RAHUL BASU

INS Hansa was set up in Goa in 1964. Let’s look at the context for the INS Hansa base. INS Vikrant was commissioned in 1961. It is clear that after

the China debacle in 1962, India’s defence spending was stepped up considerably. The Mumbai airport, which was then being used for naval fighter training, was also seeing a rise in passenger flights.

Dabolim airport was set up in 19551. Until the Liberation, there were flights from Portugal by TAIP and TAP. However, the flights were not very frequent, at best once a day. Post Liberation, in 1964, there was exactly one civilian flight into Dabo-lim, a Dakota from Mumbai.

Dabolim airport was used just once a day, situated on the coast and at a superb natural harbour (Mormugao). It was a natural choice for setting up a new base, not too far from Mumbai (where the Vi-krant was stationed.) It is not clear whether the paperwork to transfer the airport to the Navy was done properly, but the rationale at a na-tional level is clear. It is easy to look back from 2013 to say that it was a not the right decision. But in 1964, it is hard to justify not using a good airport for the Navy when only one flight was landing here each day.

Present operations of the Navy at Dabolim

A careful analysis of the Navy’s present operations and its stated plans show that the Navy plans to vacate most of Dabolim airport within a decade at most. What may be left are the IL-38 maritime re-connaissance aircraft.

From a national security stand-point, Dabolim is currently a poor

choice for a naval air base. There are thousands of foreigners flying in and out of the airport. That itself creates a significant risk of foreign surveillance, potentially even on foreign aircraft landing at Dabolim. Further, the large foreign popula-tion resident in Goa creates a situ-ation where naval officers can be lured into honeypot situations to give away national secrets.

New naval air stations near Goa• Karwar Airport2 is currently

planned to be a small facility of 52 hectares (128 acres) with an airstrip serving helicopters and Dornier-228. This would require a runway of at most 1,000 mtrs. Since this is an integral part of Project Seabird, it has a high probability of fructifying.

• Less well publicised is the fact that the Indian Navy has a very sig-nificant participation3 in the expan-

sion of Sambra Airport at Belgaum. The plan includes the acquisition by the Indian Navy of 420 acres (Dabo-lim civil enclave is only 35 acres) and basing the MiG-29Ks (for INS Vi-kramaditya) at Belgaum for training purposes4. The Navy is spending Rs. 151 cr here, which is more than the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is spending !

If we look at the Navy’s plans, we

can see the following :• The Sea Harriers are scheduled

for de-commissioning5 somewhere between 2015 and 2023.

• MiG-29K will move to Belgaum.• It is reasonable to assume that

the jet trainers, viz, the Hawk AJTs, will also move to Belgaum, along with the MiG29K.

• The Dornier 228s will move to Karwar.

• The helicopters (Chetaks and Kamov 31 AEW) will move to Kar-

war. It is clear that the only aircraft that may still operate at Dabolim is the IL-38 (and possibly its replace-ment, the Boeing P-8i Neptune). This would imply that most of the Navy’s space at Dabolim will get freed up for Civil operations.

• It is likely that since Belgaum will be able to handle B-737s/A-320s, it will be able to handle IL-38 / Boeing P8is. However, I have not been able to find out the runway length needed for these aircraft.

This analysis is based on a few scanty pieces of information. How-ever, it seems quite logical from a national security perspective. How-ever, for security reasons, I don’t think the Navy will confirm this publicly any time soon.

Clearly, our politicians need to have a conversation with the Indian Navy ! And soon.

The writer is a consultant to startups, small companies and NGOs

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GOA SUNDAY, June 2 , 2013g g

A press handout photo of the line up of MiG 29Ks before the commissioning

FRom A nAtionAL SecURity StAndpoint, dABoLim iS cURRentLy A pooR cHoice FoR A nAvAL AiR BASe. tHeRe ARe tHoUSAndS oF FoReigneRS FLying in And oUt oF tHe AiRpoRt. tHAt itSeLF cReAteS A SigniFicAnt RiSk oF FoReign SURveiLLAnce, potentiALLy even on FoReign AiRcRAFt LAnding At dABoLim. FURtHeR, tHe LARge FoReign popULAtion ReSident in goA cReAteS A SitUAtion wHeRe nAvAL oFFiceRS cAn Be LURed into Honeypot SitUAtionS to give AwAy nAtionAL SecRetS.

IS NAVY PLANNING TO VACATE

DABOLIM?

The Indian Navy is all set to participate significantly in the expansion of Sambra Airport at Belgaum. The plan includes the acquisition by the Indian Navy of 420 acres—the Dabolim civil enclave is just 35 acres—and basing the MiG-29Ks at Belgaum for training purposes. The Navy is spending Rs 151 cr on this project, which is more than the Airports Authority of India is spending. The Sea Harriers are scheduled for de-commissioning sometime between 2015 and 2023. The Dornier 228s too are expected to move to Karwar, as are the Chetaks and Kamov 31 AEWs. This implies that most of the Navy’s space at Dabolim will become available for civil operations. If that is the case, why are our politicians, embroiled in the dual airport debate, not talking seriously to the Navy, asks this analyst

Squadron Aircraft RoleinAS 551 “pHAntomS” kiRAn mk1 /2 / HAwk AJt Jet tRAineRS

inAS 552 “BRAveS” SeA HARRieR tRAineR FigHteR tRAineR AiRcRAFt

inAS 300 "wHite tigeRS" SeA HARRieR FigHteR AiRcRAFt

inAS 303 “BLAck pAntHeRS” mig-29k /kUB FigHteR AiRcRAFt

inAS 310 "coBRAS" doRnieR 228 - 201 iw mARitime pAtRoL, eLectRonic wARFARe

inAS 321 "AngeLS" cHetAk HeLicopteRS SeARcH-And-ReScUe HeLicopteRS

inAS 339 “FALconS” kAmov 31 Aew HeLicopteRS AiRBoRne eARLy wARning HeLicopteRS

inAS 315 “winged StALLionS”

iL 38 mARitime ReconnAiSSAnce, Anti-SUBmARine wARFARe

An Indian Navy official who spoke to this newspaper said though the Navy was going in for a major expansion, it was in no way planning to give up on any of its bases. “As some bases get overloaded, we move into other places for faster mobility.” He said the view that the Navy was plan-ning to vacate Dabolim was “incorrect”, but analysts were free to draw their own conclusions.He said the Navy was acquiring land in association with the Airports Authority of India in Belgaum where it would operate as an enclave of a civilian airport. Belgaum is a long-term project, but the restrictions on timings and the 4,000 ft runway made it unsuitable for defence opera-tions, he said. Karwar would not operate as an air station. It will only have a small air base to service helicopters from the ships.The naval PRO was unavailable for official comment

n Review Bureau

We’re expanding, but no plans to give up our bases, says Navy

1http://www.colaco.net/1/GdeFdabo-lim1.htm2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kar-war_Airport3http://allaboutbelgaum.com/news/belgaum-airport-is-being-developed-

jointly-with-the-indian-navy/4http://allaboutbelgaum.com/infrastruc-ture/naval-air-base-at-belgaum/5http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NAVY/Aviation/Aircraft/118-BAe-Sea-Harrier.html

References:

Defence Minister AK Antony inspects the guard of honour at INS Hansa last month before commissioning the INAS 303 MiG-29K squadron

For more details about each of these squadrons log on to: http://indiannavy.nic.in/print/222 or http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NAVY/Aviation/Squadrons.html