We have a clear and futuristic capability development plan: Navy chief

India Today

Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi in a conversation with India Today emphasized that the change of warfare has changed largely due to technology.

Transcript

00:00Sir, given the fact that technology is changing at such a rapid pace, questions are being

00:07asked about the utility of say aircraft carriers, which used to be the pride of any blue water

00:13navy in the past.

00:14And now with the prospect of supersonic missiles, laser weapon systems, asymmetric warfare,

00:21the concern that are we using old world doctrine to build up for a new world war and the concern

00:29that some of what would earlier have dominated the seas, are they now frankly just sitting

00:34ducks?

00:35How do you look at this?

00:37So Rahul, I would just make two statements.

00:42One is that we are all aware that the nature of warfare remains the same.

00:50And what is that?

00:51That is use of force and use of violence to prevail upon the adversary, to impose your

00:58will on him or her.

01:00So that remains even today, irrespective of whatever else is happening.

01:04But the character of warfare is changing.

01:07And it has been changing at various intervals in our history.

01:12But in the last few years, especially in the 21st century, this change has accelerated

01:16largely because of technology.

01:19So there have been doubting Thomases who have commented upon a particular kind of platform,

01:27a particular kind of weapon systems, whether it is still valid or not.

01:33And those are valid questions, because people must ask, because there is money involved

01:39and there is capability involved.

01:42We in the Indian Navy have very clear and futuristic capability development plan with

01:49us, studying whatever else is happening around us, we have made this plan.

01:54Of course, it goes through iteration at various intervals.

01:58Even now it is going through because of what we have seen in the last four or five years,

02:03the use of unmanned vehicles, et cetera, et cetera.

02:10Those things have to be incorporated in our capability development plan.

02:14And we are taking actions to ensure that whatever capability we introduce, those are proven

02:23and those will be put to use when the nation demands.

02:25Let me reframe the question.

02:26When the Russia-Ukraine war started, it suddenly emerged that this idea that the Russian army

02:31could send in their tanks and dominate Ukraine came apart, especially in the face of armed

02:37drones.

02:38We haven't seen a recent big war between two modern navies.

02:44My question and concern is, if this war were to start, say whether it's in the Taiwan Straits

02:49or wherever else, will we find that the nature of naval warfare has as dramatically altered

02:55from what our military planners envision naval warfare to be?

02:59That some of the biggest ships, the most powerful ships will suddenly become sitting ducks.

03:03Are you confident, for example, that our aircraft carriers would be able to protect themselves

03:08and be as effective in the face of some of these asymmetric weapons?

03:12So that is a hypothetical question.

03:14War game.

03:15So I would also be bordering on a hypothetical answer.

03:19Please bear with me.

03:21We don't know what will happen if the crisis which you are alluding to in Taiwan Strait

03:27as to how it will play out in whatever time frame.

03:32But one thing is certain that nations are putting in money to develop the platforms

03:41after a lot of study.

03:42It is not just on whims and fancies of one individual or one service.

03:48It is a whole of government decision which is taken that we need to invest in different

03:53kinds of weapons, platforms, et cetera, et cetera.

03:56And coming per se to the navy, we are the force which operate on surface.

04:01We operate in the air.

04:02We operate underwater.

04:04And of course, add to that the cyber domain, the space.

04:08So we are a five-dimensional navy actually.

04:10And therefore, if you have to deter, the whole thing starts with deterrence.

04:17If you have to deter an adversary so that he cannot or he should not infringe on our

04:23sovereignty or he should not do anything which is untoward, which is not accepted to us as

04:28a country, then we have to ensure that we have the deterrence capability.

04:33And those deterrence capabilities are exemplified in terms of weapons, sensors, equipment and

04:39capabilities which the navy has got.

04:43The second, of course, is we need to deploy.

04:48And that is physical deployment of assets.

04:51And a navy which cannot deploy cannot deter.

04:54You cannot sit in harbor and say, I have got this capability.

04:56So you have to demonstrate.

04:57You have to go out at sea.

04:58And you have to demonstrate the capability, whether it is in terms of surface warfare,

05:04undersea warfare, air warfare, space warfare.

05:08So all kinds of things you have to actually demonstrate.

05:12And in that sense, the platforms which we have named, I think they have still got a

05:19role to play.

05:21There is adequate, I would say, redundancy in terms of securing those assets, and especially

05:31in a maritime domain where assets are moving 500 miles within 24 hours.

05:36So you may be detected.

05:37Today, you can be just assured, the battle space is so transparent that everything and

05:42anything can be detected.

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