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Commander Mohammad Golam Kibria, (TAS), psc, BN
AbstractNo matter how surprising it may sound, an inquisitive mind might ask itself whether Bangladesh Navy could be a blue water navy or not. The traditional definition might discourage such thinking, but there is a way out. It is time for the navy to look beyond home waters, and shift its thinking and way of operating so that redundancy may be eliminated freeing the navy for its core competency development. This paper discusses the key naval roles and employments that are 'blue-water' in nature, and finds ways to share responsibilities for better results in the fields of maritime security as well as national defence.
Since its inception, Bangladesh Coast Guard has been sharing some of the maritime security duties that BN had shouldered all the way. With the passage of time ECG has gained capabilities (and growing further) to take over the peacetime operations all by itself Now, the navy could help the coast guard a bit more and hand over all such duties to it. When this is done, BN would be able to conduct more operational exercises Ooint and single service) home and abroad, undertake diplomatic engagements, enhance multi-national operations capability and many more leading to the navy's core competency development.
Introduction
"A Blue Water Navy for Bangladesh!" sounds surprising. Yes, for now, it may be surprising if the term 'Blue Water Navy' is taken in its text book (asset oriented) meaning rather than the mindset or psychology behind it. Bangladesh Navy (BN) is advancing towards Blue Water capabilities. This is not an over statement of what is planned in the Forces Goal 2030. Does that mean in the year 2030 BN will have a complete blue water capabilities? To be on the safe side, let us say, 'may be no'. Then what is this paper talking about? All it intends to say is that BN will, at some point in time in the future, acquire all that is needed, asset wise, to make itself a blue water one. Mindset wise, it is already time to shift gear.
The fall of Berlin Wall means that the small states have given up their traditional alignment with either the US or the USSR. Consequently, direct influence of the so-called super powers has reduced significantly. Again, due to an influential UN system, states now cannot involve in a direct military conflict with one another. Now, most wars are fought by a coalition of nations under the mandate of UN Resolutions. The practice of coalition-operations is not likely to fade away in the foreseeable future.
This phenomenon drives nations' navies to seek and acquire capabilities to operate as a part of such coalitions deployed, in peacetime, for countering piracy; providing Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR); UN Peace Operations etc. Through their participation in these operations, navies try to achieve diplomatic leverage, international confidence nonetheless, foreign currency for their nations. In the process, the more valuable multinational interoperability for war is reaped.
With this pretext, this paper will discuss the traditional blue water concept of navy and contemporary naval employment in order to assess whether or not
BN should pass on its long-practiced policing duties to Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG), and focus on its core blue water functions.
Blue Water Navy - Described
Definition.
In the United Kingdom the term, "blue water navy" is used to describe a navy possessing 'maritime expeditionary capabilities'. The United States defines a blue-water navy as, 'a maritime force capable of sustained operation across the deep waters of open oceans. A blue-water navy allows a country to project power far from the home country and usually includes one or more aircraft carriers. Smaller blue-water navies are able to dispatch fewer vessels abroad for shorter periods of time.' It has been seen that there is variance in the concept of what constitutes a 'blue water' navy. However, there is a requirement for the ability to exercise sea control at wide ranges.
Core Capability. As evident from the definitions, following are the core capabilities of a blue water navy:
- Operates at high seas far from home ports and m some cases world-wide.
- Able to conduct Replenishment at Sea (RAS); having a underway replenishment ships are a strong sign of a Blue Water Navy.
- Owns or operates from overseas bases that extend logistic reach, provide repair facilities and enhance strike range.
The term blue-water navy should not be confused with the capability of an individual ship. For example, vessels of a [smaller] navy can often operate in the blue waters for short period of time. A number of nations have extensive maritime assets but lack the capability to maintain the required sustainable logistic reach. Still some of them join coalition task groups m blue-water deployments such as anti-piracy patrols off Somalia.
Navies are Blue Water by Nature
Strategic Views.
Strategists like Admiral Alfred T Mahan, Sir Julian Corvette, Geoffrey Till, and James Cable all talk about blue water roles or employment of navies. Admiral Mahan opines that the very birth of the navy was to protect maritime trade. His concepts of winning decisive battles and gaining Command of the Sea are still famous and well discussed as strategic options in the navies world-wide.The naval function of sending troops across the seas onto enemy's coasts to capture territories is a blue water concept.
Sir Julian Corvette's concept of a balanced fleet is aimed at winning wars deep at sea. Professor Geoffrey Till does not want to give up the traditional and royal terminology 'Command of the Sea' although 'Sea Control' seems to have replaced it in today's operational discussions. Whatever we call it, Command of the Sea or Sea Control, the business is blue water by nature. James Cable has taken the navy as far out across the oceans as into the overseas ports and coastal waters in the name of Naval Diplomacy.
Historical Employments.
