Warship Retrofitment: A Road Map for Transnational Engagement in Indian Ocean Region - WMTC 2009

By
Cdr G P Pande
&

Cdr Mohit Goel

SYNOPSIS : WMTC 2009
The objective of this paper is to present the concept: ‘Use India’s edge in competitive pricing to make it the hub in Indian Ocean region of Naval Ship Repairs’ (henceforth referred to as retro fitment i.e.:-complete change of propulsion /machinery/sensors). The advantages of a vast skill pool and competitive pricing can greatly leverage the Indian Navy’s footprint among Navies of IOR and become a tool for international diplomacy. As a spinoff of such a policy, the players in the defense ship building market will become more competitive and ship repairers will find a bigger foothold in the international defense industry.

ABSTRACT: An important element of synergy between industry and armed forces towards achieving a common strategic goal calls for pooling of national resources, human manpower and material, which are required to implement its strategic concept. The realisation of these three-elements-concept are in dissoluble linked in a democracy because, “to secure those resources it is necessary for society to channelise these resources. Thus, the resource which shipbuilding and repair is able to obtain is also a function of the institutional/sovereign support of that service. This inherent advantage of Indian maritime industrial in skill pool as well as pricing can be a tool for diplomacy as well as augment the Indian naval footprint in IOR / littoral navies. The spin-off to this approach is the increase in competitive environment for naval ship repairs and concurrent growth of Indian ship building industry for diversification into specialized vessels that are more complex and intricate in ship building process.Today India’s strategic concept exceeds a preoccupation with regional political tensions. India’s maritime security requirements within the regional and global playfield, seeks competition for markets as well as resources (especially with China). In short, we are a modern industrial nation by definition, a natural corollary to it being a vibrant maritime nation too. Hence the expansion of the Indian Navy’s shipbuilding and ship-repair capability is the material expression of that strategic priority. The warship shopping list is a strategy, and so is the decision which ships to scrap and which ship to resurrect. The major cost that go into ship building program are the three factors known as first of class unit cost of production and through life cost. What drives retro fitment of the complete ship is the third factor i.e: of through life cost. Wherein when the cost of maintenance of an older generation platform outweighs even the cost of buying a new propulsion package along with it’s through life cycle cost. Retro fitment is driven by the need to bridge capability gap for benign / constabulary role of navy. So a technology demonstrator vessel of over two decade era gets used for retro fitment of obsolete equipment. The use of a solution led (bottom up approach) instead of requirement led (top down) approach causes drastic shrinkage in budget and time scale of a new warship platform.

Acknowledgement:

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References:

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Man Proposes God Disposes: Post script to our Trek to Milam

Our group which had originally set out to cross over Untadhura pass consisted of four Naval Yetis. The team was led by VSK Sharma , he competes on travelling by foot in mountains with buses of KMOU / State transport to reach the last nook and corner of Himalayas. Followed by VS Ghulia who was joining us for a break after his swim across the English Channel and doing the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. I presume he did not find the seawater in Britain chilling enough ? The third man , The Man !! in the team who was carrying the additional weight of our tents on his back throughout the journey was Pankaj Dewan . He honours us with his company in treks whenever he is not running the Delhi Marathon or devouring non fiction books and last member was I myself the accountant Munshiji of the escapade.
Our plan started on a gloomy note because of the bad weather across Uttaranchal in mid Sept 08 , the main Govt contractor for porter and ponies Mr Kundan Singh (tel no. 919410985054) at Munsiyari refused to give us help because of the fear of recent deaths on mountain passes above . So we decided to carry our packed ration and tents ourselves and try our luck with weather and terrain. But alas we were not allowed to proceed beyond Milam glacier by the officials and the heavy snow fall .

So to cut the long story short: We four ended up trekking from 25 Sept to 01 Oct, upto Milam Glacier(3500 Mtrs) from Selapani (1700mtrs) in four days (a distance of appox 66 km one way) and returned back to roadhead in three days flat covering the return stretch via Martolia village . All this without a porter or guide in toe moving at a pace of about 1.5 Km (uphill) per hour or approx gaining 100 mtr altitude at an hour interval.This whilst carrying our packed-ration, snow-clothing and tent, all along hoping to cross Untadhura pass (maybe better luck next time). The reason i am not writing in detail about this stretch of trial is that u can get countless stories on this part of Johar valley from all-American descriptions by NOLS to the desi versions on India Mike site. The google map for the trek trail with snap shots is on my picassa web album also for the internet junkie there is a web movie version on youtube too. The best part of the trip was since it was all unescorted without any middlemen in between the trip costed us Rs. 2547/- per person start to end, from Haldwani to Milam and back all inclusive of the packed ration chai pani nashta on the way and the boarding-lodging wherever we decided to grace the villages with our presence and contibute to the local economy too.

The information / trivia as on Sept 08 which a traveller to this region can use are:

*Travel: Taxi from Munsiyari to Haldwani leaves at 0430 hrs in morning only and starts from Haldwani between 2100 hrs and about 0200 hrs night (Mobile: 9410024281 Amru, 9410184849 Mohit) it cost Rs 230/- till Thal and Rs 100/- from Thal to Munsiyari, there are only two buses to Musiyari one Ex delhi and the other one from Pithoragarh. A full taxi over the 300 Km journey of 12 hrs will set u back by about Rs. 4000/- one way. The ride from Munsiyari to Selapani cost a mere Rs 20/- each way.

*Porterage: The goverment rate of DM is Rs 1.10 per Km per Kg for one porter to cut the maths out u can bargain from Rs 350/- per day to Rs 250 (Plus food) depending on if whom u speak to, the porter straight or the middle man.

*Stay: For the advance planners with tight budget Munsiyari has a awesome PWD guesthouse, a Forest dept rest house and a KMVN rest house also, else just head for Hotel Pandey Lodge at the Bus Stand. KMVN is building guest houses like the Pindari 's trek trail at Lilam, Bugudiyar, Railkot and Milam also. Presently PWD has rooms with bedding for four people(@Rs. 50/- per person per day) at all the aforesaid mentioned places except Railkot. BTW Bugudiyar has a spanking new and plush Forest dept rest house also.

*Local Trek operators: The two local reliable and well established trek operators ex Munsiyari are M/s Nandadevi Tour n trek of Mr Beeru Brijwal (beerubugyal@yahoo.co.in / 9411130330) at the bus stop and M/s Panchachuli Trekking agency of Mr GS Pangtey opposite the cyber cafe in the baazar adjacent to the butcher shop.

*Local Reading: I was lucky enough to meet Padmashree Shekhar Pathak at Nainital who enlightened me on the flora fauna and culture of the Johar region. A must read for anyone travelling in uttarakhand are Shekhar Pathak's annals of compilation in the capacity as editor of a periodical called PAHAR printed by KMVN if there is a trek worth sweating in the hills u will find mention of that region with it's culture , history and wildlife written in it.

*Communication: The Mobile phone will catch signal of BSNL only till Lilam, though both Hutch and Reliance have also got a tower with poor service till Munsiyari only. The tea shop at Lilam and Bugudiyar have a WLL phone connection which u can use @Rs 10/- per minute.