Navy's 48 warships being built indigenously: Vice chief

Hailing the country's indigenous shipbuilding capabilities, Vice Admiral P. Murugesan, vice chief of the navy, on Tuesday said that 48 warships are currently under construction in Indian shipyards.

These 48 ships being manufactured for the Indian Navy include aircraft carriers, frigates, destroyers, submarines, corvettes and fast attack crafts.

"The greatest news is that all these 48 ships are being built in Indian shipyards," Murugesan said at the simultaneous launch of three Water Jet Fast Attack Crafts (WJFAC) at the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd. (GRSE) here.

"It is a reflection of our indigenous capabilities and a proud moment for all of us that our country has achieved such a status that we can build all kind of warships in India itself," the vice admiral said.

"INS Vikrant, a 40,000-tonne warship, is being built at the Cochin shipyard. No other country in our neighbourhood is building such a large ship," said Murugesan while referring to the country's first indigenous aircraft carrier launched in 2013.

Murugesan also praised the GRSE, which has so far built 94 ships for the navy.

Credited with building the country's first indigenous stealth anti-submarine warfare corvette, INS Kamorta, the GRSE is also India's first shipyard to export a warship - CGS Barracuda - that was commissioned by the National Coast Guard of Mauritius in March.

The three WJFAC - Tarmugli, Tillanchang, Tihayu - are named after Andaman and Nicobar group of islands, and are among the four such warships being built by GRSE.

GRSE chairman and managing director Rear Admiral A.K. Verma (retd) said two of the three WJFACs will be delivered for commissioning in the last quarter of the year.

With a displacement of around 315 tonnes each, the ships are designed for a maximum speed of 35 knots with an endurance of nearly 2,000 nautical miles at 12-14 knots.

Powered by the latest 4,000-series MTU engines with advanced machinery control system, the ships will be fitted with CRN-91 indigenous 30mm gun with optronic pedestal and have the latest communication equipment and radars to enable effective surveillance.

The WJFACs are ideally suited for interception of fast-moving surface craft and will perform anti-smuggling, fishery protection and search and rescue operations.