India doesn’t match up to Chinese Navy
STORIES, ANALYSES, EXPERT VIEWS
Other than INS Vela, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh earlier commissioned the first of the Visakhapatnam class of destroyers.
There is no denying that the commissioning of both these vessels into the Indian Navy is a boost to the maritime force. The one area where China can feel Indian military pressure is on the Maritime front, writes Snehesh Alex Philip (Senior Associate Editor, The Print). “At least for the time being…..” Vice Admiral Satish Namdeo Ghormade, the Vice Chief of Naval Staff, had a fortnight ago said that 39 submarines and surface ships are under construction at various Indian shipyards, besides the two frigates being built for the Indian Navy in Russia. He also said that the Navy, which currently has about 139 ships, is aiming to reach its target of 170 ships over the next few years.
Chinese navy is the fastest-expanding maritime force in the world: While this is good news, Philip says “one needs to go beyond what is being spoken and look at where India stands when it comes to military modernisation, especially in comparison to China……The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is the fastest-expanding maritime force in the world.”
The recently released report of the US Defense Department on China’s military capabilities notes that PLAN has numerically the largest navy in the world with an overall battle force of approximately 355 ships and submarines, including approximately more than 145 major surface combatants.
Comparison with India: Philip writes “it is important to understand the scale of Chinese shipbuilding tactics and prowess.
“While India’s latest four Visakhapatnam class of ships measures 163 metres in length, 17 metres in breadth, with a displacement of 7,400 tonnes, China has already moved away from its 7,500-tonne vessels to the massive 13,000-tonne, Type 055 Renhai-class destroyers.
“Also…..while India goes in for a limited number of vessels of the same class (Project 15B caters to only four Visakhapatnam- class destroyers), China goes in for larger number of vessels (at least a dozen) before moving on to the next upgraded and bulkier versions. This allows not just the production to stabilise and bring the cost down but also increases the scale and shipbuilding capacity.”
While one of the headlines from the press conference of India’s Navy Vice Chief was “The Indian Navy’s plan to become a 170-ship force on track”, it will again be prudent to remember, reminds Philip “that this is actually a scale-down. In 2019, the Navy reworked its aim of having a 200-ship strong fleet by 2027 because of acute financial crunch over several years and brought down its figure to 170.”
