Indian navy in high state of combat readiness: Western command chief

The Indian Navy is in a "high degree of operational and combat readiness" to ensure safety and security from any challenges originating from the seas, Western Naval Command chief Vice Admiral Girish Luthra said on Friday.

Interacting with media personnel aboard the aircraft carier INS Vikramaditya ahead of Navy Day 2016, he said that the maritime environment in the Indian Ocean Region is both challenging and complex.

Besides developments in the region necessitating high degree of operational and combat readiness, it had led to a very high tempo of operations, including deployments, surveillance and patrolling, he said.

In this context, Luthra referred to the conduct of major exercise "Paschim Leher" in which a large number of ships, submarines and aircraft participated to test and improve Indian Navy's operational readiness, including mobilisation and synchronisation.

Describing the current security scenario as "dynamic", he said ships, submarines and aircraft of the command "continue to be deployed and tasked in widely dispersed and diverse locations" at sea to beef up maritime defence and security.

He assured that the Indian Navy is "alert, watchful and fully ready to safeguard the country's maritime interests and address any threats that may emerge".

In addition to strengthening physical security, Luthra said impetus is also being given to cyber security.

Following the immensely successful induction of Delhi-Class and Kolkata-Class destroyers into the Navy, he said now it was working towards the "next-generation destroyers" to give an edge to the three-dimensional blue-water force.

"We are conceptualising and planning the next-gen destroyers which would be of new designs and more potent. We shall take up the proposal with the centre in due course," he said.

The planned project would encompass additional features compared to the earlier Projects 15, 15A and 15B.

Giving hints, he said the next-gen destroyers would be far advanced in terms of capability with more stealth features and an even more deadlier weapons package.

The Indian Navy celebrates Navy Day on December 4 every year to mark the date of its ships attacking Karachi during the 1971 India-Pakistan war.

--IANS

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