India’s latest destroyer kicks off maiden trials in Arabian Sea

The navy is focused on strengthening its capabilities amid changing power dynamics in the Indian Ocean Region. Last month, it also inducted a French-designed Kalvari class diesel-electric attack submarine, Vela.

An indigenously built stealth destroyer --- one of the four warships being built under an important navy project called P-15B, on Sunday kicked off maiden trials in the Arabian Sea, the event coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Goa from Portuguese rule.

Mormugao is the second stealth destroyer under P-15B --- the first, INS Visakhapatnam, was commissioned in the navy on November 21 in Mumbai. Mormugao is expected to join the naval fleet by mid-2022. (PHOTO: Indian Navy.)

Mormugao is the second stealth destroyer under P-15B --- the first, INS Visakhapatnam, was commissioned in the navy on November 21 in Mumbai. Mormugao is expected to join the naval fleet by mid-2022, with the remaining two to be commissioned by 2025.The ships are being built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd in Mumbai.

The commissioning of Visakhapatnam, armed with a variety of locally built weapons and sensors, reaffirmed India’s presence among an elite group of nations with capability to design and build advanced warships, the officials said.

“December 19 is perhaps the most befitting date for the ship to put to sea for trials. The Indian Navy played a pivotal role in the liberation of Goa and dedicating the ship’s name to the maritime state will not just enhance the bonding between the Indian Navy and the people of Goa, but also link the ship’s identity permanently to the crucial role the navy played in nation-building,” the navy said in a statement.

Mormugao will add significantly to the Indian Navy’s combat capabilities, it added.

The navy is focused on strengthening its capabilities amid changing power dynamics in the Indian Ocean Region. Last month, it also inducted a French-designed Kalvari class diesel-electric attack submarine, Vela.

INS Vela is the fourth of the six Kalvari class submarines being constructed in the country with technology transfer from French firm Naval Group under a ₹23,562-crore programme called P-75. The remaining two submarines will be commissioned in two years.

India is also pursuing a project (P-75I) worth ₹40,000 crore for building six more advanced submarines in the country under the government’s strategic partnership (SP) model to bolster the Indian Navy’s underwater force levels and counter the rapid expansion of China’s submarine fleet.

The Indian strategic partners cleared to collaborate with the foreign players are Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited and L&T. The foreign yards they can team up with for the project are the French Naval Group, German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, Russia’s Rubin Design Bureau, Spain’s Navantia and South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Company.