India-UK to hold joint naval exercise off Goa

photo Doomych

Oct 3, 2011 THE TIMES OF INDIA

PANAJI: Poised to celebrate the 61st navy week in Goa this month and to conduct bilateral naval exercises with the Royal navy sometime later, the navy leadership here said, "Credit for a lot of our capabilities must go to Goa where we have headquarters of naval aviation and INS Hansa".

Announcing the navy week to mediapersons, rear admiral Sudhir Pillai, flag officer commanding Goa area said the navy has virtually nurtured its air-arm here in Goa.

He also said that "important things are happening at INS Hansa" including the setting up of an aircraft carrier arrestor gear and a ski-jump called the shore-based test facility. This facility will largely be used for flight testing of the light combat aircraft and to train the navy's MIG29 pilots.

Pillai said, "Overall, I am happy to inform my fellow citizens that your navy is striving hard to be a potent defender of the seas and is looking forward to your co-operation in this endeavor of keeping the country safe from sea-borne threats. As is our tradition, a number of events have been planned in Goa and around the navy week, and a calendar of these events will be put out by our event managers."

Pillai also announced that the Indian Navy will soon be hosting the Royal Navy for bilateral exercises in Goa and the exercise has been named 'Konkan'. Said Pillai, "We expect a royal naval submarine 'HMS Turbulent' and a fleet auxiliary which supports the submarine - that is a ship called 'Diligence' will be operating with an Indian naval frigate and an Indian naval submarine. Dates are finalized, but since this involves movement of a foreign warship, we will let you know in due course when the submarine and ship is here."

Pillai also disclosed that the naval war college, a post graduate institution for captains and commodores, has recently been shifted to INS Mandovi in Verem, where the navy earlier had its naval academy. INS Mandovi also has training for marine commandoes and has various other training establishments.

Pillai said, "We remain committed to putting assets here in Goa, as we believe that the maritime infrastructure and the culture here is what we hope to benefit from, as the navy grows. We continue to operate the TU1412 and the I38s here in Goa. The I38 was extensively refurbished in Russia, a little while ago. The Dornier aircraft is also coming up and in addition we have the unmanned vehicles periodically operating in and out of Goa."

Pillai also said that the charts and maps that mariners use are made by the navy's professional hydrographers and the national institute of hydrography is based in Goa.