India
Navy's new stealth destroyer, Visakhapatnam, designed indigenously and fitted with
advanced features, was launched in Mumbai on Monday, boosting the maritime
force's firepower capability.
The
Kolkata-class warship, the first of P15-B stealth destroyers, was launched by
Minu Dhowan, wife of Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R K Dhowan, at Mazagaon Docks
Ltd.
The ship,
weighing approximately 3,000 tons during the launch, is slated to be christened
as 'INS Visakhapatnam' on commissioning.
The
163-metre-long vessel will be propelled by four gas turbines, and is designed
to achieve a speed of over 30 knots at a displacement of approximately 7,300
tons.
The
indigenously designed stealth destroyer will have state-of-the-art weapons,
sensors, an advance Action Information System, in Integrated Platform
Management system, sophisticated Power Distribution System and a host of other
advanced features.
It will
be fitted with supersonic surface-to-surface missile system. The system enables
the ship to engage shore-based and naval surface targets at long range, making
it a lethal platform for strike against enemy targets. The
ship's air defence capability, designed to counter the threat of enemy aircraft
and anti-ship cruise missiles, will revolve around the vertical launch and long
range surface to air missile system.
Four 30
mm rapid-fire guns will provide the ship with close-in-defence capability,
while an MR gun will enable her to provide effective naval gunfire support.
Indigenously
developed twin tube torpedo launchers and rocket launchers will add punch to
the ship's anti-submarine capability. The vessel is follow-on of P15A
Kolkata-class destroyers with enhanced features.
The
indigenisation content in P15-B class destroyers is a notch above her
illustrious predecessors in line with the 'Make in India policy' of the
Government.
The P15-B
stealth destroyers have been designed by the force's in-house unit -
Directorate of Naval Design. The
design of Project 15B destroyers is testimony of the Navy's firm commitment
towards achieving indigenisation by using high-end technology in the field of
weapons/sensors/machinery and stealth.
Mazagaon
Docks, the country's premier warship building yard, is engaged in producing
sophisticated world-class warships and submarines. At present four destroyers
and six submarines are under various stages of construction at MDL.
No comments:
Post a Comment