Sign In
Learn bits
Defence & Security
Mahesh

16/01/25 09:34 AM IST

INS Surat, INS Nilgiri and INS Vaghsheer commissioned

In News
  • PM Modi commissioned three naval combatants – INS Surat, INS Nilgiri and INS Vaghsheer at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.
INS Nilgiri
  • The Nilgiri-class stealth frigate, built under the codename Project 17A, is a follow-on vessel of the Shivalik class or Project 17 frigates that are currently in service.
  • INS Nilgiri is the first of seven frigates in Project 17A being built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Mumbai, and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata.
  • This class of ships has an “integrated construction” philosophy, which involves extensive pre-outfitting at the block stages to reduce overall building periods.
  • The multi-mission frigates are capable of operating in a “blue water” environment — in the deep seas far from the coast — and deal with both conventional and non-conventional threats.
  • With their versatile weapons and capabilities, these ships can play a crucial role in anti-surface, anti-air, and anti-submarine warfare.
  • The ships are fitted with a supersonic surface-to-surface missile system, a Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missiles (MRSAM) system, a 76 millimetre upgraded gun, and a combination of rapid-fire close-in weapon systems.
  • The keel of INS Nilgiri was laid on December 28, 2017, and the ship was launched into water on September 28, 2019. It sailed out for maiden sea trials in August last year.
  • The other six ships of this class — Himgiri, Taragiri, Udaygiri, Dunagiri, and Vindhyagiri — are at various stages of construction at MDL, Mumbai, and GRSE, Kolkata.
INS Surat
  • The fourth and final stealth guided missile destroyer under Project 15B follows INS Visakhapatnam, INS Mormugao, and INS Imphal, which were commissioned over the past three years.
  • INS Surat is the Indian Navy’s first Al (artificial intelligence) enabled warship, which will utilise indigenously developed Al solutions to enhance its operational efficiency manifold.
  • Over the past decade, guided missile destroyers of the Kolkata class built under the project codenamed 15A — INS Kolkata, INS Kochi, and INS Chennai — have been commissioned into the Navy.
  • To build an advanced variant of the Kolkata class, a contract for the construction of four more guided missile destroyers under the project codenamed 15B was signed in January 2011.
  • Designed by the Warship Design Bureau, the Indian Navy’s in-house warship design unit, and built by MDL, the four ships under Project 15B are named after major cities in the four corners of the country.
  • Destroyers are a category of warships that have high speed and manoeuvrability, greater strike capability, and longer endurance, because of which they are a key asset in various types of naval operations, mainly offensive.
  • With their modern sensors and communication facilities, these ships are a key asset in “network-centric” warfare, in which information technology and computer networking tools are used to form networks of various force elements that are in play in conflict scenarios.
  • A guided missile destroyer with a displacement of 7,400 tonnes and overall length of 164 metres, INS Surat is a potent and versatile platform equipped with state-of-the-art weapons and sensors, including surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, and torpedoes.
  • Powered by a Combined Gas and Gas (COGAG) propulsion set comprising four gas turbines, it has achieved speeds in excess of 30 knots (56 km/h) during sea trials.
INS Vaghsheer
  • INS Vaghsheer is the sixth and final submarine of the modern stealthy Kalvari class built under Project 75.
  • The design of the Kalvari class of submarines is based on the Scorpene class designed and developed by the French defence major Naval Group (formerly DCNS), and the Spanish state-owned entity Navantia.
  • They have diesel electric transmission systems, and are primarily “attack” or “hunter-killer” submarines — which means they are designed to target and sink adversary naval vessels.
  • According to officials, this is one of the world’s most silent and versatile diesel-electric class of submarines.
  • It is designed to undertake a wide range of missions, including anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, area surveillance, and special operations.
  • The submarines are armed with wire-guided torpedoes, anti-ship missiles, and advanced sonar systems, and feature modular construction that allows for future upgrades such as the integration of Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) technology.
  • The AIP systems, which significantly enhance the submerged endurance of a diesel electric submarine, are expected to be installed on this class of submarines from 2026 onward.
  • The submarines in the current Kalvari class take their names from now-decommissioned classes of submarines named Kalvari — including Kalvari, Khanderi, Karanj — and the Vela class, which included Vela, Vagir, Vagshir.
  • The erstwhile Kalvari and Vela classes were one of the earliest submarines of the Indian Navy after Independence, which belonged to the Soviet-origin Foxtrot class of vessels.
  • Vaghsheer is named after a type of sandfish found in the Indian Ocean.
Source- Indian Express

More Related Current Affairs View All

15 Jan

Meta shutting down fact-checkers

'Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company will get rid of fact-checkers and simplify content policies by removing restrictions on topics as it is “out of touch with mainstre

Read More

15 Jan

Mission Mausam

'Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched  ‘Mission Mausam’, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at making India a weather-ready and climate-smart nation, as part of th

Read More

15 Jan

Mahakumbh First Amrit Snan

'January 14 was the first amrit snan or shahi snan at the Mahakumbh underway in Prayagraj.' Shri Panchayati Akhara Mahanirvani and Shri Shambhu Panchayati Atal Akhara were the f

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps