Ships and a submarine belonging to the Indian Navy are seen docked at the naval dockyard in Mumbai
Reuters
New Delhi: The Indian Navy is set to commission four frontline warships and submarines, including one built at a Russian shipyard within the next two months amidst an expanding Chinese footprint in the Indian Ocean region, sources said here on Tuesday.
The new warships will join the fleet at a time when the fourth home-grown nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) was launched for sea trials and approvals have been obtained for indigenous construction of two nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSN).
One of the four new platforms will be the stealth frigate Tushil built by Russia as all the trials have been completed.
India and Russia in 2016 finalised an agreement to build four stealth frigates, two of which were to be constructed at a Russian shipyard whereas the remaining two were to be built at Goa Shipyard. Tushil is the first of the two Russian-made ships and will be followed by Tamal.
The other three platforms ready for induction are the guided missile destroyer Surat, the last of the four Visakhapatnam class warships — indigenous frigate Nilgiri and Vagsheer and the last of the six Kalvari class submarines.
The navy is not only inducting new warships and submarines but also acquiring indigenous innovative technologies to stay ahead of the adversaries. In the last two years, the force signed 13 acquisition contracts worth Rs 1,194 crore, out of 22 projects worth Rs 2,200 crore approved by the government.
Also two task forces have been formed to look for niche technologies to help the force gain an edge over the enemy and improve operational efficiency.
Some of the home-grown technologies will be showcased at the third edition of the Indian Navy’s annual tech conference titled Swavlamban to be held in Delhi on Oct 28-29.
Ahead of the conference, Vice Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan said the blue water force was looking for new technologies not only to plug the capability holes but also to build the next generation of weapons and sensors that could be inducted in future.
Asked to comment on a report about the launch of India’s fourth SSBN last week, Vice Admiral Swaminathan said, “the SSBN programme is a successful one. Two submarines have been commissioned and it is natural that others will follow.”
The first two nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines – INS Arihant and INS Arighaat – have been inducted and the other two known as S4 and S4* (star) have been launched in water for trials that can take years.