F/A-18F Super Hornets will join Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom

Air Force multi-role F/A-18F Super Hornets, Navy guided-missile frigates and a Collins class submarine will join the armed forces of Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom in a major military exercise designed to enhance regional security.

The exercise called BERSAMA SHIELD 2011 (BS11) will bring together the member countries of the Five Power Defence Arrangement (FPDA) as they exercise in various locations on the Malaysian Peninsula and in the South China Sea between 2 and 13 May.

BS11 will involve a total of nine advanced guided-missile frigates, one submarine and 46 modern combat aircraft, as well as various support elements and aims to enhance the interoperability of the combined air, ground and naval forces of the FPDA countries.

The Australian contribution to the FPDA exercise includes six F/A-18 Super Hornets from No. 1 Squadron, the Anzac Class frigates HMAS Ballarat and HMAS Parramatta, and the Collins class submarine, HMAS Dechaineux.

Chief of Joint Operations Command, Lieutenant General Mark Evans, said the Australian Defence Force (ADF) will participate in the exercise as one of the founding members of the FPDA, which was established as an important regional security initiative exactly 40 years ago in 1971.

“BERSAMA SHIELD provides the ADF with the opportunity to develop relationships with important security partners while reinforcing Australia’s long-term commitment to regional stability,” Lieutenant General Evans said.

Lieutenant General Evans said the FPDA continues to be an integral part of the regional security architecture because of its ability to remain relevant to the needs of its members by adapting to the changing security environment.

“Since the FPDA's formation the scope of its activities has expanded from air defence to the development of joint capabilities, which has helped to develop greater interoperability among the armed forces of member nations,” he said.

The Commander of the Australian Contingent, Wing Commander Kenneth Robinson, said BS11 would continue to develop and validate doctrines and procedures for interoperability among FPDA nations' navies, armies and air forces in a combined, joint scenario.

“BS11 is a fantastic training opportunity for all the ADF assets and personnel involved to enhance key skills in an international environment, while also promoting engagement and regional stability in a region of vital importance to Australia” Wing Commander Robinson said.

ABG Shipyard in talks for shipbuilding joint venture in Nigeria

ABG Shipyard is in talks with the Nigerian government and private equity investors to build a shipyard in Nigeria through a joint venture in which the Indian company will hold a 40 percent stake.

ABG Shipyard, India’s largest shipbuilding firm, will provide technical expertise for the African venture and have management control for a period of 20 years, Chief Financial Officer Dhananjay Datar told Reuters on Tuesday.

"The timeline could be three or four years from now. We are the technical partner so there is unlikely to be a big investment from our side," he said over the telephone.

The investment details were yet to be finalised as the discussions were in initial stages, but a majority of the investments would come from the private equity partners and the Nigerian government, Datar said. Nigerian Partners are expected to include Nkrah Investment Ltd (which provides marine services and logistics) and BGL Private Equity Ltd (a subsidiary of BGL Plc, a Nigerian investment bank).

According to Nigeria’s Tribune newspaper, local investors will own 50% of the project and the local government of Cross River State will own the balance of 10% in exchange for providing land and infrastructure to the new Calabar Shipbuilding Yard.

The first phase of the investment is estimated to be worth US$100 million, according to the Wall Street Journal, but the entire project could be worth US$800 million to US$1 billion. More than 5 000 Nigerians will be employed, Online Nigeria reports.

The unit will build large offshore and cargo vessels, Datar added. However, it would also build oil rigs, support and offloading vessels, liquid natural gas carrier ships, container carriers and military equipment and ships for the Navy. 

Executives said the proposed venture would be the biggest shipyard in Africa and would do much to renew Africa’s ‘second hand’ ship fleet. The Nigerian Tribune said existing shipyards do not have the capacity to build new vessels and mainly focus on repair work.

In February, the company had said it expects fresh orders worth up to 30 billion rupees in calendar 2011, the bulk of it from the booming offshore and defence sectors. It has also received government approval to foray into defence-related contracts. 

Indian shipyard joins UK firm to build aircraft carriers for Navy

MUMBAI (BNS): A private sector Indian shipyard on Thursday announced that it has joined hands with a British firm to build aircraft carriers for the Indian Navy.

Mumbai-based Pipavav Shipyard said that it has tied up with UK’s Babcock group to build aircraft carriers for the Navy.

“This is an important milestone in Pipavav Shipyard’s efforts to become a major player in the Defence sector,” the shipyard said in its filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. 

“This event is likely to eliminate necessity to import large battle ships such as aircraft carrier in the future,” it said. 

The Babcock group is Britain’s leading naval support company. It is involved in building next generation aircraft carriers and managing naval bases. It also undertakes refitting, refuelling and decommissioning of submarines, maintaining and refitting of warships and providing equipment support on behalf of the UK government.

“This is the first time in the country that such important co-operation for lead battle ships between a global major and Indian private shipyard has taken place, paving the way for India to be self-sufficient for such vital assets,” Pipavav said.

The company also said that it will explore joint venture options to build similar lead battle ships for "friendly countries."

Last year the company had received the necessary clearance to build warships for the Indian defence sector, including frigates, destroyers, aircraft carriers, LPDs, submarines and corvettes.

