Indian Navy commissions three vessels on same day
The Indian Navy commissioned its two newest surface warships and a submarine in a joint ceremony in Mumbai with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as guest of honour on Wednesday, January 15.
The vessels that have been formally welcomed into service are the Visakhapatnam-class guided-missile destroyer INS Surat, the frigate INS Nilgiri, which is also the lead ship of its class, and the Kalvari-class diesel-electric submarine INS Vaghsheer.
Mr Modi said in his speech during the ceremony that this is the first time a destroyer, a frigate, and a submarine were simultaneously commissioned into Indian Navy service.
Like its three earlier Visakhapatnam-class sisters, Surat was developed to be a modified variant of the Indian Navy's Kolkata-class stealth guided-missile destroyers. The destroyer has a length of 163 metres, a beam of 17.4 metres, a draught of 6.5 metres, a displacement of 7,400 tonnes, and a crew complement of 50 officers and 250 enlisted personnel.
Surat's armament consists of 16 Brahmos anti-ship cruise missiles, 32 Barak 8ER surface-to-air missiles housed in vertical launch cells, a Leonardo 76mm naval gun, twin 533mm torpedo launchers, anti-submarine rocket launchers, and four AK-630M 30mm close-in weapon systems for point defence against hostile missiles and airborne threats.
Nilgiri meanwhile has a length of 149 metres, a beam of 17.8 metres, and a displacement of 6,670 tonnes. The frigate is propelled by two diesel and two gas turbine powerplants in a combined diesel and gas (CODAG) configuration and will be able to achieve sustained speeds in excess of 28 knots.
Vaghsheer is the sixth submarine in the Kalvari-class, which are variants of the Scorpene-class boats developed by French defence shipbuilder the Naval Group for export customers.
The submarine measures 67.5 metres long with a height of 12.3 metres and is crewed by eight officers and 35 enlisted sailors. It is fitted with 360 battery cells each weighing 750 kg and powering a permanently magnetised propulsion motor. Armament includes anti-ship missiles and torpedoes such as the F21 electric heavyweight torpedoes developed by the Naval Group.
Surat, Nilgiri, and Vaghsheer were all constructed by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders of Mumbai.
