<Karwar will house some of the navy's most potent weapons - destroyers, stealth frigates and possibly even the soon-to-be acquired Scorpene submarines.
A natural harbour, Karwar has been developed by the navy at a cost of more than Rs 2,500 crore to have an 11,200 acre mega base and with its inauguration by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the first phase of "Project Seabird" will be completed.>[June 1] But the Navy seems to have goofed up in planning air defenses for this big ticket base. An air station is expected to materialise only during the second phase and that too if funds allocations permit! The 6000 foot runway will be little more than half the size of the one in Dabolim. The terrain does not allow liberal airport construction. All in all not a very complimentary example of airport planning. But then the Navy cant be expected to know much about airport design, right?