India commissions ‘INS Dhruv’ Nuclear Missile Tracking Vessel; Becomes 5th Country in the World 

India commissioned its Ocean Surveillance & Nuclear Missile Tracking Vessel called ‘INS Dhruv’ (codenamed as VC 11184), with this it became the 5th Country after USA, France, Russia & China to possess such a Tracking vessel. It was constructed at Hindustan Shipyard Ltd, Visakhapatnam under the Make in India initiative at an ~ cost of INR 725 Crore.

• It is one of the Largest Warships to be built at an Indian Yard.
• It was originally commissioned into the Indian Navy in a secret manner in October 2020.

Developed by

• Joint Crew of National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Navy.
• It will also be operated by NTRO, DRDO and the Indian Navy.

Purpose

• To monitor missile launches at long distances
• To monitor the telemetry data of Strategic missile launched by India during Trials
• Detecting the launch of missiles by adversary countries
• It will monitor the Indian Ocean bed

Key Points

• It has a displacement of 15, 000 Tonnes.
• It will also help in increasing the effectiveness of the Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Programme
• Apart from tracking missiles & satellites, it can also gather electronic intelligence.
• The vessel will have a crew of 300 personnel & a single helicopter. It will also have a special team from NTRO on board.

National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO)

• It is a technical intelligence agency under the National Security Advisor in the Prime Minister’s Office, India.
• It is responsible for Geospatial-Intelligence & Satellite Imagery
• It has the same ‘norms of conduct’ as the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).

Recent Related News:

i.February 24, 2021, Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) emerged as the Lowest Bidder in a tender floated by the Ministry of Defence for construction of 6 Next-Generation Missile Vessels (NGMV) to be utilized by the Indian Navy.

About the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO):

Chief – Anil Dhasmana
Head Office – New Delhi
Established – 2004