SECURITY SCAN : JAN 16, 2020
PROJECT 15B – STEALTH DESTROYERS
1. INTRODUCTION
• Stealth destroyers under project-15B for guided missile destroyers are being constructed at Mazagaon dock under project 15B for Indian Navy.
• Indigenously designed and constructed, these warships will have improved survivability, seakeeping, stealth and maneuverability.
• Propelled by four gas turbines these stealth destroyers will be able to achieve speeds of over 30 knots the weapon systems and sensors onboard these ships will allow them to engage shore-based sea based and air targets at long distances.
• According to reports all of them will be armed with precision strike BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, next-generation Barak surface-to-air missile systems, 127 mm guns and rocket launchers as well.
• First of these destroyers is likely to be commissioned to Indian navy in 2021-22.
2. INSIGHTS
• Destroyers are the most powerful surface ships really without an aviation element except that they will have new Seaking helicopter which is likely to come, negotiations have already been done so the sonar system is same but destroys can attain very high speed much faster than the frigates.
• This one will have 127 millimeter which is under contract is being built by the Bharat Heavy Engineering limited BHEL. They're already in service but the fire rate will go high and the ranges are much better.
• This has been inducted in the Kolkata class it's the first of the Block, new generation 70 kilometres plus type of ranges so that is what gives it a reach beyond what the air defense of the present systems are and the rocket launchers are the same sonar system is the same the radars are going to be change significantly.
• Every Navy basically tries to do is to build a balanced force and in a balanced force constitutes submarines on one end of the spectrum and aircraft carriers on another end and aircraft carriers representing sheer physical presence and submarines representing stealth standoff capability, maneuverability etc.
• Stealth warship lies somewhere in the middle the stealth warship has the presence of a carrier not as much as the carrier but it has a substantial sort of footprint and it also has the maneuverability, the reach that you would want from the other end of the spectrum so it's the perfect platform to have as far as the surface Navy is concerned and so the destroyers usually are the workhorses of the Navy.
• What's so special about the P15 class the P15A and P15B's is that they advanced stealth and they achieve this through a combination of angle decks as well as using material that makes the the superstructure rod light and they also have some kind of network centricity. that puts them in another league so they have power systems, data systems and combat management systems that are all integrated.
• In terms of weaponry also which is fight section Navy is doing very well BraHmos is a joint venture actually in terms of gun production also the other important part which is metallurgy since last few 10 years. Steel authority of india which has primarily started supplying the steel for Navy. Earlier it was creating a huge expenditure pressure on Exchequer. So now you produce it that in your country.
• Design department of naval design of Navy is designing it and the manufacturing is being carried out in Mazagaon Dockyard limited .
• If we look at all three forces Indian Navy seems to have a lot more structure approach towards what it needs right now what it needs in the long term and then from the indigenization aspect it is way ahead of the other two forces .
• In planning the P15A and P15B, indigenization was of course a concern, it was definitely one driver of it. As technology transfer costs lot of money.
• The main imperative as far as we are concerned was to somehow make sure that we can match the Chinese in terms of the forces that they are deploying in our waters the Chinese are coming out with something called the type 55 which is way more sophisticated than our alphas and Bravo's projects.
• Having the alphas and Bravo's now we have built the base and foundation from which we can now hope to develop the capability that will in some ways be at par with our competitors and adversaries in the region .
• We have kept a very lean Navy, the manpower wise it is the smallest and depending upon the system's weapon systems that we ask for a manpower sanction as a result we have been able to spend 60 percent of our total budget into capital. Army has not been able to do is the Air Force has not been able to do something for which there have been reforms have brought about and chief of different staff.