General Studies for Exams: Col Chewang Rinchen bridge.

Points to remember.

1. Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurated this strategically important bridge.
2. Col Chewang Rinchen was a highly decorated officer of Indian Army from Ladakh region. He is known as the “Lion of Ladakh”.
3. Bridge has been built by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) over River Shyok.
4. It connects Durbuk and Daulat Beg Oldie in Eastern Ladakh.
5. 430-metre bridge built at an altitude of about 15,000 feet using Micro Piling Technology.
6. India's highest altitude all-weather permanent bridge.
7. will lead to development of border areas and villages across Shyok River.

Submarine and warship disasters in India.

It was another shock to the Indian defence strategy, when two naval officers were feared dead and seven other personnel suffered serious injuries, following a mishap involving the submarine INS Sindhuratna off the coast of Mumbai in the last week of February this year[1]. This mishap was followed by resignation of the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral D K Joshi on 26 February 2014 owning moral responsibility for the incidents in the past few months.

According to a source, since 1990, the Indian Navy has lost one warship in peacetime every five years. Since 2004, it has lost one naval combatant every two years. Few global navies have such a dubious record[2].

Timeline of disasters.

• February 2004: INS Agray (an Abhay class corvett[3] of the Indian Navy) was damaged while participating in an anti-submarine exercise in the Arabian Sea. After this it was towed back safely to the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.
• December 27, 2005: The stealth frigate (war-ship) INS Trishul collided with a merchant vessel Ambuja Laxmi outside the Mumbai harbor. This warship was a Talwar Class[4]. Failure of radar installations, both in the port and on the merchant ship to pick up the warship caused collision.
• April 21, 2006: Indian Navy warship INS Prahar sank after colliding with Shipping Corporation of India's container vessel MV Rajiv Gandhi off the coast of Goa. After 5 months, the captain of the warship was sacked after the court martial found him guilty for navigational error that causing the mishap. This ship was the Veer class corvette (small warship)[5].
• January, 2008: The Indian Navy submarine INS Sindhughosh was damaged after it collided with a merchant ship MV Leeds, 140 nautical kms north-west of the Mumbai coast and south of Diu, in the Arabian Sea, off the coast of Saurashtra. Navy officials said there were no casualties. The INS Sindhughosh is a kilo class submarine[6] built by Russia that underwent a complete refit in 2005. It is among the best that the Indian Navy has and can launch anti-ship and anti-land missiles.
• August, 2009: INS Kuthar (a Khukri class corvette) collided with INS Ranvir (Rajput class destroyer[7]) in the Bay of Bengal due to rudder failure and flawed maneuver.
• 2010: Three crew men on destroyer INS Mumbai (Delhi-class[8] guided-missile destroyers) were instantly killed when an AK-630 Close-in weapon system went off as safety drills were not followed.
• January 30, 2011: INS Vindhyagiri[9]collided with MV Nordlake near Sunk Rock lighthouse. The same evening a major fire broke out and it took over 15 hours to control it. On January 31, it sank due to water filling its chambers. It was de-commissioned in 2012 after repairs. It served Indian Navy for 31 years.
• August 14, 2013: The 16-year-old Russian-made Kilo class submarine, INS Sindhurakshak, (that returned three months ago from a complete refitting in Russia and was intended to extend its active service life for a decade), sunk after the blast ripped off its torpedo compartment, killing 18 persons on the submarine. It had suffered a fire, while it was docked in Vishakhapatnam in February, 2010.
• September, 2013: India's only aircraft carrier INS Viraat suffered a minor fire off the coast of Mumbai. It is over 50 years old and has undergone several refurbishments to continue in service.
• December, 2013: Pondicherry class mine sweeper INS Konkan under the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) - caught fire at the Naval Dockyard, while it was undergoing repairs at the time of the fire. No casualties have been reported. The cabin of the vessel was learnt to have been totally gutted. 
• December 23, 2013: INS Talwar collided with a fishing trawler (which sank after collision) near Ratnagiri in Maharashtra. Four people, who were on board the trawler, suffered injuries.
• January, 2014: A hole was found in pillar compartment of INS Vipul after which, it was sent back for repairs. INS Vipul is a member of the elite 22nd Killer Missile Vessel Squadron of the navy.
• January 17, 2014: The INS Sindhughosh, a Kilo Class submarine, had a close shave after it entered the Mumbai harbour in a low tide phase.
• January 22, 2014: Brahmaputra-class guided missile frigate INS Betwa had an underground collision with some unidentified object while on its way to the Mumbai naval base, leading to massive damage to the vessel. 
• February 3, 2014: Amphibious warfare vessel INS Airavat ran aground while returning to its home base at Visakhapatnam, causing slight damage to its propellers. Following the incident, its commanding officer was stripped of his command duties.
• February 26, 2014: Seven sailors were injured and two officers are missing after an accident on board Russian-origin Kilo Class submarine INS Sindhuratna off the Mumbai coast. The accident occurred, while the INS Sindhuratna was being sea tested after a refit, about 40 to 50 km off the Mumbai coast when the smoke was detected. The senior-most submarine officer of the Western Naval Command was on board. The submarine was carrying no weapons or ammunition. Since it was still in testing mode, it had not been placed under operational command yet.

Actions taken and to be taken.

As of now, India has just five or six operational submarines, which is far too few to guard the country’s extensive coastline (with the Sindhurakshak now apparently a write off, the navy will have to make do with the 14 submarines it has left. This number falls well short of its desired level of 24.To tackle the increasing presence of China in Indian Ocean, India needs to strengthen its naval force. 

