The seminar had a highly packed schedule during its two days duration, with Session 1 held at the K.K. Birla Auditorium; the balance nine sessions were divided between Hari Shankar Singhania Commission Room and the Conference Room and finally the valedictory address was held at the Hari Shankar Singhania Commission Room.

Session 1 — Missiles and Guns for a Future Ready Naval Force

The Session 1 was presided over by Vice Admiral A.K. Chopra (Retd), former Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern and Western Naval Commands. During the session the “Navy Perspective” was presented by Rear Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Policy & Plans), which was followed by a presentation on “Perspective on Missiles (Airframe and Engines)” by Bill Forsberg, Saab, “Perspective on Missiles (Systems and Controls) by Dr A. Bashir, Tata Power SED, “Perspective on Naval Guns (Systems and Propellants) by Rajesh Kohli, BHEL which was followed by discussions and the summing up by the chair.

Session 2 — Propulsion & Power Generation

The Session 2 was presided over by Vice Admiral B.S. Randhawa (Retd), former Chief of Material. Rear Admiral K.M. Deshpande, Assistant Chief of Material (Dockyards & Refits), presented “The Navy Perspective – Challenges and Opportunities,” “National Competence in Marine Gas Turbine Propulsion” by Commander C.H.V. Sudhakar, Gas Turbine Testing & Tuning Team, Visakhapatnam, “Diesel Power Plants” by Sanjay Kumar Majumdar, Kirloskar Oil Engine Ltd., “National Competence in Marine Propulsion – The Road Ahead” by Commander Manish Singh, Indian Navy, which was followed by a question-answer session and the summing up by the chair.

Session 3 — Torpedo and Directed Energy Weapons

Vice Admiral R.K. Pattanaik (Retd), former Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, chaired the session. Rear Admiral O.P.S. Rana, Director General, Naval Armament Inspection, provided “The Navy Perspective” which was followed by presentations by Andreas Dohrn of Atlas Electronics, on “Perspective on Torpedoes (Propulsion and Frame)”, “Perspective on Torpedoes (Homing and Systems)” by Raytheon, “Perspective on Torpedoes (Homing and Systems)” by Dr Abraham Verghese, NSTL and “Perspective on Directed Energy Weapons” by V.B. Patil, LASTEC. The session concluded with questions-answer session and the summing up by the chairman.

Session 4 — Surveillance and Detection Systems

Session 4 was chaired by Vice Admiral P.C. Bhasin (Retd), former Chief of Material. “The Navy Perspective – Future Networks Warfare Concept” was presented by Rear Admiral S.J. Singh, Assistant of Naval Staff (Communication, Space and Network Centric Warfare Operations), followed by presentations by Peter Buckley of Lockheed Martin on “AEGIS Weapon Systems – Today and Tomorrow”, “Advances in Space based Surveillance & Technologies Maritime Applications” by K. Jayaram, ISRO, “Electronic Support Measures” by Iqbal Singh, VEM Technologies, and “Network Centric Naval Warfare” by Nikas Ghikas, Interoperability Systems International S.A.

Session 5 — Futuristic Trends in Propulsion and Power Generation Technologies – Electric & Nuclear

Vice Admiral N.N. Kumar (Retd), former Chief of Material, was the Session Chairman. Captain Vikram Bora, Director of Naval Design (Submarine Design Group) presented “The Navy Perspective on Nuclear Propulsion” which was followed by presentations on “The Navy Perspective on Full Electric Propulsion” by Commander S. Shahne, Joint Director of Marine Engineering, “Air Independent Propulsion Systems” by Commodore Jagdish Anand (Retd), Saab, Kokums Sterling AIP System, “Integrated Electric Propulsion and Power Generation for Ships” by Ravindra S. Mahajan, L&T, EAIC, “Advanced Propulsion Technologies for Electric Ship Architecture” by Sanjeev Kakkar, GE Aviation Military Systems and “Propulsion Systems for Aircraft Carrier” by Vice Admiral Bertrand Aubriat, DCNS.

Session 6 — Naval Aviation Futures

Rear Admiral D.M. Sudan, Senior Directing Staff (Navy) at the National Defence College, New Delhi, was the Session Chairman. “The Navy Perspective” was presented by Rear Admiral P.G. Pynumootil, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Air), which was followed by presentations on “Air Early Warning & Control Technologies” by Commodore G. Sharma (Retd), Northrop Grumman, “Future Trends in Naval Multi Roe Helicopters” by Commander Rohit Kumar (Retd), Thales Sonar Systems and “Anti-Ship Missiles for Helicopters” by Patrick, MBDA, “Emerging Aero Engine Technologies” by Sasikumar Muthuswamy of Rolls-Royce and “Future Trends in Naval Helicopters” by Konovalov Oleg, Russian Helicopters.

