NEW DELHI: In a major boost to India’s blue-water combat capabilities to counter China’s ever-expanding footprint in the Indian Ocean Region and beyond, the Navy is all set to commission two indigenous frontline warships and a diesel-electric submarine next month, even as the new Russian-built frigate INS Tushil also heads home.
The biggest of the new warships will be the guided-missile destroyer Surat, with a displacement of 7,400-tonne, followed by stealth frigate Nilgiri (6,670-tonne) and submarine Vagsheer (1,600-tonne), all of which are packed with heavy-duty sensors and weapons for a deadly punch.
Surat and Nilgiri were delivered to the Navy by the Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks (MDL) last week. On commissioning, the 164-metre-long Surat will join the first three such warships, INS Visakhapatnam, INS Mormugao and INS Imphal, constructed under the Rs 35,000 crore Project-15B at MDL.
“Surat is also the Navy’s first AI-enabled warship to enhance its operational efficiency manifold times,” an officer said. With an indigenous content of 72% and endurance of 4,000 nautical miles, these destroyers are armed with BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, Barak-8 medium-range surface-to-air missiles, 76mm super rapid guns and anti-submarine weapons like rockets and torpedoes.
Nilgiri, in turn, is the first of the seven multi-role frigates being constructed under Project-17A, four at the MDL and three at GRSE in Kolkata, at an overall cost of around Rs 45,000 crore.
All these seven frigates, with the requisite hull-shaping, radar-transparent deck fittings and other measures to make their detection by enemies difficult, are slated for delivery by late-2026.
Vagsheer is the sixth and last of the French-origin Scorpene or Kalvari-class submarines built at MDL under the over Rs 23,000 crore `Project-75’. India and France are now also in final negotiations for three more Scorpenes to be built at MDL for around Rs 36,000 crore, with the first slated to roll out in six years, followed by the other two at intervals of a year each.
Overall, the Navy now has 60 warships and vessels under construction in Indian shipyards. The 3,900-tonne INS Tushil, which will traverse the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and the IOR to reach India, is to be followed by the delivery of another frigate Tamal by Russia in March-April next year.
The over 130-warship Navy, with 251 aircraft and helicopters, also has the initial approval or `acceptance of necessity’ (AoN) for another 31 warships, including seven new-generation frigates, eight corvettes and six stealth diesel-electric submarines.
The Navy, however, will reach a force-level of just about 155-160 warships by 2030, given the slow pace of construction in Indian shipyards as well as the progressive decommissioning of older warships, as earlier reported by TOI.
In contrast, China is constructing warships and submarines at an astonishing rate, while it has stepped-up naval forays into the IOR and the hunt for overseas bases. Numerically, it already has the world’s largest Navy, with over 370 ships and submarines, including 140 major surface combatants.