The USS Trenton

New Delhi, Oct. 19: India is in talks to buy an amphibious warfare vessel from the US, navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash, told senior commanders here today.

If it comes through, the acquisition of the USS Trenton will be the first big-ticket purchase of a combat platform from the US Navy by the Indian Navy.

Naval headquarters sources said the USS Trenton (LPD 14), that is also classified as a landing platform deck, was being negotiated for about Rs 200 crore, inclusive of retrofit and spares.

The acquisition was likely to come through under the Pentagon’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme that fast-tracks trade in American military hardware.

The Trenton, that was commissioned into the US Navy in 1971, is said to be service-worthy for another 15 years.

Prakash told senior commanders at a bi-annual conference that began today that the Indian Navy had reached out to Indian Ocean region countries in the wake of last December’s tsunami.

While the navy was commended, the relief effort also exposed a serious limitation. This was the Indian Navy’s absence of heavy sea-lift capability that could enable it to transport troops and heavy equipment.

The navy chief said he expected the force to play a more important role in building foreign relations.

“The navy’s diplomatic role has thus extended (after the relief it offered to neighbouring countries), not just in terms of the number of countries that we deal with and the variety of issues that we interact on, but also in terms of expectations that others have from us today, particularly in the wake of the tsunami. We stand to reap rich dividends from our active international role, particularly in our immediate neighbourhood,” Admiral Prakash said.

The LPD, the USS Trenton, has a flight deck that is capable of accommodating up to six Chinook CH-46 helicopters. The navy is not immediately considering acquisition of Chinooks.

But the deck will be used for its Seaking choppers and other medium-lift helicopters that it is negotiating from potential suppliers.

The well-deck of the Trenton can hold 24 amphibious assault vehicles.

While the ship can be used as a launching pad for troops and military equipment if necessary, it will equally well serve the purpose of transporting aid in the event of a natural calamity, such as the tsunami.

The Trenton has, in fact, been used for such purposes in the past.

Former US President Bill Clinton had once ordered it to steam to the coast of Lib-eria to evacuate US citizens from the war-torn African nation.

The Trenton is considerably larger than the two landing ships that the Indian Navy now has in its fleet.

Admiral Prakash also told senior naval commanders that he was also concerned that the maritime surveillance ability was not up to scratch.

Naval headquarters is considering issuing requests for proposals for suppliers of maritime surveillance aircraft such as the P3C Orion, Embraer and the Falcon 900.

Prakash said the government has sanctioned manpower for Project Seabird (the navy base being built at Karwar in the north Karnataka coast) and the Naval Academy taking shape at Ezhimala (in Kerala).

With an additional 1,900 personnel, the strength of civilian employees in the navy will now total about 46,000. The year 2005 was designated by the navy as the “year of the civilian”.