlier proposal to acquire 4 more Boeing Poseidon 8I Neptune by the earlier UPA government.  With this almost all of the major proposals and decisions of the earlier Congress led UPA administration has been humbly accepted by the Narendra Modi led BJP regime.

Whether it was the ramming of Aadhaar implementation in the name of cutting subsidies (or as the earlier Congress administration termed it as ‘targeted subsidy regime’), the GST Bill, continuation of the Land Bill 2013, or any other major policy implementation.

Not only simply following the Congress planned footsteps, this Narendra Modi led BJP regime has even more blindly held on to some serious lack of judgement policies of the erstwhile administration.  Whether it is in the National Judicial Appointments Commission, opposing the smooth functioning BCCI, Jallikattu Ban, this regime even appeared before the highest judiciary parroting the same principles, and got slammed by the courts.

OTOH, whether it is the implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) in Defence Personnel, GAIL pipeline through agricultural lands of Tamil Nadu, Methane Gas Extraction in prime agricultural lands, inability to clamp down terrorism, or impotence against Maoists, it is even worse off.  So much for the party with the difference.

But for the moment, let us marvel at one of the excellent Anti Submarine & Anti Surface Warfare, Ship Interdiction and Electronic Signals Intelligence (ELINT) platform – the Poseidon 8I Neptune from Boeing.  Built on the proven 737-800 airframe with 737-900 wings, they will replace the Indian Navy’s ageing eight Tupolev Tu-142 ‘Bear’ & five Ilyushin Il-38 ‘Dolphin’ being used as ASW & ELINT platforms.

An interesting side note is the Poseidon 8I Neptune for Indian Navy will carry the Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD) which were questionably deleted by the US Navy.  In addition the Indian Poseidon 8I Neptune will also carry an OceanEye Aft Radar.

Here is a composite of the Boeing Poseidon 8i Neptune cutaway with approximate locations of equipment on board.  All the information are compiled from Public Domain Information in various websites.  The original Poseidon 8A image is from the Boeing Website.

Tags: boeing-poseidon-8i,P8I-neptune,indian-navy

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INS Vikramaditya is operational and deployed

Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Robin Kumar Dhowan on Wednesday, 07 May 2014, announced that the newly inducted aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, is now operationally deployed and the MiG-29K fighter wing has been fully integrated with the carrier.

INS Vikramaditya, which took eight years to refurbish at the North Russian shipyard of Sevmash at Severodvinsk, was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 16 November 2013, and sailed for India.

She rendezvoused — in Naval parlance RVed — with the Western Fleet that had gone all the way from Mumbai, about 1200 nautical miles from the country's shores on New Year’s eve.  INS Viraat sailed forth from Mumbai leading two Delhi class destroyers, three Trishul class stealth frigates, a Godavari class frigate and a couple of offshore vessels, to receive INS Vikaramaditya, which was accompanied by INS Trikand, a Talwar class frigate, INS Delhi and the fleet tanker INS Deepak.

Here are some images from that rendezvous of INS Vikramaditya with INS Viraat.  Image courtesy Indian Navy @ indiannavy.nic.in



INS Vikramaditya the larger carrier on the left, while the ageing INS Viraat on the left, huffing and puffing to keep up.
;-)



In this picture the carriers seem to have switched sides, but INS Viraat still happily puffing away.

Tags: ins-vikramaditya,ins-viraat,indian-navy

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General Singh, One record to rule them all

update:  Just as predicted the Opposition  is blaming the present ruling party and rumours abound ‘suggesting’  that the Chief resign. (13 Feb 2011)

I am only a student of Military Studies with a Masters Degree and have not and never will have the opportunity to serve the country as part of the Armed Forces.  I am just a poor blogger trying to apply what I’ve been taught and learned to the present and try and foresee future courses of action, which will be the best for the common good.

Thus I can pat my back on my prescient post  on the plight and outcome of the Date of Birth controversy of the present Chief of Indian Army, General V.K. Singh.  In the same vein is how the General can turn this ‘setback’ into a ‘victorious legacy’.

Now there are multitudes, even on TV, ‘Military Analysts’ and former Generals and what not, blathering that now, when the Supreme Court has dismissed the petition of the Army Chief, he has a limited course of action.  The pathetic suggestions range from outright questioning on the application of mind my the Supreme Court on the submitted documents (by a former General) to suggesting that he resign as the Army Chief (by a military analyst) on Times Now TV today evening.

As a student of Military studies, my question is, ‘Does a fighting man who commands people in battle facing a setback, run away, or submit to the enemy commander that his attack wasn’t as per manual, or resign his commission, just because his tactics has been found faulty?’

‘Or does the *leader* learn from his mistakes and makes sure that he doesn’t do it again or his subordinates aren’t subject to such a situation again?’

‘Isn’t it a duty of a leader of men, especially Army commanders, to make sure that such mistakes never happen again?’

If that is so, let us just take a look at what led to this fiasco.  The controversy is the sole result, make no mistake, sole result of the Army not reconciling the discrepancy in records w.r.t. the date of birth of the Army Chief, over the last 5 decades.  The civilian GoI, either past or present aren’t at fault for proceeding with the facts in front of it.