Historically navies have been 'Blue Water' as far as their employments have been seen. The Spanish, the Dutch, the Portuguese and the British used their navies to vanquish the enemy fleet at high seas, to acquire overseas, colonies and to bring riches to homeland. The history of the Royal Navy and the like, is all about decisive battle at high seas. The two World Wars saw the blue-water employment of navies for securing national interests of the belligerents.
The inferior German Navy deployed its U-Boats deep into the Atlantic to sink millions of tons of merchant shipping of the superior allied forces. On the other hand, one of the prime allied missions was the protection of Sea Lines of Communication (SLOC) with improved Anti Submarine Warfare technologies and tactics. All these examples indicate towards the navy's natural blue water functions. However, for smaller states, protection of offshore installations and coastal defence are major issues in their naval strategies.
Navies Now-a-days.
The advanced navies, such as the US Navy, Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, Russian Navy etc. are blue water in their operational concepts and deployments even in the peace time. However, the regional navies, such as the Indian Navy, Pakistan Navy, Indonesian Navy etc. join some kind of coalition/combined task force like CTF 150 for long-term deployment to counter piracy at sea, for example. Navies also participate in multinational exercises such as Exercise CARAT, MALABAR, MILAN, AMAN, EFES, FEROCIOUS FALCON etc. some of the regional navies also contribute forces (both human and materiel) to assist in the security operations of host nations - like PN contributing forces to the middle-east countries.
Such participations of smaller/regional navies with the global forces give them a feeling of operating for extended periods in the blue water environment. It is not just about feeling blue water; it is also about adopting a blue water operational culture, achieving interoperability, tightening diplomatic ties, sharpening operational planning and execution process etc. for smaller navies, it is about a 'blue water mindset'.
The Blue Water Mindset
One big question that can be asked to this paper is about the 'blue water mindset' it is talking about. This paper intends not to dispute the traditional meaning of the term 'blue water'; the term is in vogue. However, it is a matter of quite a long time until BN achieves the real 'blue water' capabilities when it would be able to operate forces in distant waters for extended duration without support from home ports or from friendly countries.
The essence of the mindset lies in two areas. Firstly, the capability to operate forces in distant waters for long duration and Secondly, the post cold-war naval affairs. These two issues are briefly discussed below:
- Distant Operations Capability.
The first thing to consider is whether BN is capable of operating forces in distant waters without support from home ports for extended duration. Yes, BN is so capable. It has been doing so since 2010 when it first started to contribute surface forces to the Mediterranean Sea under United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). BNS OSMAN and BNS MADHUMATI performed commendably for four long years, and the legacy is still on.
Of course they did not operate continuously afloat; there was no underway replenishment; they needed to return to nearby ports for refueling, provisioning and the likes. This necessarily does not snatch away their blue water virtues. In multinational operational deployments, supports will be available from allied assets either afloat or ashore, and thereby ships will be able to perform their blue water functions.
- Post Cold War Naval Affairs.
During the cold war, the two super powers used to deploy naval forces in their areas of interest globally to exert influence, assure allies, yield politico-economic benefits etc. There were no deployments such as how naval forces are now deployed in UNIFIL, or how multinational naval forces are operating for countering piracy in the Horn of Africa etc. Regional navies are now more aspiring to acquire blue water capabilities and ensure sea control within their areas of interest. Smaller navies are growing faster than they used to in the cold war period.
Global partnership or cooperation for countering piracy and responding to natural disasters is the cornerstone of most navies' strategies. Military forces are now deployed in peacekeeping missions under the UN, which gives countries like Bangladesh diplomatic leverage in the international forum. The inherent advantages of naval forces in diplomacy are being fully utilized in today's economically and politically intertwined world.
Naval forces deployed in distant waters (forward deployed, in other words) can be utilized in crucial moments. A very recent example of such employment is Non-combatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) performed by navies of China and India that extracted civilians from the port of Aden during the Saudi led coalition operations in Yemen.
Concept of BN's Blue Water Employment
The blue water employment of BN assets would be as follows:
- Increased participation in UN Peacekeeping Operations such as UNIFIL (supporting the attribute of distant operation).
- Participation in multinational operations for countering piracy in the Hon of Africa etc. (supporting the attribute of distant operation).
- Increased participation in HADR operations overseas such as in the South East Asian region (supporting the attribute of distant operation and power projection).
- Participation in multinational exercises such as CARAT, Ferocious Falcon, AMAN, MILAN, EFES etc. (supporting the attribute of distant operation and power projection).
- Lending surface forces for maritime security roles to the Middle Eastern countries like Bahrain and Qatar (supporting the attribute of power projection).
- Ocean Navigation training cruises for UT Officers and sailors (supporting the attribute of sustained operation in high seas).
