Will have 500 aircraft in 10 years: Navy Chief

Suresh Dharur

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, December 16

Amid reports of growing aggressive posturing by China in the Indian Ocean, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba today asserted that India was fully capable of protecting its interests and also of its partners in the region.

On the expansion plans to strengthen Indian Navy, he said the Naval Air Wing, which now has 238 aircraft, will grow to 500 aircraft within a decade. “We have plans in place to be the net security provider to island nations in Indian Ocean. We are working closely with our partners in the region,” Admiral Lanba, who is also the Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee, said here, speaking on the sidelines of the Combined Graduation Parade at the Air Force Academy in Dundigal.

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“Indian Ocean is a too big for China or even the US to capture. We have our partners, cooperation and methods in place. The media is over-blowing the presence of China. At any given time, there are only four or five warships and three to four research vessels of China in the Indian Ocean,” Admiral Lanba said. 

Indian Navy, he said, had the largest presence in the Indian Ocean. “We have been safeguarding the exclusive economic zones and also providing security to island nations,” he said. 

Replying to a question, he said, “We have our forces in combat readiness, and we are capable of meeting any threat, external or internal, and we work towards that. However, a war tomorrow is unlikely.”

On the issue of arming of newly inducted Kalvari-class submarines with black shark torpedo, he said the acquisition had been dropped and acquisition of a new class of torpedoes had been taken up. “In the meantime, the Kalvari class is armed with torpedoes of our inventory and missiles are on board,” the Naval Chief said.