Logo

Logo

Four-day Naval Commander’s Conference concludes in Delhi

The conference was inaugurated by the Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who set the tone for the deliberations stating that the Indian Navy is a force to reckon with in the Indo-Pacific region.

Four-day Naval Commander’s Conference concludes in Delhi

The Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba, the Chief of Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat and the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa at the Naval Commander’s Conference, in New Delhi on May 11, 2018. (Photo: PIB)

The first Biannual Naval Commander’s Conference of 2018 concluded on Friday after four days of intense deliberations on a wide range of issues.

The conference was inaugurated by the Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who set the tone for the deliberations stating that the Indian Navy is a force to reckon with in the Indo-Pacific region.

Sirtharaman also assured the Naval Commanders that endeavours to bridge critical capability gaps in ship-borne helicopters, fleet support ships and submarines would be progressed by the government.

Advertisement

The minister also extended support to the long-term capability acquisition plans of the Navy that have been formulated with a strategic view of the Indo-Pacific region.

The imperative need for approval of the second indigenous aircraft carrier for the Navy was also deliberated upon. This project along with the other shipbuilding projects already underway or in the pipeline including Mine Counter Measure Vessels (MCMVs), Landing Platform Dock (LPD), Anti-Submarine Shallow Water Craft, Diving Support Vessels and Survey Vessels are expected to provide a major thrust to the ‘Make-in-India’ initiative of the government.

The conference also undertook a review of the Navy’s Mission Based Deployments. The review was aimed at maximising benefits accrued from the deployment of IN ships and aircraft to critical areas within the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

Measures such as information sharing with other navies as well as combining Defence Diplomacy initiatives such as Bi-lateral exercises and port visits into these deployments are planned to be undertaken.

The Navy’s new transition cycle for ships from maintenance to operations was also reviewed by the Commanders. This has resulted in considerable improvement in combat efficiency and crew proficiency of ships undergoing the new transition cycle.

The Naval Commander’s Conference also saw the inauguration of a new digital library available pan-Navy for knowledge management and retrieval including archiving of critical data and information.

This was complemented by deliberations on the security and hardening of naval data networks in keeping with contemporary cyber security practices. In keeping with the Navy’s ethos of harnessing niche technologies, concrete plans to incorporate Big Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence into the Navy’s operational functioning have also been formulated.

Advertisement