India is all set to place an order with a South korean shipyard for building eight minesweepers for Indian Navy to overhaul its existing fleet of such specialised warships. The MoD has selected Pusan South korea based kangnam Corporation as the lowest bidder that is technically qualified to execute the order.

Anaval minefield is a significant physical and psychological threat that can cause attrition to enemy ships, both mercantile and men of war, and submarines or limit ship movements by forcing delays and diversions because of perceptions and fears, both real and exaggerated. Any suspected minefield must be treated as a serious danger, thereby forcing the ship’s Captain to make decisions with incomplete information of the true threat, little information on the relative merit of the available choices, and dire consequences if a wrong choice is made. The sea mine is a classic low-cost force multiplier which can be used by any country that aspires to extend its reach and influence to areas and at times where it cannot deploy a requisite force.

Concepts of Mine Warfare

Mine warfare is a discipline of undersea warfare that utilises the sea mine as a weapon to further its maritime aims. It has application in both war as well as less than war situations. A point that merits mention is that the destruction of ships, whether civilian or military, is not the primary purpose of a minefield. Mines are intended to prevent the use of or passage through an area of sea. Mine countermeasures are intended to permit the exploitation of an area of sea or allow safe passage through such an area.

While offensive mine warfare can be defined as the laying of minefields and the maintenance of the same, defensive mine warfare is the destruction or neutralisation of minefields laid clandestinely by the hostile forces. Both the concepts of offensive and defensive mine warfare are effectively utilised as part of naval strategy in any conflict situation. hence, the offensive mine warfare capability provides tactical advantage and places the mine countermeasure forces into defensive mode riddled with tactical uncertainties.

Applications of Mine Warfare

Following are some of the classic applications of mine warfare which can be optimally utilised in extension of own maritime strategy.

Asset protection: The minefields are used to create a low-cost conventional coastal defences to provide effective protection to vital installations, ports and harbours to prevent ingress to hostile forces, at the same time provide safe lanes for break-out of own forces.

Interdiction: The minefields are employed for obstruction of shipping routes and transit lanes to prevent hostile surface and submarine forces to mount attacks from the sea, to inhibit the free flow of commerce. In this case, the minefields are laid off the enemy ports, harbours, off-shore installations.

Attrition: In a major conflict, attrition mining can play a crucial part of the naval balance of power—the consequences of destroying even a single SSBN or aircraft carrier would be incalculable. Usually attrition is achieved by selecting a suitable choke point through which the asset in question must pass and then mining it into oblivion.

Force multiplication: Further use of minefields is to accentuate the effectiveness of other weapons and to provide a suitable environment for their use rather than as a primary weapon. This may be achieved by using minefields to channel enemy shipping into selected killing grounds or to restrict their manoeuvrability and thus enhance their vulnerability. Other potential uses of force multiplier minefields include decoying submarines into attacks on “high value targets” or herding surface ships into positions suitable for submarine ambushes.