Navy beefs up anti-submarine warfare capability, inducts INS Arnala
The navy said the commissioning of INS Arnala not only reinforces India’s defence capability but also highlights the triumph of indigenous design, engineering, and manufacturing
NEW DELHI: INS Arnala, the first of the 16 anti-submarine warfare shallow water craft being built in the country, was on Wednesday commissioned into the Indian Navy at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam in the presence of chief of defence staff General Anil Chauhan.
Designed for a broad range of anti-submarine operations, INS Arnala is equipped to conduct sub-surface surveillance and interdiction, search and rescue missions and low-intensity maritime operations, the navy said.
“The commissioning of INS Arnala not only reinforces India’s defence capability but also highlights the triumph of indigenous design, engineering, and manufacturing. As India continues its maritime journey towards greater self-reliance, INS Arnala stands as a proud symbol of national strength, industrial partnership and naval excellence,” it said in a statement.
The water craft has been built by the public sector yard Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE), in collaboration with private yard L&T Kattupalli in Tamil Nadu. The two yards will build seven more such vessels, while the Cochin Shipyard Limited will build the remaining eight.
Each vessel will have a complement of 57 personnel, including seven officers. The 77-metre-long warship, with a gross tonnage of over 1490 tonne, is the largest Indian warship to be propelled by a diesel engine-waterjet combination, the navy said.
In his address, Chauhan hailed the Indian Navy’s transition from a ‘buyer’s navy’ to a ‘builder’s navy’, highlighting it as the backbone of the country’s blue water aspirations.
“Indigenous warships now feature cutting-edge home-grown systems ranging from stealth technology to electronic warfare suites and advanced sensors, significantly enhancing combat preparedness and progressively realising the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat,” he said, commending the navy for its steadfast commitment to transforming strategic vision into tangible outcomes through the indigenous route.
The navy is taking steps to be fully self-reliant by 2047, when India celebrates 100 years of independence.
The induction of INS Arnala, named after the historic coastal fort off Maharashtra, is a step in the direction of building naval capabilities in line with the force levels envisaged to meet the challenges of the future, the navy added.
A significant advantage is that it requires a draught of only 2.7 metres, allowing it to access the coast easily in search of subsurface threats, GRSE said in a statement, adding that it has more than 80% indigenous content.
“Though smaller in size as compared to anti-submarine warfare corvettes of the Kamorta class built and delivered to the Navy by GRSE earlier, the 77.6-metre-long and 10.5-metre-wide vessels pack a punch. They can also carry out coordinated anti-submarine operations with aircraft. These ships have combat management systems on board and will be armed with lightweight torpedoes as well as anti-submarine warfare rockets.”
