The Navy gets a new destroyer, INS Visakhapatnam, the first warship built under Project 15B

 

Yard Number 12704 (INS Visakhapatnam), the lead ship of Project 15B – a line of four stealth guided missile destroyers being built at Mazgaon Docks Limited (MDL) – was  delivered to the Indian Navy on October 28, 2021.

 

The contract for four destroyers of the Visakhapatnam class, was signed on January 28, 2011. These are follow-on vessels of Project 15A – a line of three Kolkata-class  destroyers that were commissioned in the last decade. 

 

Designed by the Directorate of Naval Design, the Indian Navy’s in-house design organisation; the four destroyers will be named after major Indian cities viz. Visakhapatnam, Mormugao, Imphal and Surat.

 

The keel of INS Visakhapatnam was laid in October 2013 and the ship was launched in April 2015. The design has largely maintained the hull form, propulsion machinery, many platform equipment and major weapons and sensors as the Kolkata class to benefit from series production. 

 

The 163 metre-long warship has a full load displacement of 7,400 tonnes and a maximum speed of 30 knots. The overall indigenous content of the project is approximately 75 per cent. This includes much of the equipment in the “float” and “move” categories, but also indigenous weapons and sensors in the “fight” category.

 

These include:

 

(a)            Medium range surface-to-air missiles (MR-SAMs), built by Bharat Electronics Ltd, Bangalore (BEL).

(b)            BrahMos surface-to-surface missiles, built by the Indo-Russian joint venture, BrahMos Aerospace, New Delhi.

(c)             Indigenous torpedo tube launchers, built by Larsen & Toubro, Mumbai.

(d)            Anti-submarine indigenous rocket launchers, built by  Larsen & Toubro, Mumbai.

(e)            76mm Super Rapid Gun Mount, built by Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, Haridwar (BHEL).

(f)        The stabilizers and the steering gear have been supplied by L&T. The destroyers each have two shafts and two propellers.

 

 

The delivery of INS Visakhapatnam, despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, is a tribute to the collaborative efforts of a large number of stakeholders and would enhance India’s maritime prowess in the Indian Ocean Region.