| A week after the Left parties’ protested against the Indo-US naval exercises in the Bay of Bengal, the Navy has acquired its first made-in-America ship.
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| Named INS Jalashwa, (hippopotamus in Sanskrit), the ship arrived at Visakhapatanam from Norflok, USA, where it was commissioned on July 22 by Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen.
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| INS Jalashwa’s induction has placed India in the league of select nations whose Navies have landing platform dock (LPD) capabilities. This will enhanced the Navy’s capability to move troops and equipment over greater distances.
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| Officials said the ship had a large flight deck capable of operating four medium helicopters simultaneously. With gross tonnage of 16,900 tonnes, it is the Navy’s second-largest combat platform after aircraft carrier Viraat.
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| Built by Lockheed at a cost of more than $400 million and commissioned in 1971, the amphibious ship — USS Trenton for Americans — cost India about $48 million.
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| Defence experts say the ship has a unique capability to increase her draft by flooding the tanks that are a part of its internal space.
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| The flooded internal space, called the well-deck, provides a haven for assault crafts to embark and disembark troops and cargo inside the ship. The ship can carry 968 fully equipped troops and over 130 different types of vehicles.
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| India has also acquired Six UH-3H utility helicopters and four landing craft mechanised (LCM) from the US Navy for deployment on INS Jalashwa.
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| In peace time, Jalashwa is capable of providing the Navy an ability to conduct large scale relief operations and humanitarian missions, the need for which was felt in the aftermath of the December 2004 Tsunami.
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| The Cabinet cleared the acquisition of the US ship in July 2006 after which some 330 Indian naval personnel were trained on the ship for two months. |
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