INS Kadamba

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 14°45′51.20″N, 74°7′42.36″E

Project Seabird is a project by the Indian Navy to develop a blue water navy and to acquire strategic depth. The project was first envisioned by the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Oscar Stanley Dawson during the 1980s, but not adopted until 1999, when the Indian Defence Minister, George Fernandes, spearheaded a new drive to realise the project.

The first phase, completed in 2005 involved the construction of a large new naval base (INS Kadamba) at Karwar in Karnataka, for exclusive use by the Indian Navy. The reasons for building a new base on the western coast include overcrowding at the harbours the Indian Navy has shared with commercial vessels at the major ports of Mumbai and Visakhapatnam and smaller ports of Kochi and Goa. The east coast base at Visakhapatnam can provide berths for fifty vessels, which is considered adequate for India’s security needs in the east. The west coast base of Mumbai is congested with merchant vessels often forcing naval vessels to wait before they can dock. The shallow approach channel at Mumbai makes it impossible for aircraft carriers to dock.

The crowded Mumbai harbour also provides no opportunity to expand the base, especially with high-risk buildings nearby, such as the sensitive Bombay Stock Exchange. Perhaps most importantly, Karwar helps to give the Indian navy the strategic depth. The topography of Karwar bay is also favourable with a good even depth of water for berthing and navigation, low siltation rates, and forested terrain to camouflage ground installations.

The chief competitors for the location of the new base were Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur and Thoothukudi.

Further development of the base will include Phase II (to double most of the existing facilities), a new naval air station and ultimately enough berths for fifty vessels. Efforts have been initiated by the Karnataka state governmnet and the Airports Authority of India in conjunction with the Navy to plan for an international airport that can handle A320s http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=23471].


[edit] External links


 This article about the Military of India is a stub. See the Indian military history task force for article coordination. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.