Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST)

• Welcome to in Fost
• Flag Officer Sea Training
• Core Tenets of Operational Sea Training
• Opportunities for Co-operation in Operational Sea Training
• Operational Sea Training
• Operational Sea Checks
• Disciplines to be covered
• Contact us through

Welcome to in Fost

Established in 1992, Flag Officer Sea Training (IN FOST) has played an important role in improving role worthiness and combat effectiveness of IN Ships and Submarines. Being cogniscient of growing knowledge and training needs of the Indian Navy, IN FOST acts as the 'nerve centre' in the domain of Operational Sea Training and channelises expertise for multi-disciplinary studies to benefit ships and submarines. It also undertakes data collection and analyses development and implementation of best practices in Operational Sea Training, ship safety and seamanship.

Centre of Excellence in Operational Sea Training

In recognition of being a credible sea training institution encompassing high professional quality and stringent training standards, IN FOST has been recognised as Centre of Excellence in Operational Sea Training. Today IN FOST is uniquely positioned as a shared resource for the collective good of regional navies. As part of IN’s regional cooperation and constructive maritime engagement efforts in the Indian Ocean Region, IN FOST has been interacting with foreign navies since 2000 with conduct of maiden OST of Sri Lanka Navy Ship Sayura in (year). Subsequently, IN Work Up Teams have undertaken Work Up of 18 foreign ships.

Flag Officer Sea Training

Headed by a two star Flag Officer, Operational Sea Training in Indian Navy is undertaken by four dedicated Work Up teams based at Kochi, Mumbai and Visakhapatnam.

Each of the teams are led by a Commodore/ Captain and manned by experienced officers and sailors with requisite qualification and field experience in all facets of naval warfare including ship design and safety

Core Tenets of Operational Sea Training

Victory at sea being the ultimate goal of any navy, training for optimal exploitation of weapons and sensors, aviation assets, seamanship, etc forms the core of Operational Sea Training. We aim to improve crew proficiency, team cohesiveness and efficiency in order to achieve a fully combat ready ship status.

Safe operations at sea is the guiding tenet of Operational Sea Training. Dedicated activities are undertaken to train ship’s crew in various facets of safety and survival techniques ranging from Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear (CBRN), Damage Control and Fire Fighting (DC & FF), Survival at Sea and Basic Life Support. The training curriculum encompasses an optimal mix of theory and practical activities in near realistic situations

At the end of each Work Up, the Flag Officer Sea Training conducts an Operational Readiness Assessment at sea.

Opportunities for Co-operation in Operational Sea Training

IN FOST can effectively engage with friendly foreign navies in enhancing combat effectiveness and safety at sea. Type and scope of Work Up would be dependent upon the number of days the ship will be available along with specific requirements, if any, of the friendly foreign country/ ship. Training packages could be tailored to meet the objection through following avenues: -

• Safety Audits.
• Sea Training in specific disciplines such as Navigation, Damage Control & Fire Fighting (DC & FF) and seamanship, etc. as requested by the host navy.
• Full Operational Sea Training
• All of these activities could be conducted in Indian ports utilising infrastructure of the IN. The option of dispatching mobile training teams to the host nation, can also be considered, on a case-to-case basis

Operational Sea Training

The focus of Operational Sea Training would be on individual, department and whole ship crew proficiency and operational tasks in specified disciplines. Unless specific request for inclusion or omission of disciplines is received, Operational Sea Training Work Up shall be undertaken in all disciplines (Hyperlink).

Duration The duration of OSC is as follows: -

• Small ships (Fast Attack Craft, etc) - Two Weeks.
• Offshore Patrol Vessel and larger vessels - Three Weeks.

Operational Sea Checks

Operational Sea Checks (OSC) is training conducted in maximum of three disciplines. During OSC focus shall be on individual, department and whole ship crew proficiency and operational tasks in specified disciplines (Hyperlink).

Duration The duration of OSC is as follows: -

• Small ships (Fast Attack Craft, etc) - Four days.
• Offshore Patrol Vessel and larger vessels - Six days.

Disciplines to be covered

Disciplines for Work Up are stated below: -

• Anti-Submarine Warfare (limited to basic weapon safeties and command and control orders).
• Aviation.
• Bridgework.
• Communication {on Multi-National Tactical Publication (MTP) procedures}.
• Damage Control (DC) and Firefighting (FF).
• Diving.
• Electrical.
• Electronic Warfare (EW) (limited to basic principles).
• Engineering.
• Force Protection Measures (FPM).
• Gunnery (limited to basic weapon safeties and command and control orders).
• Hull.
• Hygiene and Habitability.
• Logistics.
• Medical.
• Navigation and Direction.
• Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) damage response.
• Seamanship.
• Ship Management.
• Ships Husbandry

Note:- Warfare disciplines shall be limited to generic actions and focussed towards SOPs, safety iaw extant MTPs. Training on tactics shall be iaw procedures adopted by foreign ships, if shared with the Work Up team.

Contact us through:-

• Resident Indian DA in your country or your DA at New Delhi, India or write to

• Directorate of Naval Intelligence
  (Foreign Liaison)
  Integrated Headquarters of MoD (Navy)
  Room No 24, South Block
  New Delhi—110011, India

  Telephone: 011-23011048
  Fax: 011-23792144