C UDAY BHASKAR

The observation by a parliamentary panel that the Indian Navy (IN) will soon reach a point of near zero mine-sweeping capability when the existing six vessels are de-commissioned by end 2018 is yet another reminder – if such were needed – about the dysfunctional state of higher-defence management in the country.

Mines at sea, whether floating or laid on the seabed, have a high index of lethality and can cause unacceptable levels of damage to a warship at very low cost. Thus mine warfare and mine counter measures are integral to naval capability and port/harbour defence; and most major navies have ensured adequate capability for keeping their vital harbours open for men of war as well as merchant shipping traffic.

Technology has improved both the destructive potential of the mine as also the countermeasure technology and the use of mines as part of covert warfare in the maritime domain is very much the emerging challenge.

The cost of a mine — which can be a few hundred dollars — and the damage it can cause to a navy or the sea-borne trading efficacy of a nation are inversely proportional and even the most powerful navies are vulnerable.

It may be recalled that towards the end of the Cold War (1988) and in early 1991 when the US had embarked upon Operation Desert Storm (the War for Kuwait), helicopter carrier Tripoli and the guided-missile cruiser Princeton, front-line warships of the US Navy were severely damaged by floating mines in the Persian Gulf. This experience served as a wake-up call and most navies invested in the mine protection domain that had lain dormant since the end of World War II.

The IN was cognizant of the need to acquire appropriate mine counter measure capability and 12 vessels were acquired from the former USSR in the period 1978 to 1988. It is instructive that despite the Navy having prioritized this platform as an operational