– National Interest – While much commentary has been made on the drivers and motivations behind China’s growing submarine fleet, the Indian Navy’s perception of the undersea domain has only infrequently been discussed. How do security managers in New Delhi view issues such as undersea warfare or the future of subsurface competition in the Indian Ocean? What are the Indian Navy’s priorities in terms of subsurface force structure and anti-submarine warfare (ASW)? How close is it to realizing its stated objectives? And what kind of acquisitions could best help the Indian Navy shield its fleet and maritime environs from unwelcome submarine activity?

– National Interest – Chinese submarines prowling South Asia’s briny deep? No longer is this some hypothetical prospect. A nuclear-powered People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 093 Shang-class attack boat was sighted cruising regional waters last winter. Indian naval proponents long maintained that Beijing would cross a redline if it dispatched nuclear subs to the Indian Ocean. It would set Sino-Indian maritime competition in motion—a seesaw process with unforeseeable repercussions.

– USNI News – India is considering powering its second domestically built aircraft carrier with a nuclear propulsion plant.

– War is Boring – India learned the hard way with INS ‘Vikramaditya’.

– The Economist – India eyes a strategic opportunity in the Bay of Bengal.

– USNI News – India’s first modern guided missile destroyer formally entered the fleet on Saturday in a formal commissioning ceremony — three years behind schedule.

– AFP – The United States, India and Japan are set to kick off week-long war games in the Pacific, beefing up naval ties as they warily eye an increasingly assertive China and its military buildup.

– USNI News – India’s freshly elected prime minister is backing $3.18 billion to complete the Indian Navy’s domestically built aircraft carrier after seeing one in action.

– Was is Boring – Since China’s aircraft carrier Liaoning began sea trials in summer 2011, naval and air power observers have been closely watching the development of Beijing’s once-secretive carrier program. Meanwhile, India—an established flattop operator—has also been making important progress deploying air power at sea.

– USNI News – India’s newest aircraft carrier — INS Vikramaditya — is underway on an operational deployment, according to the new head of the Indian Navy.

– War is Boring – India’s refurbished Soviet-made aircraft carrier Vikramaditya suffered a boiler failure during her 42-day trip from Russia’s Sevmash shipyard, where she was rebuilt, to the Indian Karwar naval base on the country’s west coast starting in late November.

– War is Boring – New Delhi shows off refurbished Russian flattop.

– The Diplomat – A new carrier like India’s does more than just denote blue-water capability.

– The Diplomat – Delivery of a new aircraft carrier caps a mostly impressive year for the Indian Navy.

– USNI News – The Indian Navy has commissioned its Russian-built aircraft carrier in a Saturday ceremony.

– The Diplomat – India will need to demonstrate diplomatic skill in this emerging region. Working with Australia would be a good start.

– Economist – Rarely does nemesis follow hubris so quickly. On August 10th India’s prime minister, Manmohan Singh, proudly announced that the reactor of the country’s first indigenously designed and built nuclear-powered submarine, the Arihant (“Destroyer of Enemies”), had been activated and the vessel would soon begin sea trials. This “giant stride” was quickly followed by another, two days later, with the launch of the country’s first domestically built aircraft-carrier, the Vikrant, which is expected to enter service in 2018. But in the small hours of August 14th an explosion on board an Indian navy submarine berthed in Mumbai killed 18 sailors. The vivid explosion that lit up the city swiftly eclipsed the earlier, patriotic glow, bringing to a premature halt all the celebrations the admirals had intended.

– BBC – A huge explosion and fire on an Indian Kilo-class submarine berthed at a Mumbai dockyard has killed a number of crew members, India’s defence minister has said.

– RIA Novosti – Russia has delivered the last in a series of three modified Krivak-III frigates built for the Indian Navy.

– RIA Novosti – An Indian Navy diesel-electric submarine was handed back to the service in an official ceremony following a major refit at Russia’s Zvezdochka shipyard on Saturday.

– Aviation Week – The Indian navy is likely to call an end to its tryst with ski-jump aircraft carriers, deciding that its next big vessel will be a flat-top with a catapult-launch system.

– Times of India – In keeping with its steadily growing blue-water capabilities, the Navy is now all set to dispatch four warships on an overseas deployment to the Horn of Africa, Red Sea and the western Mediterranean, even as four of its other warships entered the Shanghai port in China on Wednesday.

– Defense Technology International – The Indian Navy may start preparing to get into service the second aircraft carrier. On June 8, INS Vikramaditya left Russia’s Sevmash shipyard in Severdvinsk to head for its first sea trials. According to Sevmash, the trials will take 124 days. They will start in the White Sea, then the ship will sail further north, to the Barents Sea to test its air wing. Despite the fact that India has already trained the crew staff for Vikramaditya, during the trials the carrier will be operated by Russians accompanied by Indian Navy inspectors

– Indian Navy – Indian Aircraft Carrier Sea Trials Postponed Until June – Sea trials of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier being overhauled for the Indian navy at the Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia have been postponed until the beginning of June.

– BBC – India has formally commissioned a nuclear-powered submarine into its navy, rejoining the elite club of nations with such a weapon.