Modi to commission biggest naval destroyer INS Kolkata
14 Aug 2014 6:40 AM IST
Indian navy is about to commission the largest ship, indigenously designed and built at Mazagon Dock, called INS Kolkata on Saturday. Prime minister Narendra Modi will be commissioning the ship reputed to be the heaviest vessel – a displacement of 6,800 tonnes - that any Indian dockyard has ever built wholly on its own. But the ship will neither sail with all its sensors nor with the Long Range Surface to Air Missile shield.
At a briefing on Wednesday by commodore BB Nagpal said at the South Block headquarters of the navy, the cost of the three Kolkata class destroyers, including Kochi and Chennai, which are in the shipyard being built, will cost the exchequer Rs 11,683 crore.
On the issue of the missing sensors and weapons, the Assistant Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral AB Singh passed the buck on to the DRDO for not being able to deliver the ‘towed array sonars’ (sensors) or the LR-SAMs, being built in collaboration with Israeli Aerospace Industry (IAI).Â
Made with stealth features, the destroyer could be a part of an aircraft carrier task force or have individual independent operational missions. The ship will have a compliment of 50 officers and 250 sailors. Kolkata will stay with the Western Fleet.
Along with the destroyer of P 15A nomenclature, the navy will also be commissioning P 28 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette, INS Kamorta on 23 August by the Defence Minister, Arun Jaitley. Kamorta will followed by three other corvettes Kadmat, Kiltan and Kavrati.
The navy says that the DRDO and IAI joint programme to develop LR-SAM got stuck at the final trial stage as the missiles failed to fulfill ‘some of the technical parametres’ of the navy. They are expecting that the LR-SAM will be ready by late September or early October.
At a briefing on Wednesday by commodore BB Nagpal said at the South Block headquarters of the navy, the cost of the three Kolkata class destroyers, including Kochi and Chennai, which are in the shipyard being built, will cost the exchequer Rs 11,683 crore.
On the issue of the missing sensors and weapons, the Assistant Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral AB Singh passed the buck on to the DRDO for not being able to deliver the ‘towed array sonars’ (sensors) or the LR-SAMs, being built in collaboration with Israeli Aerospace Industry (IAI).Â
Made with stealth features, the destroyer could be a part of an aircraft carrier task force or have individual independent operational missions. The ship will have a compliment of 50 officers and 250 sailors. Kolkata will stay with the Western Fleet.
Along with the destroyer of P 15A nomenclature, the navy will also be commissioning P 28 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette, INS Kamorta on 23 August by the Defence Minister, Arun Jaitley. Kamorta will followed by three other corvettes Kadmat, Kiltan and Kavrati.
The navy says that the DRDO and IAI joint programme to develop LR-SAM got stuck at the final trial stage as the missiles failed to fulfill ‘some of the technical parametres’ of the navy. They are expecting that the LR-SAM will be ready by late September or early October.
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