In the news of the launch of the Indian Navy's first home-built oceanographic survey ship, Indians felt both joy and apprehension. Happily, India finally has a self-built oceanographic survey ship, which has accumulated a foundation for the Indian Navy in the field of intelligence in the open sea. However, it is worrying about China's absolute superiority in the field of oceanographic survey vessels. According to Indian statistics, since 1990, China has built and registered 64 oceanographic survey vessels, surpassing the United States and Japan to become the country with the most oceanographic survey vessels in the world. In comparison, India has only one domestically produced oceanographic survey ship, which cannot be compared with China. The gap between China and India can be seen from this.
The reasons for the large number of Chinese oceanographic survey vessels are obvious. Although sea routes have been established around the world, knowledge of the oceans is still limited, especially in terms of the depth of the seabed. For surface ships that need to fight underwater and counter submarines, the perfection of underwater intelligence will have a significant impact on combat effectiveness. The main means of perception of submarines is sonar, but the concealment of submarines makes it very dangerous to turn on active sonar. Therefore, an accurate topographic map of the seabed is essential for the operation of submarines and surface ships. Oceanographic survey vessels can provide intelligence support to the Navy by collecting data to produce topography maps of the seabed. Due to the advantages of oceanographic survey vessels, China has been able to maintain regular survey ship activities in the Indian Ocean, and its knowledge of the Indian Ocean far exceeds that of India. This means that once a military conflict breaks out between China and India and spreads to the Indian Ocean, it will be difficult for the Indian Navy to grasp the geographical advantage, and may even be countered by the PLA's submarine forces.
The topography of the seabed is essential for underwater warfare and sea navigation. When a submarine is active underwater, only an accurate topographic map of the seabed can guarantee its concealment and combat effectiveness. The U.S. Navy has 44 oceanographic survey vessels of various types, and has built a global seabed topographic map, providing important intelligence support for the U.S. military's operations in various seas around the world. However, the topography of the seabed changes faster than on land, and the topography of one of the seas can change dramatically in as little as 1-2 years. The accident of the USS Connecticut nuclear submarine colliding in the South China Sea was precisely because of the reduction in the frequency and scale of US oceanographic survey vessels, which prevented the US military from updating the topographic map of the South China Sea in a timely manner, resulting in restrictions on submarine activities.
The work of an oceanographic survey vessel is not an easy task and presents many challenges. Oceanographic survey vessels need to work in rough sea conditions, which takes a lot of time and energy, and they also need to deal with the challenges of complex and variable seabed topography. In addition, oceanographic survey vessels need to be protected against various maritime security threats, such as piracy and bad weather. Therefore, it is not easy to maintain the regular activities of oceanographic survey vessels, and the state needs to have a strong comprehensive strength and corresponding technical support.
China has not only surpassed the United States in the number of oceanographic survey vessels, but is also actively developing its oceanographic survey fleet to enhance its maritime intelligence capabilities and protect maritime rights and interests. The resumption of the activities of oceanographic survey vessels in the South China Sea after the USS Connecticut accident shows the game between China and the United States in the field of oceanographic survey vessels. The activities of oceanographic survey ships will become an important part of the great game between China and the United States, and whoever can take the lead on this issue will be able to gain more bargaining chips in the Sino-US conflict.
In short, China's number and superiority in oceanographic survey vessels make it difficult for India to gain a geographical advantage in the Indian Ocean, and China's number of oceanographic survey vessels exceeds that of the United States. Seabed topography is critical to naval operations, and oceanographic survey vessels are able to collect and provide accurate intelligence on the topography of the seabed. Therefore, competition in the field of oceanographic survey ships will become an important part of the game between China and the United States.