Four French warships arrive for joint naval exercise

By Arunkumar Bhatt

MUMBAI, NOV. 5. Four French warships arrived at the Mumbai harbour today morning to participate in the three-day long intermediary war game, Varuna 01. The joint naval exercise with the Indian Navy will take place from November 8 to 10.

Varuna 01's thrust areas are anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and anti-aircraft warfare (AAW), though other aspects of naval battle such as tactical maneuvers, electronic warfare, seamanship and gunnery too would be practised.

Rear Admiral Laurent Merer, the flag officer commanding the French Naval Forces in the Indian Ocean (ALINDIEN), told reporters onboard FS Var that Varuna 01 was a ``multi-purpose exercise''. The Indian Navy has been very keen on further strengthening its ASW capabilities, particularly after the Pakistani Navy acquired the French Agosta class submarines, considered to be much superior to the conventional diesel- electric submarines because of their air independent propulsion system enabling them to remain submerged for days.

Admiral Merer, who is himself an ASW specialist, said that two Indian officers were now training on board a French ASW warship. The French have offered India its next generation submarine, Scorpin. Admiral Merer said that both sides have been negotiating ``for the past few months''.

The French have been regularly participating in the war game with the Indians, almost twice a year since 1999. Sometime before the International Fleet Review, a flotilla of six warships, including a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, FS Foch, with 21 aircraft embarked. A nuclear-powered submarine, FS Emeraude, had sailed the Goa coast to participate in the war game, IN-FN Passex. The war games had the participation of formidable maritime surveillance aircraft, Atlantique, capable of trekking many ships over a long range and even attacking them by deploying its sea- skimming Exocet missiles.

These exercises gave the Indians a first hand view of how effective Atlantique is and how the early detection could be tackled. This is a very crucial input since Pakistan operates this aircraft. The Pakistani Navy had four Atalantique, of which one was shot down by the IAF shortly after the Kargil war, for violating the air space in Kutch.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : National
Previous : U.P. polls crucial for BJP, says Mulayam
Next     : Country's first cavitation tunnel in Visakhapatnam