INS Visakhapatnam: India's maritime power will increase, INS Visakhapatnam will join the naval fleet on November 21

INS Visakhapatnam: Before Navy Day, there is going to be a big increase in the Indian Navy's combat fleet. Indigenous Stealth Missile Destroyer Ship, INS Visakhapatnam is going to join the Indian Navy on the 21st of this month. While four days later i.e. on November 25, the fourth submarine of the Scorpene class, INS Vela is also joining to increase the country's maritime power.

sea ​​power will increase

Indian Navy's co-chief (Vice Chief), Vice Admiral SN Ghormade told in an off-camera press briefing on Tuesday that because of the rapid geopolitical changes taking place at the global level, it is extremely important that India also Increase maritime strength so that they can face any challenge. In the same sequence, INS Visakhapatnam and INS Vela are going to join the Indian Navy this month. INS Visakhapatnam will be inducted into the Indian Navy in the commissioning ceremony to be held at Mumbai Dockyard on 21 November in the presence of Defense Minister Rajnath Singh. While on November 25, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh will be the chief guest at the ceremony of INS Vela.

Navy Raising Day on 4th December

Indian Navy celebrates its Raising Day every year on 4th December. The Navy celebrates its foundation day to commemorate the decisive role it played in the victory against Pakistan in the 1971 war. Vice Admiral Ghormade said that at present there are 130 warships in the Indian Navy's combat fleet with one aircraft carrier (including INS Vikramaditya). Apart from this, 39 warships are being built in different shipyards of the country.

INS Visakhapatnam has been built by Mazagon Dockyard Limited (MDL) based in Mumbai. It is part of the Navy's Project 15B, under which four Kolkata-class stealth guided-missile destroyers (warships) are being built at MDL. Three other warships of this class, Mormugao, Imphal, and Surat, are expected to be ready at an interval of one year each. That is, IANS Mormugao is expected to be ready by 2023, Imphal by 2024, and INS Surat by 2025.

Features of INS Visakhapatnam

INS Visakhapatnam is about 163 meters long and weighs about 7400 tonnes. This ship has about 75 percent indigenous 'content'. Visakhapatnam is equipped with indigenous weapons. The frigate is equipped with BEL's Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM), surface-to-surface BrahMos, L&T Company's Torpedo Tube Launcher, L&T's Anti-Submarine Rocket Launcher, and BHEL's 76mm Super Rapid Gun (Cannon).

INS Vela has also been prepared by MDL with the help of France. Three other submarines of this class, INS Kalvari, Khanderi, and Karanj have already been inducted into the Navy's combat fleet. Under Project 75, the Navy is to get six Scorpene-class submarines with the help of France, which are being built at MDL. Apart from this, the fifth Scorpene class submarine, Vagir, is also being built very fast and it is believed that it Will join the Navy by the year 2022. Vagshir, the sixth submarine of this class, is also expected to be delivered by 2023.

During Tuesday's press briefing, a senior officer of the Indian Navy said that the tender process for torpedoes of Project 75 submarines has started. But he made it clear that the Italian company Leonardo (formerly Finmeccanica), which was recently removed from the blacklist, cannot participate in this tender process. Because the tender process had started before the company was removed from the blacklisted list.

During the press briefing, Co-Chief of the Navy, Vice Admiral SN Ghormade told that the survey-vessel, Sandhyak, being built at the GSRE shipyard in Kolkata, will also be launched in the sea soon and will join the Navy by next year i.e. October 2022. In the year 2018, the Defense Ministry had signed an agreement with GSIA to build four survey vessels for the Navy. Sandhayak is the first survey vessel of this class.