Which leads us to the crux of the problem.  The Indian Army (and its sister forces of the Indian Navy, the Indian Air Force and the Indian Coast Guard by extension) are plagued with the problem of Un-Unified Records.

That should be what General V.K. Singh should address to set right now, it should be his legacy.  He is still the undisputed leader of the Indian Army till May 2012.  As Army Chief, General V.K. Singh has enormous resources at his command and I think he should on Monday, if not immediately, accept what destiny has set out for him.

He should constitute a task force to suggest and adopt procedures to overhaul the records of the Army (and other Armed Forces by extension) so that such a lacunae is never faced by his successors, ever.

I admit the time is short - about 90 110 days.  But as stated above, he has vast resources and the country already has a ‘pilot’ project underway by way of UIDAI/Aadhar cards database, by way of example.  With that as a starting point, how difficult would it be for the task force to suggest procedures in place to regularise the records and ensure ‘Enough-No-Data-Discrepancy’ (ENDDIS Plan), say in 60 days?

In the present circumstances, even the GoI would not be able disregard such an ENDDIS Plan.

Will you do that General Singh?  Remember that successful commanders and Generals aren’t there by turning tail, but by turning setbacks into opportunities (to victory) - more important, ensure that his juniors never have to face the same situation or setback again.



Instead if you do adopt an ENDDIS plan General, (instead of going into a shell or God forbid, resign in pique), you would earn the eternal gratitude of the Nation and my Salute!

Jai Hind!

My Begging half pleads, ‘Please do this General, as it will ensure your name in the History of Indian Army!’

My Greedy half grunts, ‘And if you do do it, after reading this post by chance, please mention it in the passing, as I would personally be grateful for all the attention and traffic.’
:-D

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Ariane 5 launches Indian Military Satellite GSAT-7

The French Ariane 5 ECA (Cryogenic Evolution type A) – the most powerful version in the Ariane 5 range – launched India’s 1st Military Communications Satellite GSAT-7, today.

The state-of-the-art GSAT-7 satellite carries payloads operating in UHF, S, C and Ku bands.  With a lift-off mass of 2625 kg, GSAT-7 is an advanced communication satellite to provide wide range of service spectrum from low bit rate voice to high bit rate data communication.

With this launch, Indian Navy (and Coast Guard) would possess an exclusive communications platform, relegating the existing communication link through the commercial INMARSAT, to ‘spare’ status.
In addition to GSAT-7, the Ariane 5 carried another spacecraft EUTELSAT 25B/Es’hail, as the 1st payload.

ISRO cannot launch heavy satellites like GSAT-7 as the home-grown GSLV rocket, with indigenous cryogenic stage, is still at works and needs two successful flights before it becomes operational.
In comparison, today’s mission represents the

• 215th launch of an Ariane-series rocket,
• the 71st liftoff for Ariane 5, and
• the 57th consecutive success for Ariane 5.

Ariane Flight VA215 underscored the continued successful relationship with Arianespace and two long-standing partners, while also marking the start-up with another.

ISRO has a long history of launching payloads starting with the 3rd mission of an Ariane-series vehicle in 1981. Ariane now has launched 17 satellites for ISRO, including INSAT-3D last month (Ariane Flight VA214).

Tags: ariane-5,gsat,gsat-7,eutelsat,es'hail

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Truth behind India's tie up with Russian Kamov

Kamov helicopters are unconventional in the sense of what you expect to see of a helicopter.  There is no tail rotor, which is jarring to the eye, and they have coaxial rotors – two main rotors arranged one above other – like some toy helicopters and drones.

When the Kamovs fly, those coaxial rotors make a different sound too.  Instead of the readily recognized ‘faka-faka-faka’ of the conventional chopper, they make a deep, continuous, ‘brrrrrrr’ sound.  Most Kamovs are based in Mumbai, so not many outside of South Mumbai could have heard that unmistakable noise.  The chuff-chuff or faka-faka of the conventional helicopter is due to the air turbulence interaction between the main and tail rotors, which is absent in Kamovs.

Just like the unconventional Kamovs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also adopted a strange strategy in policies and actions.  Over the 1-1/2 years of his regime, the style and tactics have been exposed.  In every instance, he hustles in, proclaiming to overturn the status quo, with a new approach, upsetting the conventional wisdom.  Then after months, he does an about turn and does exactly what was dismissed by him earlier.

Witness the fact in Indo-Pak talks.  First Modi’s regime declared Pakistan as non-grata in the matter of talks, because they chose to consult the Kashmir separatists.  Now after about an year or so later, he does an about turn, and does the saner thing – resume talks. 

Initially on assuming power, Modi chose to disdain Russia – remember Russia was the first country to jump at Make in India bandwagon, with an offer to manufacture Kalashnikov’s in Gujarat - which did not attract much attention.  The PM chose to cozy up to the West (and I include Japan in the ‘West’), but the ‘West’ refused to play along.

