India to commission 4th and final Kamorta-class anti-submarine corvette

 

The upcoming INS Kavaratti (P31). Photo c/o Indian Navy.

The Indian Navy (IN) is expected to commission its 4th and final Kamorta-class anti-submarine corvette on 22 October 2020 at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam.

The ship, which would be commissioned as the INS Kavaratti (P31), will be immediately be deployed and placed on combat-ready status, amid tensions with China.

The ships of the class were designed by the Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design, and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) in Kolkata, as part of the Indian Navy’s Project 28 program.

The new corvette was said to have at least 90% local content, including the use of mostly indigenous subsystems. It also used carbon composites in its superstructure, which is a feat in Indian shipbuilding technology.

The Indian Navy is currently looking at options to arm the entire Kamorta-class with a new short-range surface-to-air missile system to defend itself from air attacks. Currently the ships only have close-in weapon systems to defend against incoming missiles or small surface threats.

The Kamorta-class is 110 meters long, 14 meters wide, and displaces at around 3,500 tons. It can reach a maximum speed of 25 knots and is optimized for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions.


[1] The Print
[2] The Hindu