As far as the defects in the submarines are concerned, the Indian Navy has been trying to break its dependence on Russian equipment for years, but its efforts have not been entirely successful. A cooperative effort with France and Spain to build a new class of conventional submarine called the Scorpene has been delayed, and the first submarines are not expected to be ready before 2015. Though India is building dozens of other warships, but many of the projects rely on Russian equipment. 

But as far as the negligence of Naval officers is concerned, Indian Navy should take it at serious note. But also, four or five of the remaining vessels are due for retirement because of their age, as they have been commissioned long since 1980s. They are being kept alive by various means. For this India needs to look into fresh deployments to reach the desired level.

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[1] It was the tenth mishap in the series of disasters involving warships.

[2] INDIATODAY.IN, Indian Navy's dubious safety record worrisome for national security, http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/indian-navys-dubious-safety-record-worrisome-for-national-security/1/301409.html

[3] Abhay Class corvettes are customized variants of the Soviet Pauk class corvettes, primarily intended for coastal patrol and anti-submarine warfare.

[4] The Talwar class frigates are a new class of frigates designed and built by Russia for the Indian Navy. This class of frigate is equipped with guided missiles and is modified Krivak III class frigate. It uses stealth technologies and other such features.

[5] The Veer class corvettes of the Indian Navy variant of the Soviet Tarantul class. They form the 22nd Killer Missile Vessel Squadron.

[6] NATO Reporting Name for Hunter/Killer Diesel-electric submarines, made in Russia.

[7] Guided missile destroyer.

[8] The Delhi class vessels are the largest warships, which will soon be superseded by the Kolkata class destroyers and the Vikrant class aircraft carrier. 

[9] It is a Nilgiri class frigate.

Chinese Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) and Indian concern

Recently, China had been in news, as usual not for good reasons, regarding its ADIZ claim in East China Sea. Its recent announcement of an Air Defense Identification Zone in the East China Sea has generated a great deal of confusion and alarm. So, several questions arise about ADIZ, which are as follows:

What is an ADIZ?

An ADIZ is a publicly defined area extending beyond national territory in which unidentified aircraft are liable to be interrogated and, if necessary, intercepted for identification before they cross into sovereign airspace. 

What is the reason to have an ADIZ?

The concept born during the Cold War era (in the 1950s), when the United States declared the world’s first ADIZs in order to reduce the risk of a surprise attack from the Soviet Union. An ADIZ is useful for:

1. Reducing the risk of midair collisions, 
2. combating illicit drug flows, 
3. search-and-rescue missions, and 
4. reducing the need for fighter jet sorties for purposes of visual inspection. This last point is the most important: ADIZs can increase transparency, predictability, and strategic stability by reducing uncertainty on both sides about when, where, and how aerial interceptions might take place. In 1960, for example, the Soviet Union had no clearly established air defense identification zones and procedures, and the resulting confusion led to a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft being shot down over international waters.

Which countries have ADIZ?

The countries having ADIZ include:

1. 
   United States has five zones (East Coast, West Coast, Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam) and operates two more jointly with Canada. 
2. India, 
3. Japan, 
4. Norway, 
5. Pakistan, 
6. South Korea, 
7. Taiwan, and 
8. the United Kingdom. 
   
   
   
   
   
   

What are the rules and regulations of International law on this point?

ADIZ is not governed by any international agreements. Neither there is any explicit authorization for countries to establish them nor are they explicitly prohibited from doing so. ADIZs usually extend into what is universally acknowledged to be international airspace, even by the countries that maintain them, and in no way confer any sovereign rights. Countries have the right to regulate air traffic only over their sovereign territory, hence they are not legally obliged to comply with another countries’ ADIZ requirements in international airspace. But they tend to do so because of the security and safety benefits to all.

So why did China establish its East China Sea ADIZ?

The desire to reduce the risk of midair collisions is a suitable explanation. The concern is not regarding commercial air traffic, which is already under good regulation in the East China Sea. Rather, it is military flights, as was demonstrated in 2001 when a U.S. Navy EP-3 collided with an F-8 fighter from the Chinese Navy over the South China Sea. 

The serious incident of April 2001 between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) involved a collision over the South China Sea between a U.S. Navy EP-3 reconnaissance plane and a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) naval F-8 fighter that crashed.  After surviving the near-fatal accident, the U.S. crew made an emergency  landing of  their damaged plane onto  the PLA’s Lingshui airfield on Hainan Island, and the PRC detained the 24 crew members for 11 days.  Washington and Beijing disagreed over  the cause of  the accident,  the  release of  the crew and plane, whether Washington would “apologize,” and  the PRC’s  right  to  inspect  the EP-3.  In the longer term, the incident has implications for the right of U.S. and other nations’ aircraft to fly in international airspace near China.  

But the real cause was false belief of China that it would aid in its dispute with Japan over the Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands. Chinese leaders could have believed this for one of two reasons: first, they believed that an ADIZ signals or confers sovereign rights; or, second, they believed that declaring an ADIZ covering the disputed islands would enhance their bargaining position.  

What is the stand of India?  

Indian government has avoided taking sides of the US and Japan in the tense dispute over China’s announcement of an air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea in 2013. The US and Japan have challenged China’s declaration by flying military aircraft into the zone, which overlaps the Japanese ADIZ and includes the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, leading to the danger of conflict provoked by a miscalculation or mistake. 

Indian government stressed that the conflict could be best resolved through dialogues.