Indian Navy has added a new member to its fleet.
Indigenously-built Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) stealth corvette INS Kavaratti has been commissioned into Indian Navy on Thursday at Visakhapatnam as a combat-ready platform, as the ship completed sea trials of all the systems fitted onboard.
Kavaratti takes her name from erstwhile INS Kavaratti which was an Arnala class missile corvette. The older Kavaratti distinguished herself by being part of Bangladesh's liberation in 1971. During the Indo-Pakistan (1971) war, she was deployed for contraband control in the Bay of Bengal and the support of mining of entrances to Chittagong. She captured the Pakistani Merchant Ship Baqir during this operation.
"In the present avatar, Kavaratti is equally powerful and packs an even more deadly punch," a senior naval officer claimed.
Touted as a potent stealth ASW corvette, Kavaratti is indigenously designed by the Indian Navy's in-house organisation, Directorate of Naval Design (DND), and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata.
Kavaratti has a state-of-the-art weapons and sensor suite, capable of detecting and prosecuting submarines. In addition to its anti-submarine warfare capability, the ship also has a credible self-defence capability and endurance for long-range deployments.
Warship Kavaratti, which derives the name from the capital of Lakshadweep, was commissioned by Army Chief General M.M. Naravane, who called the event yet another significant step in securing country's maritime goals. On the occasion, the Army chief also said Indian Navy has always been a strong force, defends the nation's maritime borders, territories, and exclusive economic zones along vast coastline.
According to Navy, warship spans 109 meters in length, 14 meters in breadth with a displacement of 3,300 tonnes and can rightfully be regarded as one of the most potent anti-submarine warships to have been constructed in India. "The complete superstructure of the ship has been built using composite material. The ship is propelled by four diesel engines. The ship has enhanced stealth features, resulting in reduced Radar Cross Section (RCS) achieved by X form of superstructure along with optimally sloped surfaces. The ship’s advanced stealth features make her less susceptible to detection by the enemy," the Navy said in a press release.
The naval official also said the ship has high, close to 90 per cent indigenous content to fight in Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) warfare conditions. Also, the weapons and sensors suite onboard is predominantly indigenous, including combat management system, Torpedo tube launchers and infra-red signature suppression system etc.
The ship is manned by a team comprising 12 officers and 134 sailors with Commander Sandeep Singh at the helm as her first commanding officer. The ship would join the Eastern Naval Command fleet.
