The Indian Navy has commissioned two new warships including a ballistic missile submarine while construction continues on a new patrol vessel for the Belgian Navy. Development is underway in Russia on a new type of salvage vessel. Lastly, a contract has been awarded calling for the construction of an additional frigate for the French Navy.
Indian media reported recently that the Indian Navy commissioned a new locally built, nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) into service during a ceremony in Visakhapatnam on Friday, April 3.
The 130-metre, 7,000-tonne INS Aridhaman (“Vanquisher”) is the third boat in the Arihant-class, which are India’s first locally manufactured SSBNs. Construction took place at the navy’s Ship Building Centre in Visakhapatnam.
Aridhaman is slightly longer and heavier than her two earlier sister boats INS Arihant and INS Arighaat. The greater dimensions have allowed for the installation of eight missile launch tubes on the new submarine compared to only four on each of her earlier sisters.
French shipbuilder Socarenam recently floated out a new patrol vessel ordered by the Belgian Navy.
The future BNS Vega is the third Castor-class patrol vessel to be built by Socarenam for the Belgian Navy. The first two ships, BNS Castor and BNS Pollux, have been in service since 2014 and 2015, respectively, while the newest ship is scheduled to be operational by 2027.
Like her sisters, the future Vega will be deployed on exclusive economic zone patrols, environmental protection, fisheries enforcement, protection of critical infrastructure, counter-smuggling operations, and search and rescue.
The Indian Navy commissioned its newest stealth frigate in a ceremony in Visakhapatnam on Friday, April 3.
INS Taragiri is the fourth Nilgiri-class frigate built for the Indian Navy by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders of Mumbai. Design work was undertaken by the navy’s own Warship Design Bureau.
The ship's missions include anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and anti-air warfare.
Naval architects belonging to Russia's state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation have unveiled a concept design of a specialised engineering support vessel capable of removing debris and other hazardous objects from the seabed.
The vessel will be equipped to recover debris from depths of a much as 1,000 metres, thus minimising environmental risks to waterways and coastal areas.
The vessel's key equipment will include a crane with active heave compensation and a lifting capacity of 100 tons to permit operation under challenging weather conditions.
The French Directorate General of Armament has placed an order for a new FDI frigate to be built by the Naval Group at its Lorient facilities.
The ship, which will be named Amiral Cabanier, will be the fifth FDI frigate to be acquired by the French Navy. Class lead ship Amiral Ronarc'h (pictured) was commissioned in 2025 while Cabanier and three other sisters are scheduled to enter service between 2027 and 2032.
All five FDI ships in French service will be capable of anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and insertion and extraction of special operations forces. Each frigate can operate alone or as part of a naval task force and can be deployed long-term over long distances.