Defence minister Manohar Parrikar commissioned the INS Chennai, the largest warship made in India, this Monday. It is the third originally designed guided missile destroyer in the Kolkata class. It was built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited in Mumbai. This put an end to the Project 15A to build Kolkata-class guided missile destroyers. Admiral Sunil Lanba, chief of the Naval Staff was also in attendance.
The ship is armed with a decoy that can redirect missile attacks. Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command will have operational and administrative control over this destroyer. Weapons and sensors were brought in from Israel and Russia and approximately 60 percent of the ship was constructed at the dock. The ship has anti-submarine weapons and sensors, sonar HUMSA-NG, heavyweight torpedo tube launchers, rocket launchers and towed array sonar capability. The ship is also fitted with the Kavach chaff decoy system and the Mareech torpedo decoy system which have been in India itself. The destroyers are second only to aircraft carriers in terms of raw combat power.
Girish Luthra, the vice-admiral said that the ship has been designed in such a way that it can carry and operate up to two multi-role combat helicopters. It can also do a variety of tasks and missions spanning and consists of four reversible gas turbines.
INS Chennai is one of the largest destroyers in the Indian Navy’s fleet. Its total length is 164 metres, it sails at a speed of 55km per hour and has a displacement of over 7500 tonnes. The ship is equipped with BrahMos and Barak-8 missiles which are surface to surface and surface to air missiles respectively. After the completion of some extra system trials, the ship will be given to the western fleet.
The ship has multiple advanced digital networks like the ATM-based integrated ship data network, combat management systems, an automatic power management system and an auxiliary control system. At the top of the ship, an emblem detailing an outline of the iconic Fort St.George of Chennai in the background, a part of the adjoining beach and a boat on the waves. The crew’s motto is ‘Shatro Sanharaka,’ which is Sanskrit for “Vanquisher of Enemies.”
INS Kolkata was the first ship of the class and it was commissioned on August 16, 2014. The second ship commissioned on September 30, 2015 was named INS Kochi. The Navy has planned to have 600 aircrafts and helicopters and 200 warships by 2027.
