As Admiral Dinesh Tripathi prepares to hand over command of the Navy, he leaves behind a service visibly transformed, 45 warships under construction in Indian shipyards, a Carrier Battle Group (CBG) that forced an adversary’s navy to port during Operation Sindoor and a procurement pipeline that includes Rafale Marine jets and next-generation submarines. He tells Javaria Rana about the Navy’s self-reliance push, its expanding presence across the Indian Ocean Region and the road ahead for maritime power.
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The Parliamentary Standing Committee report released earlier this year highlighted the Navy’s indigenisation record. What has enabled such close synergy between the Navy, shipyards and industry? What is the next frontier for the Navy’s self-reliance push?
We take great pride in our active pursuit of Aatmanirbharta. The close synergy between the Navy, shipyards and private industry is the result of a deliberate, decades-long transition from a “Buyer’s Navy” to a “Builder’s Navy”. To date, India has built and commissioned over 170 naval platforms domestically and 45 platforms currently under construction are being built exclusively in Indian shipyards.
We have also set up the Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO) and the Technology Development Acceleration Cell (TDAC), which allow end-users to interact directly with academia and industry. The Navy proudly owns 35% of the iDEX challenges announced in the defence and security domain.
The next frontier is achieving deeper Aatmanirbharta at the component, sub-system, deep sub-component level and materials. This means going beyond hull construction to sovereign design, development, integration, and sustainment of propulsion systems, AI-enabled combat systems, autonomous platforms, and quantum-secure networks.
We are steering approximately 140 major R&D projects with 25 DRDO labs, while strengthening linkages with MSMEs, start-ups, private design houses and public sector industry.
As maritime competition intensifies and underwater activity expands across the Indo-Pacific, how is the Navy strengthening its submarine and anti-sub warfare capabilities for deterrence and maritime domain awareness?
Both submarine and anti-submarine warfare capability development remain very high priorities. The undersea domain remains central to maritime deterrence, it is not just about having submarines, but about having underwater domain awareness and the ability to respond faster.
Our submarine capability development is guided by a 30-year submarine building programme approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security. Under Project-75(I), we are in the final stages of procurement to build six next-generation conventional submarines equipped with Air Independent Propulsion under a technology-transfer and indigenous manufacturing framework.
Our ASW and Maritime Domain Awareness approach is based on a layered capability architecture involving conventional and nuclear submarines, advanced maritime patrol aircraft, shipborne helicopters, seabed awareness and underwater surveillance systems, because maritime domain awareness today extends from seabed to space. The induction of MH-60R copters has significantly strengthened operational effectiveness. We are also inducting 16 ASW Shallow Water Craft specifically designed to detect, track and neutralise undersea threats in coastal waters.
We are progressing procurement of six additional P-8I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance and ASW aircraft. A contract for 31 MQ-9B Sky/Sea Guardian HALE RPAS has been placed, with deliveries scheduled to commence in 2029. We are simultaneously integrating unmanned underwater systems, AI-enabled processing and network-centric operational capability into the underwater battlespace.
Beyond adding a new fighter platform, how will Rafale Marine strengthen carrier aviation in areas like maritime strike, network-centric warfare and interoperability?
The Rafale Marine (M) acquisition significantly strengthens the Navy’s carrier aviation capability. The aircraft brings advanced sensors, weapons, electronic warfare capability and superior situational awareness, all of which are essential for operations in a complex multi-domain battlespace.
We signed the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for the procurement of 26 Rafale-M aircraft, which importantly includes performance-based logistics to ensure high availability. Deliveries are scheduled to commence in 2028 and conclude by 2030. Dassault Aviation will train our initial batch of crew to enable Day One Ops directly from the Navy’s aircraft carriers.
Rafale Marine enhances the Navy’s maritime strike and operational reach capability and will enhance our ability to conduct sea control, maritime strike and fleet air defence.
With AMCA now in the spotlight and indigenous carrier aviation becoming a major focus area, how does the Navy see the long-term future of deck-based air power, and where does TEDBF fit into that roadmap?
The strategic necessity of CBG was aptly demonstrated during Op Sindoor. The rapid deployment of a CBG-enabled aggressive posturing that forced the adversary’s navy to remain confined to their ports or close to the Makran coast. The immense combat power centred around the CBG was recently witnessed by the PM during his stay on board INS Vikrant.
Deck-based air power remains central to sea control and maritime deterrence. The Navy’s long-term view is that carrier aviation must evolve through a combination of near-term capability, medium-term transition and long-term indigenous development.
TEDBF is the cornerstone of our long-term roadmap, being pursued as a 4++ generation carrier-borne fighter in collaboration with Aeronautical Development Agency. The niche technologies mastered during LCA (Navy) development are being utilised to meet the challenging timelines for TEDBF’s first flight.
