Article Posted on : - Aug 23, 2014

INS Kamorta during sea trials. An Indian Navy photo

VISAKHAPATNAM (BNS): Giving a fresh impetus to its indigenisation drive, India on Saturday inducted the country's first domestically-built stealth Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) corvette 'INS Kamorta' in the Navy.

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, who commissioned the new sophisticated frontline warship at the naval dockyard in Visakhapatnam, said: "I am sure INS Kamorta will serve this country effectively for a very long time."

"Among the various initiatives undertaken by the Indian Government in recent months is indigenous manufacturing of our defence deployment," the Defence Minister remarked.

INS Kamorta is the first of four ASW stealth corvettes designed by Indian Navy's in-house organisation, the Directorate of Naval Design (DND), and built by Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipyard (GRSE) under "Project 28".

The state-of-the-art frontline warship's production started in March 2006 and it was launched on 19 April 2010.

Following sea trials which began in June 2013, Kamorta was handed over to the Indian Navy on July 12, 2014.

The 3,500 tonne INS Kamorta has been constructed using high grade steel (DMR 249A) produced in India. The sleek and magnificent corvette spans about 110 meters in length and 14 meters at the beam.

The ship's propulsion system consists of two diesel engines to achieve a maximum speed of 25 knots and an endurance of about 3,500 nautical miles.

Enhanced stealth features incorporating 'X' form of Hull, full beam superstructure, inclined ship-sides and use of Infra Red Signature Suppression (IRSS) make the vessel extremely stealthy.

About 90% of the warship is indigenous, with its weapons and sensors suite showcasing India's growing capability in designing and developing sophisticated weapon systems, which include heavy weight torpedoes, ASW rockets, medium range gun and Close-in-Weapon System comprising of two multi-barrel guns.

The sensors onboard the ship include the most advanced bow mounted sonar and indigenous air surveillance radar Revathi with capability to detect targets exceeding 200 Km.

The corvette would also be installed with short-range Surface-to-Air missiles (SAM) and Active Towed Array Decoy System (ATDS) subsequently. It can also carry an integral ASW helicopter.

Following its commissioning, INS Kamorta now joins the Navy's Eastern Fleet under the Eastern Naval Command.