Indian Navy to commission first P15B stealth-guided missile destroyer ship this month

Visakhapatnam: November will be a landmark month for the Indian Navy with the commissioning of 'Visakhapatnam', the first stealth-guided missile destroyer ship of the Project 15B, in the presence of Defence minister Rajnath Singh, on 21 November. Commissioning of 'Vela', the fourth submarine of Project-75, is also scheduled for 25 November. These will be followed by the launch of the first ship of survey vessel large project, Sandhayak, in early December.

'Visakhapatnam' has been constructed using indigenous steel DMR 249A and is amongst the largest destroyers constructed in India with an overall length of 163m and displacement of over 7,400 tonnes. The ship has a significant indigenous content of approximately 75%, contributing towards the Centre's Atma Nirbhar Bharat initiative.

The ship is a potent platform capable of undertaking multifarious tasks and missions spanning the full spectrum of maritime warfare. 'Visakhapatnam' is equipped with an array of weapons and sensors, which include supersonic surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, medium and short-range guns, anti-submarine rockets and advanced electronic warfare and communication equipment. The ship has the capability of embarking two integrated helicopters to further extend her reach.

Meanwhile, six submarines are being constructed under Project-75. With the commissioning of 'Vela', the project would have crossed the halfway mark. The submarine has been slotted to join the submarine fleet of the Western Naval Command. 'Vela' is the fourth submarine and has completed most of its trials and is combat-worthy and ready to take on operational tasking.

'Sandhyak' is the first of the four survey vessels large (SVL) project being built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata, for the Indian Navy. These large survey ships will replace the existing Sandhayak class survey ships and are equipped with new generation hydrographic equipment, including AUVs, ROVs, 11m survey boats and advanced indigenous data acquisition systems to collect and analyze oceanographic and geophysical data in the Indian Ocean region.

The curtain raiser for the commissioning ceremony and the launch was held on 16 November