Session 7 — Submarine Technologies

Vice Admiral A.K. Singh (Retd), former Flag Officer Command-in-Chief, Andaman & Nicobar Command and the Eastern Naval Command, presided over the session. Rear Admiral Mohit Gupta, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Submarines), presented the “Navy Perspective” which was followed by presentations on “Future Submarine Vessel Design and Materials” by Commodore Mukesh Bhargawa, L&T, “Future Submarine Platforms and Technologies” by Andreas Gruickle, Thyssnkrupp Marine Systems India Pvt. Ltd. “AIP Technologies/Stored Energy Devices” by Dr S.B. Singh, NMRL and on “Sonars and Submarines” by Commodore A. Jai Singh (Retd), Atlas Electroniks. The session came to an end with a question-answer session and summing up by the chairman.

Session 8 — Autonomous Vehicles for Naval Applications

Rear Admiral S. Kanugo, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Air Material), presided over the session. After his opening remarks he presented “The Naval Perspective”. This was followed by a presentation on “Autonomous Unmanned Vehicles” by Dr Manu Koruula, NSTL, “Naval Targets (Drone Kits)” by Michael Berg, Saab, “Maritime UAV & Helicopter Payloads” by Dmitri Bernadiner, DEFSYS Solutions Pvt. Ltd. and “Unmanned Surface/Under Water Craft by Rafael.

Session 9 — Coastal Surveillance and Response Systems and Platforms

This Session of the Seminar was chaired by Rear Admiral A.R. Radhakrishnan (Retd), former Director General, Project Seabird. “The Navy Perspective” on the theme was presented by Vice Admiral Anil Chawla, Director General, Naval Operations. This was followed by presentations on “The Coast Guard Perspective” by Inspector General V.S.R. Murthy, Deputy Director General (Operations & Coastal Security), Indian Coast Guard, “Coastal Surveillance Radar Technologies (HF SWR)” by Nikhil Khanna, Raytheon, “Coastal Surveillance Beyond the Horizon – The Challenge” by Ben-Zion Agam, ELTA Systems Limited and on “Fast Interceptor Crafts” by Commander K.S. Nathan (Retd), L&T. The session was concluded with a question-answer session and the summing up by the session chairman.

Session 10 — Future of Defence Shipbuilding in India

The concluding session of the seminar was presided over by Vice Admiral G.S. Pabby, Controller of Warship Production & Acquisition. This session was essentially a brainstorming session on the primary theme of the seminar and contained presentation of four high quality papers by Rear Admiral S.Y. Shrikhande, Flag Officer Doctrine and Concepts, on “Evolution of Japanese Shipbuilding and Lessons for India”, presentation by Bernard Buisson, DCNS, “Conceptual Model for Advanced Aircraft Carrier” by Vice Admiral Vladimir V. Pepelyaev, Krylov State Research Centre and on “Build in India – Ships for the World” by Commodore Bhupesh Tater, Additional General Manager (Materials), Naval Dockyard, Mumbai. The presentations were followed by discussions through questions and answers.

Panel Discussion

This session turned out to be quite enlightening as after the introductory remarks by the Session Chair, Vice Admiral G.S. Pabby, Controller of Warship Production & Acquisition, he invited Rear Admiral R.K. Shrawat (Retd), Chairman & Managing Director, Mazagon Dock Ltd., Vice Admiral B. Kannan (Retd), Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, L&T Shipbuilding, Vice Admiral H.S. Mallhi (Retd), Chief Executive Officer & Whole Time Director, Reliance Defence Limited, and Nayak, Chairman & Managing Director, SHOFT Shipyard, to share their experiences in executing the ‘Make in India’ paradigm towards Indian Navy’s quest towards selfreliance through indigenisation.

Valedictory Session – Building India’s Future Navy – ‘Make in India’ Approach

Admiral Sureesh Mehta (Retd), former Chief of the Naval Staff, presided over the Session. The agenda for the valedictory session was set by Dr Jyotsna Suri, Immediate Past President, FICCI and Chairperson & Managing Director, Bharat Hotels. Thereafter Admiral Sureesh Mehta gave away his profound thoughts during the valedictory address.

Conclusion

While the advancements in the entire range of niche technologies will be continuous in the future, the allocation of budgets, singleminded approach towards creation of longterm strategic assets; such as manpower resources, skill sets, cost benefit, longterm sustainability, upkeep, maintainability, interoperability, etc. will emerge as the prominent game-changing paradigm.