Refit plans, operational availability of ships and submarines, as well as the plans for infrastructure augmentation to meet the growing requirements of the Indian Navy topped the agenda of the Indian Navy’s Annual Refit Conference 23 and Annual Infrastructure & Indigenisation Conference (AIIC).
The two days conference was conducted at the Headquarters, Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam on February 23-24, 2023. The conference was chaired by VAdm Sandeep Naithani, Chief of Materiel.
The conference saw attendance from the Naval Headquarters, the three Naval Commands, the Tri-Services Andaman and Nicobar Command, Director General Naval Projects, Naval Dockyards, Repair Yards, and Material Organisations of the Indian Navy.
Chief of Materiel, VAdm Sandeep Naithani, lauded the progress made on maintenance and sustenance aspects of Machinery, Hull, Weapons, and Sensors of the naval platforms. He urged the technical fraternity to remain focused on the challenges faced and use the latest technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Quantum Computation, 5G for IOT, Robotics, etc., to ensure enhanced operational availability of ships and submarines through the reduction in maintenance periods.
He further highlighted the growing role of the Indian Navy and the extended deployment of ships away from the base port, which calls for greater reliance on repair authorities to deliver quality output.
The AIIC meeting, which took place on the second day, reviewed the progress of various technical and marine infrastructure projects. The Chief of Materiel expressed satisfaction with the pace of the ongoing technical infrastructure projects aimed at the augmentation of repair and refitting facilities in the Indian Navy.
Additionally, various marine infrastructure projects, including the creation of additional berthing space for future platforms planned to be inducted over the next 15 years, were reviewed during the meeting. An exclusive session on indigenisation was also conducted during the conference, in line with the Government of India’s initiative of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.