INS Anjadip, ASW Craft, Launched at L&T Kattupalli
The contract for building eight Anti Submarine Warfare ship was signed between MoD and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata on 29 Apr 19. These are to be shallow water Craft for operating in the Coastal waters of the Arabian Sea. This sea area has its own peculiarity for submarine detection etc.
In order to deliver the ships, as early as possible, a build strategy was planned in which four ships are being built at GRSE, Kolkata and construction of balance four ships has been sub-contracted to L&T Shipbuilding, Kattupalli.
The first ship to be delivered to the Navy will be INS Arnala. This class of ships will replace the in-service Abhay class ASW Corvettes of Indian Navy and are designed to undertake anti-submarine operations in coastal waters, Low Intensity Maritime Operations (LIMO), and Mine Laying operations including subsurface surveillance in littoral waters. These 77 m long ASW SWC ships have a displacement of 900 tons with a maximum speed of 25 knots and endurance of 1800 NM.
Now Anjadip, the 3rd of eight ships of this ASW Project being built by GRSE for Indian Navy, has been launched on 13 Jun 23 at L&T, Kattupalli. The Launch Ceremony was presided over by VAdm R B Pandit, C-in-C (SFC). In keeping with the naval maritime tradition, Smt Priya Pandit launched the ship to the chanting of invocation from Atharva Veda.
The ship has been named Anjadip to signify the strategic maritime importance accorded to the island of Anjadip, located off Karwar. The island is connected to the mainland by a breakwater and is part of INS Kadamba. On completion of the event VAdm R B Pandit also laid the keel for the 7th ASW SWC ship.
Launch of three ships of the same class in a span of six months demonstrates the indigenous shipbuilding capabilities of an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. The first ship of the project is planned to be delivered to Indian Navy by Dec 23. The ASW SWC ships have over 80% indigenous content, thereby ensuring that large scale defence manufacturing is being executed by Indian manufacturing units, generating employment and capability enhancement within the country.
