Country India FOC Western Fleet Rear Admiral RB Pandit | Headquarters Mumbai, Maharashtra | |
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Flag Officer Commanding in Chief Vice Admiral Girish Luthra | ||
The Western Naval Command (पश्चिमी नौसेना कमान) is a formation of the Indian Navy. It has its HQ in Mumbai, Maharashtra and is commanded by Vice Admiral Girish Luhtra .
Contents
Area of responsibility
The Western Naval Command (WNC) is the sword arm of the Indian Navy and naval operations conducted on the western seaboard would be central to the outcome of any conflict at sea against Pakistan. The western fleet is the two-star level operational formation of the Western Naval Command. It utilizes Mumbai and Karwar as its home ports, with INS Kunjali its HQ in Mumbai. The fleet at the WNC is based under Flag Officer Maharashtra Area (FOMA) and provides naval defence in the sensitive north Arabian Sea adjacent to Pakistan. INS Kadamba, a large naval base, was constructed under Project Seabird and completed in 2005. This naval base, at Karwar in Karnataka, is used exclusively by the Indian Navy.
Capabilities
INS Viraat is the Flagship of the Western Fleet. The WNC is equipped with submarine pens, a carrier dock and main maintenance dockyards.
The Carrier Battle Group of the Western Fleet has the aircraft carriers INS Viraat and INS Vikramaditya, Delhi class destroyers, Talwar class frigates , Brahmaputra class frigates , INS Kolkata Indian navy's brand new destroyer and Sindhughosh class submarines. The Naval Aviation is provided by Sea Harrier strike aircraft and MiG-29K fighters along with airborne early warning Kamov Ka-31 Helicopters.
Full-fledged shipbuilding facilities on the western seaboard include the Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai, the Goa Shipyard Limited and the Cochin Shipyard Ltd in Kerala, which is India's largest repair dry dock.
Organization
The Western Naval Command is organized as follows:
Naval bases
Naval bases under Western Naval Command are the following