France refused to yield on the Rafale, Cameron pimped Eurofighter, the Americans were miffed at the rejection of the Super Vipers.  Modi thought that Silicon Valley might me more amenable.  But both Sundar Pitchai and Mark Zuckerberg are not people foolish enough to go against conventional wisdom.  To the PM’s angst, both of them have targeted India to push through their agenda of Project Loon and Free Basic program.  Even Japanese PM Abe came through to push for Bullet Train.

Whatever you say, Narendra Modi is a consummate politician.  Bullet Train?  The people of Bihar have already put a bullet into his train of thoughts on world domination, and so he did what was the most sanest thing – run to Russia and sign on the Kamov deal.

It is about time, as some news reports suggest that half of Indian Navy’s Destroyers operate without their intended helicopter support.



(image courtesy TASS.ru)

As a wag put it:
Q: Why did not Modi buy American Sikorsky?
A: He thought it was Italian.

Q: Why did Modi buy Russian Kamov?
A: He thought it was Russians pronouncing Kem Cho

Tags: kamov,national security

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The ‘1st colonial city of the Empire’ turns 372

Happy Birthday Madras!  Yes, my hometown Chennai celebrates its 372nd birthday today.  And I have lived and breathed her benevolent air for close to 10% of the time!
:-)

Kolkata that was Calcutta might boast that it was once the capital of the British India and Mumbai that was Bombay might claim to be the economical capital of contemporary India, but there is no denying the fact that my hometown was the first colonial city of the British Empire.

Yeah, yeah, Jamestown and Pilgrim might bristle, but the fact is both of them were ‘settlements’ or ‘occupied’ or ‘taken-over’ territories.  Chennai or Madarasapatnam as it was known then, OTOH, was actually ‘bought’ by the British via a sale deed in 1639.

• Madras is the place where the 1st Baron Clive, better known as ‘Clive of India’ had his first look at India.
• Madras is also the only Indian city to have been attacked by the Germans (yeah, Germans) in either World Wars.  During WW-I, on the night of 22 Sep 1914, the Imperial German Navy’s light cruiser SMS Emden  bombarded Madras with 125 shells.
• Here is the still standing plaque in the compound wall of the Madras High Court.

• No wonder a daring, street-smart guy is still referred to as an ‘empton’ or ‘emmtan’ (mutilations of ‘Emden’) in Tamil.  There even was a recent Tamil movie titled ‘son of Empton’ (எம் மகன்)
• BTW the Wikipedia page which holds the plaque image refers to it (both the image and the URL as ‘plague’)

8-P

In case you think that Chennai has only Anglo roots, think again. 

• St. Thomas (Doubting Thomas) is believed to have been killed at St. Thomas Mount and interred at San-Thome cathedral
• The Tamil sage Thiruvalluvar is believed to a native of Mylapore at the heart of Chennai
• Ptolemy is supposed to have visited the thriving port
• Marco Polo definitely has visited the port city
• Huen-Tsang is sure to have passed through on his visit to Kanchi
• The Portuguese had a settlement from early 16th century 'São Tomé de Meliapore'
• The Dutch had a settlement just north of Madras at Pulicat from early 17th century
• For 3 years between 1746 and 1749, Madras was occupied by the French!!
• The city even has a connection of Yale University - Elihu Yale, the benefactor after whom the institution is named, was the ‘President of Madras’ - the office which gave him an opportunity to amass his wealth to bequeath
• Another strange fact is that ‘Le Regent’ - the Regent Diamond or the ‘Pitt Diamond’ - made its way to the French Crown Jewels from Madras. 

[Whenever the Indian jingoists wake up and clamour for return of Koh-i-noor every few years, they never talk of Le Regent.  I have always wondered whether it was due to ignorance - you see, both Koh-i-Noor and Le Regent were mined from the same Kollur mine, in AP near Madras - as were

• the Hope Diamond - at Smithsonian, Washington
• the Orloff Diamond - at the Kremlin
• the Darya-i-Noor - Iranian Crown Jewels
• the Golconda - at Melbourne, Australia

- this paragraph has been added later in the day -]

I doubt whether any other city in India could boast of such varied ancestry.
I also doubt how many Chennai born actually know of (a small part) of this history!

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Views under the News - 04 Dec 2012

The comments are probably the (fictitious, imaginary, unexpressed, tongue-in-cheek) subtext, views and events behind the News Reports, says ‘the common man’ (with apologies to R.K. Laxman).

• We will send force, if necessary to protect our interests in South China Sea: Navy Chief.
• - Have you heard of an airport in a place called Male and an Indian business group named GMR, Admiral?
• Amnesty International calls for justice for Bhopal Gas Victims.
• - Pray tell me, where where you when DOW Chemicals sponsored London Olympics 2012?
• Refund Rs. 24,000 Crores to depositors or face action: Supreme Court to Sahara Group.
• - Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines hasn’t paid salary to most employees from June 2012.
• Prime witness in Geetika Sharma murder case Chanshivroop, released on bail, flees to US via Abu Dhabi.
• - US lawmakers led by Joe Pitts and Frank Wolf write to Hillary Clinton to deny visa to Narendra Modi
• China looks to lead the Internet of Things: CNN Report.
• - China jails 23 year old Wang Xiaomeng for modelling in sexy Police uniform.

(image courtesy Weibo)

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