On September 28, 2019, The Defence Minister of India, Mr Rajnath Singh commissioned India’s second Scorpene-class attack submarine INS Khanderi, India’s first P-17 Shivalik-class frigate INS Nilgiri and the largest aircraft carrier drydock into the Indian Navy in a ceremony held at the Mazagon Docks in Mumbai, Maharashtra in the presence of Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh and others.
INS Khanderi
The motto of INS (Indian Navy Ship) Khanderi is ‘Akhand Abhedya Adrishya’ that implies unity of the crew and its stealth capabilities. Its name and features are inspired by the fish named ‘Kanneri’, found in Arabian Sea.
The features of the submarine are as follows:
i. Launched in August 2017, it is the second class attack submarine under Project 75, the first being INS Kalvari.
ii. The diesel-electric fully automated submarine was manufactured by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL) in Mumbai.
iii. The state-of-the-art features of the submarine include superior stealth and the ability to launch a crippling attack on the enemy using precision-guided weapons.
iv. It successfully cleared all the rigorous sea trials and tests over the last two and a half years.
v. It is capable of saving oxygen availability and can stay underwater for long periods.
vi. It reduces its noise when it is under the sea and can roll-in a crew of 36 members.
vii. It comprises a set of missiles and torpedoes along with a sonar suite which helps the submarine to detect the enemies from a long distance and classify its targets.
viii. It is 67.5 metres long and 12.3 metres tall.
ix. The submarine’s permanently magnetised propulsion motor is powered by 360 battery cells. Each battery cell weighs 750 kg.
Project 75/ P-75
India aims to build a total of 6 Scorpene-class submarines under P-75 in collaboration with France’s Transfer of Technology from Naval Group at a cost of around Rs 25,000 crore. The other 4 ships are INS Karanj, INS Vagir, INS Vagsheer and INS Vela.
INS Nilgiri
i. It is the first Alpha Shivalik-class frigate, a stealth warship built under a programme Project-17 worth over Rs 45,000 crore. Its launch weight was 2,650 tonnes.
ii. The delivery date of the frigate is 2022.
iii. It consists of a series of 7 ships- 3 to be built by the MDSL in Mumbai and 4 by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GSRE) in Kolkata.
iv. It is a follow-up to the first ever frigate by MDSL in 1970s (decommissioned now).
v. 5 ships of the Nilgiri-class (P-17A frigates) are named after the famous hill ranges of India- Himgiri, Udaygiri, Dunagiri, Taragiri and Vindhyagiri. The last frigate (7th) will be named as Mahendragiri.
vi. Each of the frigate is expected to cost around $900 million which roughly translates to Rs 6,500 crore.
Other Specifications of Frigate
i. It is powered by two General Electric LM2500 gas turbines and two MAN manufactured diesel engines.
ii. It will be equipped with two long range surface to air Barak missile, surface to surface Brahmos supersonic cruise missile to deal with threats from the air. The Barak missiles will be supplied by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in collaboration with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
iii. Its construction will adopt the modern Integrated Construction (IC) methodology.
iv. It will be fitted with a pair of RBU-6000 rocket launches and two triple tube torpedo launchers.
v. It would be also fitted with defence mechanisms like four decoy launchers and two anti-torpedo decoy systems.
Aircraft carrier drydock
i. It is the largest drydock of the Indian Navy.
ii. It helps in maintenance works, provides facilities for refueling and repairs and is capable of dry docking INS Vikramaditya, the modified Kiev-class aircraft carrier of Indian Navy.
iii. Defence minister termed it as an “edifice of modern India”.
About Indian Navy:
♦ Navy Day: 4th December
♦ Motto: Sham No Varunah (May the Lord of the water be auspicious unto us)