Can the Indian Navy Achieve True Interoperability?

In late February 2024, the Indian Navy hosted MILAN 2024, with over 50 nations taking part. This mega occasion witnessed giant power maneuvers, superior air protection operations, and anti-submarine warfare drills. 

MILAN 2024 got here shut on the heels of the Indian Navy deploying its largest fleet ever in main anti-piracy operations within the Gulf of Aden and the Western Arabian Sea. India is taking assertive actions within the area because the Indian Navy performs a sturdy function in countering assaults on transport by Houthi rebels in West Asia. In a single incident, the Indian Navy responded to the hijacking of a Sri Lankan fishing vessel in collaboration with the Seychelles Protection Forces and the Sri Lankan Navy. 

Taken collectively, these separate examples paint a transparent image: Not solely has the Indian Navy strengthened its place as a most well-liked safety companion of regional navies within the Indian Ocean Area (IOR) and the “first responder” throughout a disaster, however it has additionally emerged as a robust participant inside the realm of naval diplomacy. 

Curiously, these engagements on the a part of the Indian Navy are straight related to the notion of “mission-based deployments” – an idea that has seen Indian naval ships being stationed at locations the place “motion is happening,” be it the Strait of Hormuz, the Purple Sea, or the Malacca Straits, versus staying in ports. This idea has enabled the Indian Navy to  obtain its objective of “higher presence and visibility within the IOR,” together with by participating with different regional navies past India’s fast neighborhood for sustained presence within the IOR. Mission-based deployments have additionally enhanced regional interoperability because the Indian Navy has labored with different navies to enhance maritime safety. 

Actually, the exceptional success of the Indian Navy’s mission-based deployments has led to higher belief constructing between Indian and different regional navies – enabling the creation of a cooperative atmosphere the place “interoperability” shouldn’t be solely part of the diplomatic lexicon however acquires an actionable kind. Nevertheless, whereas India has positively moved forward on this entrance, real interoperability can solely happen when India reduces its dependence on Russian weapon programs and comes up with its personal definitional understanding of interoperability. 

Mission-Based mostly Deployments and Interoperability

Interoperability is outlined by the North Atlantic Treaty Group (NATO) as the flexibility of various (army) formations to “talk, prepare, and function collectively successfully.” Furthermore, it’s also outlined “as the flexibility to function in synergy within the execution of assigned duties.”

As “maritime conscious” India envisages a “free, open and resilient Indo-Pacific,” it’s already conducting 17 multilateral and 20 bilateral workouts to boost interoperability. India can also be giving a direct push to interoperability via its abroad mission-based deployments. These deployments are guaranteeing the operational readiness of Indian naval belongings, with “Indian ships and submarines [spending] 9,400 ship days, near 1,150 submarine days and virtually 15,000 hours of flying up to now yr,” in line with one report.  These deployments are enjoying a key function in each wartime and peacetime operations.

The best push towards naval interoperability has been seen in the course of the ongoing Purple Sea disaster, the place Indian naval belongings have engaged in “basic police work” in combating piracy and the Houthi rebels concurrently. The Indian Navy has dutifully pitched in and performed anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia, demonstrating the navy’s heft at a time when different regional navies are busy countering the Houthis. 

Furthermore, regardless of in a roundabout way becoming a member of the U.S.-led “Operation Prosperity Guardian” to battle the Houthis, the Indian Navy has demonstrated glorious situational consciousness and fought drone assaults on business transport vessels within the Purple Sea. This was made doable via the environment friendly use of the Data Fusion Middle within the Indian Ocean Area (IFC-IOR), a regional maritime company hosted by the Indian Navy in New Delhi. The IFC-IOR performed a key function in passing info to the Indian Navy and Coast Guard in the course of the rescue of injured crew members from MV Ruen, which had been hijacked within the mid-Arabian Sea, “regardless of the scene of the incident having restricted warship presence close by.” Via such initiatives, India has demonstrated that interoperability capabilities at a number of ranges – not simply within the precise theater but additionally behind the scenes. 

Equally, as a part of its deployment, INS Sumedha, an Indian naval ship underneath the aegis of the Japanese Naval Command (ENC) of the Indian Navy, has expanded interoperability between the the Indian and Mozambique Navy via skilled interactions, cross deck visits, joint Unique Financial Zone (EEZ) patrols, and port calls. 

On the similar time, these deployments have ensured that India has emerged as a serious participant inside the realms of maritime area consciousness (MDA) and humanitarian help and catastrophe aid (HADR), as India has engaged in catastrophe danger discount and disaster administration. 

The Approach Ahead 

Whereas current mission-based deployments have given interoperability a particular push, India nonetheless continues to be ambivalent on the character of the maritime relationship it needs with international navies and the extent of interoperability it needs. This offers rise to a permanent “Goldilocks dilemma” for India because it makes an attempt to safeguard its pursuits whereas avoiding entrapment. 

That is seen in India’s engagement within the Purple Sea, as an example – regardless of its sturdy presence, India continues to be cautious of becoming a member of Operation Prosperity Guardian regardless of being a member of the Mixed Maritime Drive. Equally, India is hesitant about receiving direct and visual assist about assessments, intelligence, and joint coaching on anti-submarine warfare (ASW). 

Whereas the prevalent political dispensation is giving a push to those deployments, it’s doable that future governments could not give significance to such deployments. Furthermore, India must construct its bandwidth to maintain such deployments for lengthy durations in precise war-like conditions. Whereas the Indian Navy has excelled in reinforcing its place as the popular safety companion within the Indian Ocean Area, it must have interaction in long-term deployments with real-time operations to make sure a permanent and sturdy Indian presence at sea. Furthermore, Indian engagements at sea could put India on an escalation ladder that will finally result in full-scale battle inside the medium to long run. 

As India pushes for operational interoperability and integration sooner or later, it must align its platforms with these of its companions. This can entail decreasing dependence on Russian weapon programs and platforms regardless of appreciable Indian dependence on them. Because the Ukraine warfare endures and rhetoric towards Indian neutrality grows, India must finalize alternate sources of protection procurement with higher swiftness. Whereas the French and Germans could possibly present submarines, and the USA could allow a pure enchancment in India’s intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities via the provision of MQ-9B drones, amongst different weapon programs, India must extricate itself from Russian programs for precise interoperability to happen – not simply with the USA but additionally different Western navies.