Chairman & Managing Director of Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) Ltd Commodore PR Hari in one of his recent interviews has said that an order worth Rs 36,000 crore for next-generation Corvettes may get pitched by the Indian Navy in coming future.
Indian Navy had last inducted four Kamorta-Class advance corvettes predominantly for anti-submarine role between 2014 to 2020. The warships inducted are INS Kamorta, INS Kadmatt, INS Kiltan, and INS Kavaratti in order.
Though these Kamorta-Class corvettes are well equipped for executing both anti-submarine and anti-surface operations, they have certain limitations in performing anti-surface role in comparison to corvettes of same categories, which could eventually lead the Indian Navy to look out for more effective corvette options that can perform anti-surface role better than the current fleet of Kamorta-Class corvettes.
These corvettes are expected to have advance features, which as mentioned earlier will aid the platform to perform anti-surface operations. The expected number of these advance corvettes is eight and the entire project will cost around Rs 36,000 crore.
The platform is expected to be same in weight class as its Kamorta-Class counterpart. Though the size of these corvettes will be half of the frigates of the Indian Navy but will have parallel firing capabilities.
The main radar for this platform is going to be the EL/M 2248 MF-STAR S-band radar by IAI Elta. Firepower is going to be the key for these next-generation warships, which are expected to have 8 cells of BrahMos surface-to-air-missiles, along with 2 Quad 533 mm torpedo tubes for anti-submarine objectives. These advance corvettes will also be equipped with either Barrack-8 or VLSR SAM missiles for defensive objectives.
These next-generation corvettes will have a stealthier design and come with advance electronic warfare suite and state-of-the-art sonar system.
The chairman of GRSE, Commodore PR Hari in his interview also mentioned of the ‘request for proposal’ for Project 18, the next-generation stealthy destroyer class by the Indian Navy, which he expects to be placed in 2025-26.
As per reports, the Project 18 destroyers are not just going to be India’s biggest destroyers, but will also be competing with the biggest operational destroyer ships globally such as the Chinese Type 055 destroyers. The estimated cost of this project will be Rs 80,000 Crore ($9.65 billion) and for that, MDL has already placed an order for a floating dock of Rs 500 crore.
The destroyers of Project 18 class are expected to have a maximum displacement of 12,000 tonnes. The platform will likely have as many as 120 to 140 in numbers of VLS (verticle launching system) for defensive and offensive objectives.
Both of these projects, which are progressing at a reasonable pace and expected to be inducted on time will not just enhance the capabilities of the Indian Navy but also will aid it to expand its dominance in the sea to defend the country’s interests.
PNN