Hope to get money from Govt so that maritime interest is not compromised: Admiral Karambir
Expressing concern over the shrinking budget of the Navy over the years and its impact on modernisation and acquisitions, Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh said here on Tuesday the force has approached the Government and “hope to get some money” so that maritime interest of the nation was not compromised.
Making this assertion during the annual Press conference on the eve of the Navy Day, he said the Navy’s budget has come down from 18 per cent of the overall defence allocation in 2012-13 to below 13 per cent in the current fiscal. The capital allocation for the Navy is now Rs 23,156.43 crore while the IAF got the highest amount totaling Rs 39,302.64 crore followed by the Army Rs 29,461.25 crore.
On how the Navy plans to get over the resource crunch given the state of economy, Singh said, “Our planning is done keeping our requirements and funds in mind. We will priotise our requirements.”
In August also, Singh had lamented over the reduced allocation and said long-term budgetary support was a must to build naval capacities and capabilities.
Despite resource crunch, the first indigenously designed and manufactured aircraft carrier INS Vikrant (IAC-I), now under construction at Cochin shipyard, will be operational by 2022, Singh said.
He also said as the Navy chief he was convinced that India needed at least three aircraft carriers with two of them always operational. At present, India has only one such carrier, INS Vikramaditya. While hopeful that INS Vikrant will be operational by 2022, he also advocated for a second indigenously designed and manufactured aircraft carrier.
Singh said they are preparing the case and finalising the requirements after which they would go to the Government for Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) after which design consultancy would be taken up to decide the exact contours. As of now the Navy envisaged the proposed carrier to be 65,000 tonnes with Catapult Assisted Take Off But Arrested Recovery (CATOBAR) and full electric propulsion.
He also said the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) has offered to develop a new twin engine deck based fighter for the Navy based on the experience of the Naval Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) and it should be ready by 2026, he said.
“The Qualitative Requirements (QR) are being made. They said they should be able to push it out by 2026. If it meets our time and QR requirements we will definitely take it,” he said.
The Naval LCA recently successfully completed take off and landing trials on the Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) in Goa. Stating that the current LCA Mk-1 is a technology demonstrator, the Navy chief said it will be further put to carrier compatibility tests and whatever lessons they have learnt, DRDO wants to plough back into the twin engine deck based fighter.
On the INS Vikrant, Singh said all ship build issues “are over” and trials would begin now. “We are almost certain that we will take delivery by February-March 2021, he stated and added that aviation trials would take a year after that. “We should have a fully operational carrier by 2022.”
Asked about his expectations on the soon to be created post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Singh said the views of the Services have been taken care of by the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC), who then became part of the Implementation Committee. The committee has submitted its report to the Government. It should be an empowered CDS which will be able to make a difference, he said. “I hope the CDS is suitably empowered to carry out all the responsibilities that he is given.”
