Vagli dives into history, to resurrect as Museum

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After 36 glorious years of service, INS Vagli, the oldest operational submarine of the Indian Navy that was decommissioned at Visakhapatnam on December 2010, is set to become an added tourist attraction in Mamallapuram.

The submarine arrived at Chennai Port from Visakhapatnam at 9 am on Monday and is expected to be handed over to the State government during ceremony next month. It will then be converted into Maritime Heritage Museum.

Port officials told on Monday that the submarine is likely to be stationed in the harbour for the next six months before being moved to the 30-acre plot of land abutting the beach near Shore Temple.

Sources said the government had already sanctioned Rs 10 crore towards the cost of transferring the submarine from Visakhapatnam to Mamallapuram and installing it on the platform at the selected site.

Sources said that besides hosting the maritime museum, the submarine would also have facilities like food courts, audio-visual studio, souvenir shops, aquarium and public toilets. It would be planned and executed in a phased manner on Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model.

The submarine, a Foxtrot class vessel Type 641B, was commissioned on August 10, 1974 by the then-Lieutenant Commander Lalit Talwar at Riga in Latvia, a republic of the erstwhile Soviet Union. After 36 years of service, having served under 23 commanding officers, INS Vagli held the distinction of being one of the oldest submarine of its class in the world and the oldest unit in Indian Navy. Vagli, in her operational life, participated in almost all major tactical exercises off both, the sea boards and elsewhere.

Despite being the oldest unit in commission in the Indian Navy, she continued to serve with distinction. Even in her last operational cycle, she completed 137 days at sea and 1,232 dived hours. That the Indian Navy was able to operate a boat this vintage so effectively also bore testimony to the dedication and skills of generations of maintainers and operators.

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Britain to honour Indian-origin navy officer for taking on al Qaeda

 A young Manipuri, serving as a Lieutenant in the British Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service, Khwairakpam Robin Singh, will receive the Star of Gallantry and the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross from the United Kingdom, for his exceptional bravery in week long fierce battle against the Al Qaeda in interior Afghanistan in 2011.

 The 27-year-old lead scout was part of a 47 member special force team, including 40 commandos, called in as a reinforcement to fight the Al Qaeda.Singh's parents, Sanajaoba and Memcha are very proud of their achiever son. "I told him - 'you're the junior-most in the family and since no one is at home, don't go away'. He went away saying - 'Mother, don't worry, everyone has to die, whether at home or not'. Now he has got this award. I'm really happy," said Memcha, Robin's mother."He always loved the active service and doing what he likes the most, he is being awarded by the UK government. I am very happy," said Sanajaoba, Robin's Father. 

But even in the face of global recognition, braveheart Robin Singh remains rooted. He is very aware of the problems insurgency-hit Manipur faces.Lt Singh has been away from service pending an enquiry since April 2012 after a Royal Maritime Helicopter crashed in Iraq. Now he will receive the Gallantry Award from the British government on 19th June. To add to the success his suspension has been cancelled and he has been asked to rejoin the service.

India does a first: BrahMos submarine version tested

India on Wednesday became the first country in the world to fire a supersonic cruise missile vertically from an underwater platform. The submarine-launched version of BrahMos was successfully test-fired for first time from an underwater platform off the Visakhapatnam coast.

Defence sources said the missile in its full operational configuration was blasted off from a pontoon (replica of a submarine) positioned nearly 30 feet deep in Bay of Bengal and over 50 km from the Andhra Pradesh coast at about 2.10 pm. 

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director of BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited A Sivathanu  Pillai said the missile took off vertically from the submerged platform for its full range of 290 km and hit the target with high accuracy. ‘’It was a history  for us as the mission achieved 100 percent success.  All mission parameters have been successfully met and it was a copybook launch,’’ he told this paper over phone. 

