New Inductions To Enhance Combat Capacity: Navy

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Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar has said INS Khanderi, the P-17 Shivalik class frigate and the aircraft carrier drydock, scheduled to be commissioned on September 28, will greatly enhance India’s maritime combat potential.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to commission them in Mumbai on September 28.

“With these three events, the Indian Navy’s combat potential and reach will increase manifold. The Indian Navy through its mission-based deployments, enhanced footprint and foreign cooperation endeavours is already the first responder and net security provider in the Indian Ocean region and beyond. This is in line with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of SAGAR (security and growth for all in the region), said Vice Admiral Kumar, here on Tuesday.

The INS Khanderi is the second Scorpene-class attack submarine to be commissioned into the Indian Navy. The conventional diesel-electric submarine has been manufactured by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders in Mumbai under the Indian Navy’s P-75 programme under which six similar submarines will be manufactured.

The P-17 Alpha Shivalik-class frigate, a stealth warship, has been built under the P-17 programme. Under the project, seven ships will be built by the Mazgaon Dock Limited and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers. It’s a follow-up of the first frigate built by the Mazgaon Dock Limited in the 1970s.

The aircraft carrier drydock, which will also be commissioned on September 28, will be the largest drydock of the Indian Navy. It will be capable of even dry-docking INS Vikramaditya, the modified Kiev-class aircraft carrier.

According to Navy officials, cost of the Scorpene-class submarine P-75 project stands at Rs 25,000 crore and the cost of the seven stealth warships, being developed under P- 17, is over Rs 48,000 crore. The aircraft carrier drydock has been developed at a cost of Rs 1,320 crore.

“We expect to stick to the timeline in delivering the remaining four ships under the P-75 programme. Given the complex nature of any ship-construction project, delays are acceptable,” said Vice Admiral Kumar.