As per the approval, Pipavav can build five warships every year, which in effect means that the company can undertake about 20 warships of various capacities at a time, as the normal building time for any front line warship is between three to four years.

It has also received permission from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to receive foreign direct investment.

Indian warships pay friendly visit to Vladivostok

Five Indian warships arrived in Russia's Pacific Fleet (PF) main naval base Vladivostok on Monday to pay a friendly visit; guests were met with martial music and bread-and-salt hospitality.

Indian and Russian national anthems were played on the pier at the Golden Horn Bay where entered the Indian task unit. It consists of of three destroyers INSDelhi, INS Ranvir, and INS Ranvijay, corvette INSKirch, and tanker INS Jyoti. Girls dressed in Russian national costumes handed over bread and salt to Indian officers; that is a symbol of Russian hospitality. 

The visit of Indian task unit under the flag of Rear Admiral Bish, Eastern Naval Command will last till Apr 22, reports RIA Novosti referring to PF Commander press-secretary Capt 1 rank Roman Martov. PF large ASW ship Admiral Tributs plays a role of the host ship. 

"Indian military delegation plans to pay visits to Pacific Fleet command and Mayor of Vladivostok. Indian guests are going to attend memorable sites of the city and the fleet. Indian Navy's band gave a big concert Monday evening in Naval Officers' Club", specified the interviewee. 

According to him, during the visit Pacific mariners will play a friendly soccer game with their Indian colleagues. The visit program also includes some informal meetings between naval servicemen of the two countries. Locals and guests of Vladivostok will be allowed to board Indian warships. 

"Current visit to Vladivostok is the second one for Indian sailors. First time they did it in 2007 during theINDRA-2007 joint naval exercise. In their turn, PF warships called at Indian ports several times in 90's, and then in 2001, 2003, and 2005", reminded Martov.

India, S Africa to hold joint Naval exercise

SANYA (PTI): India and South Africa on Thursday decided to hold joint Naval exercises and fixed a new trade target of USD 15 billion to be achieved by next year as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Jacob Zuma met here and discussed ways to boost overall ties.

During the 45-minute meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, Zuma also informed Singh about his government's intention to invite President Pratibha Patil and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to his country.

The two leaders discussed a number of issues including bilateral defence and economic ties, UN reforms and developments in Libya and Ivory Coast, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the External Affairs Ministry Manbir Singh told reporters here.

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Navy personnel begin training on Admiral Gorshkov

NEW DELHI (PTI): With the Navy set to induct aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov by next year, the first batch of Navy personnel have begun training on the refurbished vessel in St. Petersburg, Russia.

"The first group of 152 sailors and officers have started their training on-board INS Vikramaditya in Russia.

The training comprises four months of theory and almost a similar period of practical exercises on the ship," naval spokesperson told PTI here Thursday.

The group comprises sailors and officers from technical branches of the Navy who will train on the Gorshkov christened as INS Vikramaditya. The ship will have a total crew of 1400 people.

"The training is being conducted by Russian trainers and instructors. More such batches from different branches of naval operations will undergo similar period of training in the coming months," the officer said.

He said the training would be over "well in time" to ensure scheduled induction of the carrier in the Navy by 2012.

The Navy has already inducted the MiG-29K carrier borne fighter aircraft at its airbase in Goa and has plans to induct 45 of them.

It is also in the process of creating a Shore-Based Test Facility (SBTF) there on which the pilots will take off and land to simulate flying operations at sea.

The deal to purchase the 45,000 tonne Kiev class carrier was signed between India and Russia in 2004 at USD 974 million along with 16 MiG-29K naval fighters for USD 526 million.

However, the original delivery schedule of December 2008 went for a toss after the shipyard made a huge claim of an additional USD 1.5 billion for the refit project and went slow on the work in 2007 and hiked it again to USD 2.7 billion in 2009.

Last year, the two sides resolved the issue after long negotiations and settled on a final price of USD 2.3 billion for the warship.

Indian Navy boosts Eastern Naval command, appoints Vice Admiral

NEW DELHI (BNS): The Indian Navy has upgraded the post of the Chief of Staff (CoS) at its Eastern Naval Command (ENC) by appointing a three-star officer at the command for the first time. 

Rear Admiral S Lanba is set to take over as the first three-star Chief of Staff of the Vishakhapatanam-based ENC on May 1 after his elevation to the rank of Vice Admiral. 

The move comes in the wake of increased Chinese presence at the Bay of Bengal. 

“The upgradation of the post signifies the importance attached to the Eastern frontiers as the Command's area of responsibility has also expanded in comparison to the earlier times," Navy officials said here.

Earlier, the officials said, the focus was on the western front only as Pakistan was the only perceived enemy but after the adoption of the Look East policy, focus was laid on upgrading the capabilities in the Eastern sector as well.

The Indian Navy has deployed its latest warships, aircrafts at the eastern coast.

The Navy has deployed its amphibious warship INS Jalashwa, Shivalik Class frigates and the P-8I long range maritime surveillance aircraft on the eastern front.

It also plans to deploy one of its two future aircraft carriers on the East Coast.

The East Coast faces six littoral states including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka. In the recent past, there have been reports that China has been developing facilities in Myanmar for military uses.