INDIAN OCEAN NAVAL SYMPOSIUM PERTH, AUSTRALIA
The 4th edition of the Indian ocean naval symposium (Ions) and conclave of chiefs was hosted by the royal australian navy at perth, australia, from March 25-28, 2014. Vice admiral girish luthra, director general naval operations led a four-member Indian naval delegation for the event.
The Ions seeks to enhance maritime cooperation among navies of the littoral states of the Indian ocean region by providing an open and inclusive forum for discussion of regionally relevant maritime issues that would lead to common understanding on the way ahead.
The conclave of chiefs met on March 28, 2014, at perth where the chairmanship was transferred to royal australian navy. 21 nations were represented at the Ions conclave of chiefs.
The IONS “Charter of Business” was agreed upon by the conclave of chiefs and brought into effect.
FIRST SALVO LAUNCH OF BRAHMOS FROM SHIP SUCCESSFUL
The first ever test launch of an advanced Russian-Indian Brahmos supersonic cruise missile from a warship in salvo mode took place earlier this year and was successful. Two missiles were launched from Ins Trikand, within an interval of several seconds and destroyed the target. a total of eight cruise missiles could be fired in salvo mode. The Brahmos missile has a range of 290 km and can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kg. It can effectively engage targets from an altitude as low as 10 metres and has a maximum speed of Mach 2.8, Multilateral humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (ha/dr) exercise, KoModo was conducted from March 28 to april 3, 2014 at Indonesia. The exercise participants included India (Ins sukanya), Indonesia, Us, china, russia, new Zealand, south Korea, Japan and many more countries.
MEASURES IMPLEMENTED TO ENHANCE SAFETY IN THE INDIAN NAVY
The Indian navy, in recent years, has taken a quantum leap in operational ability with the induction of a large number of sophisticated platforms, deployed across all three dimensions. Following additional measures have also been introduced: To inculcate a Ôthink safetyÕ attitude amongst naval personnel at all stages of the naval career. In case of a long lay-off such as refits of ships and submarines, Ôsafety checksÕ in harbour and at sea are undertaken prior to declaring the ship/submarine ÔoperationalÕ. safety also forms an important aspect during the Ôwork-upÕof a ship or submarine which is usually undertaken at least once in two years. similar safety checks are undertaken for submarines, air-squadrons and air bases by their respective operational authorities. To further promote safety culture, it was also decided to introduce a framework comprising safety class authorities (scas) who essentially are experts in their respective fields. post recent incidents onboard submarines, safety stand-downs were ordered and extensive checks on weapon related safety systems and audit of standard operating procedures on all operational submarines were ordered. The safety audit has been institution-