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The corvette will be named Kamorta, after one
of the 19 Nicobar group of islands, and an earlier
ship – since decommissioned – taken
from the Soviet Union. The new vessel would be
commissioned into the naval fleet by mid-2012.
Three more such ships are under construction at
the GRSE and will be with the navy by 2014.
 Later,
another series would be launched.
The vessel also signifies the importance the
Indian Ministry of Defence is giving to the private
sector in new defence projects. For Kamorta for
instance, the special high tensile steel has been
provided by the state-run Steel Authority of India
Ltd (SAIL), four diesel engines of 3800 kw each
by the private sector Kirloskar and torpedo launchers
by Larsen and Toubro. The latter, an engineering
giant, is gearing up for a high degree of contribution
in India’s naval programmes.
At present the Indian Navy does not have any
anti-submarine corvette, and bigger Indian and
Russian frigates and destroyers, with helicopters
on board, are deployed for this role.
The new INS Kamorta was formally launched by
the wife of Minister of State for Defence M M
Pallam Raju, Mrs Mamatha M at a ceremony in the
eastern Indian city of Kolkata (Calcutta). With
85 indigenous components, the ship is equipped
with excellent stealth characteristics and very
low underwater noise signatures.
“This ship is the first of its kind with
stealth features. It has a large indigenous content
and is packed with modern systems, sensors and
weapons. When inducted in the Navy, a few months
from now, this fine ship will be a front line
fighting unit of the Navy and add to the might
of the country in its projection as a blue water
navy of our region,” Mr Raju said at the
launching ceremony of the vessel.
French DCNS and Finnish Wartsila have provided
design assistance and transfer of technology (TOT).
More than 80 per cent of the ship’s components
are reported to be Indian, and eventually, either
through indigenous development or ToT, the Indian
Navy plans to make this, and some other classes
of ships with nearly cent per cent indigenous
components.
Commander in Chief (C-in-C) of the Eastern Naval
Command Vice Admiral Anup Singh, who was present
on the occasion, observed that the Indian Navy
was steadily building its capabilities with hi-tech,
21st century weapons and sensors.
 Ordered
in 2003, INS Kamorta will be equipped with sophisticated
arrangement for mounting ships machinery. The
weapon systems and sensor suits of this ship are
fully indigenous. The ‘X’ form of hull
and superstructure gives it a low radar cross
section. The Ship’s hull form has overall
length of 109 metre and 13.7 metre width. It can
cut through the sea at a high speed of 25 knots.
The 3,100-tonnage ship would be fitted with the
latest indigenously developed sonars to detect
submarines.
“The torpedo tubes, and scutter (torpedo
decoys) launchers contribute to its anti-submarine
punch. In addition, the ship will also be equipped
with vertically launched point defence missile
system (PDMS) and close in weapon systems (CIWS)
such as AK 30’s and super rapid gun mount
(SRGM),” an Indian Navy official said.
The ship is also equipped with decoy system Kavach,
which is designed to counter the threat of various
anti-ship missiles.
The capabilities of the GRSE, which will be marking
completion of 50 years of its existence, will
be augmented manifold after the ongoing Rs 530
crore (approximately USD 119 million) modernization
programme completes by 2011. The programme includes
building a large dry dock and an inclined berth,
a 250 tonnes Goliath Crane and modular halls with
allied workshop facilities.
Though GRSE was set up in year 1884 as a private
enterprise named Garden Reach Workshop Ltd, it
was taken over by the Indian government and placed
under administrative control of defence ministry
in 1960.
“I am happy to note that the shipyard has
embarked upon modernization of its shipbuilding
facilities which will enhance its shipbuilding
capacity to a great extent. This will also enable
the shipyard to construct larger warships within
shorter span of time,” Mr Raju said.
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