Equipped to fight under nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare conditions, it will greatly enhance the Indian Navy’s mobility, reach, flexibility and capability to undertake a broad spectrum of maritime missions.
The Indian Naval Ship (INS) Visakhapatnam, the first of the stealth guided-missile destroyers, was commissioned at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai on November 21, a report in the Frontline says
Equipped to fight under nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare conditions, it will greatly enhance the Indian Navy’s mobility, reach, flexibility and capability to undertake a broad spectrum of maritime missions.
Indigenously designed and constructed under Project 15B, INS Visakhapatnam, given its impressive size—163 metres in length, 17m in breadth and with a displacement of 7,400 tonnes—is one of the most potent warships built in India.
The Rs.35,000 crore Project 15B envisages the construction of four stealth guided-missile destroyers, with the remaining three to be commissioned between 2023 and 2025.
Present at the commissioning, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, said INS Visakhapatnam was “one of the most technologically advanced guided missile destroyers in the world” and a warship that will “cater to the present and future requirements of the Armed Forces and the nation as a whole”.
The Defence Minister also praised the Indian Navy’s consistent efforts to participate in various outreach programmes with private industries and said that “the steps taken by the government will continue to provide a boost to the self-reliance efforts”. India “will soon build ships for the entire world,” he said.
Present at the commissioning, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, said INS Visakhapatnam was “one of the most technologically advanced guided missile destroyers in the world” and a warship that will “cater to the present and future requirements of the Armed Forces and the nation as a whole”.
Appreciating the commitment of the Indian Navy to self-reliance, the minister cited the Navy’s decision to order 39 (out of a total 41 ships and submarines ordered) from Indian shipyards.
The vessel was designed at the Directorate of Naval Design, the Indian Navy’s in-house organisation, and built by the state-owned Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, Mumbai,
INS Visakhapatnam is propelled by four powerful gas turbines and can reach speeds in excess of 30 knots. It has the capability to land on its deck two anti-submarine warfare helicopters and is packed with sophisticated state-of-the-art weapons and sensors, including surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, medium and short-range guns, anti-submarine rockets and advanced electronic warfare and communication suits.
The INS Vishakhapatnam is fitted with a modern surveillance radar and its anti-submarine warfare capabilities are provided by the indigenously developed rocket launchers and torpedo tube launchers.
The ship, which is under the command of Captain Birendra Singh Bains, a navigation and direction specialist, and has a total complement of about 315 personnel.
************************************************************************
Readers