The success however came a week after the unsuccessful trial of country’s first sub-sonic cruise missile Nirbhay, which had veered away from its path and was destroyed midway. A release from the BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited stated that the missile following a pre-defined trajectory emerged from underwater, took a turn towards the designated target meeting all mission objectives.

All the telemetry and tracking stations, including Indian naval ships positioned throughout the flight path, confirmed the pin-point accuracy of the mission.

‘’The missile is fully ready for fitment in P75 (I) of Indian Navy in vertical launch configuration which will make the platform one of the most powerful weapon platform in the world. This new variant of the supersonic cruise missile will add more fire power to the Navy’s underwater weapon delivery capabilities,’’ claimed Pillai.

Jointly developed by India and Russia, the nine-meter long two-stage missile can travel at thrice the speed of sound and carry a conventional warhead weighing upto 300 kg.

The land and naval variants of BrahMos have already proved their mettle in both vertical and inclined launch configurations. The missile has been successfully inducted in a number of front-line Navy warships.

Defence scientists said the missile is capable of being launched from submarine from a depth of 40-50 meters. The submarines equipped with BrahMos would increase the offensive power of the vessel without compromising on its defensive power as the torpedo tubes in it can be utilised for defence, the scientists added.

Defence Minister A K Antony has congratulated the Indian scientists, Russian specialists and members from Navy associated with the project for the successful mission. ‘’It is a wonderful achievement and proud moment for India,’’ he said.

F-35B makes first operational vertical landing

The first operational squadron of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets passed a major milestone with first short take off and vertical landing at a marine base in California, the Pentagon announced yesterday. The single seat, single engine fifth generation fighter aircraft with short takeoff / vertical landing capability (STOVL) capabilities with enable it to be operated under varied environments by allowing operations from major bases, damaged airstrips, remote locations and a wide range of air-capable ships. “The first STOVL flight for an F-35B outside of the test environment was another milestone achieved by the Marine Corps and the Green Knights today here at MCAS Yuma,” said Major Richard Rusnok, an F-35B Lightning II test pilot, who conducted the first short landing and takeoff. “The F-35 program and specifically the F-35B have made significant progress to make this possible,” he added. 

At USD 396 billion, F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive and by some measures most ambitious ever. It has been under development by Lockheed Martin since 2001. As the squadron expands its operations and end strength, they will continue revolutionising expeditionary Marine air-ground combat power in all threat environments through the use of MCAS Yuma training ranges in Arizona and California. The entire fleet of the USAF F-35 also known as the Joint Strike Fighter was recently grounded after cracks were found in the engine turbine blades in one of the fighters. 

Earlier in 2011, the US had said that it was prepared to offer the F-35 for sale to India, after the F-16 and F/A-18 'Super Hornets' lost out in the Indian MMRCA competition. Differently from previous fixed wing capabilities across the department of defense, the integration of Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and coalition F-35 Lightning II aircraft on a common platform will provide the dominant, multi-role, fifth generation capabilities needed across the full spectrum of combat operations to deter potential adversaries and enable future aviation power projection, the statement said.

Source: Press Trust of India

Indian Navy Receives First Boeing P8I

                                                         
The Indian Navy has taken on-site delivery of the first of the Boeing P-8I Long-Range Maritime Reconnaissance and Anti-Submarine Warfare aircraft ordered in January 2009. Indian Navy pilots are training on this aircraft in the USA and expect to ferry it to India in May 2013. The Boeing P-8 is a long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft first developed for the US Navy as a replacement to the ageing P3C Orion on the successful Boeing 737 airframe. The P-8I has been customised for India and will plug the huge gaps in the Indian Navy’s maritime monitoring and surveillance capabilities. The P-8I will also be armed with anti-ship, Harpoon missiles, torpedoes and depth bombs to give it potent anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare capability.The P-8I will replace the ageing and fuel-guzzling Russian Tupolev-142M of the Indian Navy. Presently, the Navy uses the TU-142M, IL-38SD and Dornier aircraft for surveillance operations in the Indian Ocean region