BN cannot forego its policing roles until BCG becomes fully capable of undertaking such roles. Therefore, with BCG performing such duties within the internal waters and the TS BN would continue to perform such tasks from outside the TS to the end of EEZ. BN may use its OPVs, Auxiliaries and LPCs for this purpose. In these operations Naval Aviation could augment surface forces as required and feasible. Another major role that BN would hold even when it becomes a full-grown blue water navy is HADR in the coastal regions of the country. Amphibious craft, Auxiliaries and Naval Aviation are the assets that BN may employ for this purpose. HADR will be a joint BN-BCG operation. Other nation-building roles and operations in aid to civil power can be undertaken by the above mentioned BN assets together with blue water assets in home ports.
Challenges.
The challenge now posed to BN in becoming a 'blue water navy' is two-fold. Firstly, the ability to execute underway replenishment at high seas to increase operational reach and sustenance and secondly, operating from overseas/forward bases. Upon overcoming these two challenges, BN can be called, according to the mindset discussed earlier a 'blue water navy'.
Overcoming the Challenges.
It can be safely said that BN has achieved a sizable surface force. At this point, acquiring one/two underway replenishment ship(s) is a logical requirement for undertaking sustained operations by these platforms. Again, BN already has few forward bases within Bangladesh. Equipping two of these bases (St. Martin's and Hiron Point/Khepupara) with minimum necessary logistic and maintenance facilities for BN's surface and air elements will boost operational reach and sustenance of BN to a great extent.
On the other hand, Bangladesh is not in a position to own and operate overseas bases. This, however, does not preclude the possibility of being able to arrange provision of logistics and maintenance support for BN ships overseas. Arrangements may be made with friendly countries for ships to be deployed in the South China Sea and the Horn of Africa or elsewhere as envisioned in this paper.
Looking After the Backyard
One might say that the BCG is not in a state, both materially as well as personnel wise, to be employed for ensuring maritime security of Bangladesh waters extending out to the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). This is a correct statement. Then how do we manage this vast area? The recent remarks of the Honorable Prime Minister on the occasion of BCG's 20th anniversary call for a strong Coast Guard capable of performing maritime security tasks of Bangladesh. The Prime Minister (also the Defence Minister) categorically mentioned 'protection of offshore assets', 'anti-piracy' etc.
The BCG is in the process of developing its capabilities to take over the maritime security duties of Bangladesh. BN is also passing on some assets to the BCG helping it on its way. However, with its present assets, BCG is supposedly capable of assuming the maritime security duties of Bangladesh waters upto the Contiguous Zone. In due course of time, BCG may be fully capable of being employed to the EEZ.
Until some of the BN assets may continue to be employed between the TS and the EEZ, Naval Aviation will continue to support these operations with shore based helicopters and MPAs. For this asset management to be effective and a joint BCG-BN concept of maritime security will be required. A long term BCG-BN maritime security strategy is needed to be developed prior to devising such a concept. This paragraph may raise some questions to a thinking mind. The followings are likely to answer some of those questions:
- BCG will order construction of LPCs/OPVs for itself from Khulna Shipyard Limited.
- BCG will acquire a squadron of helicopters with Surface Surveillance capabilities which will be placed under the operational control of Naval Aviation. A close coordination between BN and BCG will be necessary in this area.
- BN will hand over the ships of 31, 41 and 71 PCS to BCG.
- At some point in the future, BN will hand over its OPVs to BCG.
The Gains
The most important question that may be asked to this paper is 'why?'; 'what does the nation get after all these changes? 'Few of the benefits that are expected after this strategy is well employed are as follows:- Bangladesh gets a strong Coast Guard capable of independently performing maritime security duties as envisioned by the Honorable Prime Minister.
- Bangladesh gets a navy operating regionally and globally bringing not only foreign currency but also operational prowess and diplomatic leverage.
- BN ships, aircraft and submarines, and their crew acquire and sharpen multinational inter-operability much needed for the 21st century navies.
- Bangladesh remains ready to flexibly deploy its navy at a short notice for regional/international crises, natural or man-made. Such deployments are likely to reassure friendly nations and enhance confidence upon the goodwill of Bangladesh.
- BN platforms get more time and opportunity to exercise core naval operations.
Conclusion
Globally, national interests are intertwined with other nations. Navies are one of the prime tools for pursuing such interests. Navy directly serves national economy through its peacetime operations, such as policing duties. However, a strong Coast Guard takes up such duties away from a far-looking navy, e.g. India. Thus navy can concentrate on its natural blue water functions.The 21st century trends of naval deployments demand that BN be more outgoing than now. The blue water deployments for BN envisaged in this paper may improve Bangladesh's politico-diplomatic image, earn foreign currency for the nation and yield capability for multinational/coalition operations. If BN adopts a blue water mindset, it will in turn facilitate development of a stronger Coast Guard capable of being the real 'Guardian at Sea'.
If this vision is to be materialized, however; a number of issues will have to be dealt with, such as coordination regarding manning, training and equipping BCG, formulation of joint BN-BCG operational concept and SOPs, persuading international partners for obtaining slots for participation of BN nonetheless acquiring platforms like Underway Replenishment Ships that will give BN blue water capability alongside the blue water mindset.
