Indian Navy commissions indigenous stealth warship INS Kamorta

The Indian Navy today commissioned the country's first indigenously-built stealth anti-submarine warfare (ASW) vessel INS Kamorta, at an impressive ceremony at Visakhapatnam Naval Dockyard

Defence minister Arun Jaitley commissioned INS Kamrota, a coverette class vessel, whose weapon systems have all been manufactured indigenously.

The commissioning of INS Kamorta, with its enhanced multi-dimensional operational capability, has added a new dimension to the ASW capability of the Indian Navy and the Eastern Fleet, in particular, the defence minister said.

INS Kamrota, built at the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE), Kolkata, was handed over to the Indian Navy on 12 July 2014. The super-sophisticated frontline warship was formally handed over to the Commanding Officer of the ship Cdr Manoj Jha by GRSE chairman and managing director, Rear Admiral (Retd) AK Verma, VSM.

INS Kamorta is first of the four ASW stealth corvettes designed by the Navy's in-house organisation, the Directorate of Naval Design (DND), under Project 28, with an indigenous component of about 90 per cent.

Measuring 110 meters in length, 14 meters in breadth and a displacement of 3,500 tonnes, the ship can achieve speed of 25 knots. The ship is fitted with anti-submarine rockets and torpedoes, medium and close-in weapon systems and indigenous surveillance radar `Revathi'. The ship is also capable of carrying an integral ASW helicopter.

Kamorta also boasts of other ''firsts'' such as a foldable hangar door and a rail-less helo traversing system, which will give helicopter operations from the corvette a significant edge over other warships.

Enhanced stealth features have been achieved by 'X' form of hull, full beam superstructure, inclined ship sides and use of infrared signature suppression system for cooling the engine and generator exhausts.

The ship has a 'diesel and combination of diesel ' propulsion system with 2 diesel engines along with one gear box on each shaft. The common raft mounted gear box and diesel engines give the vessel very low radiated underwater noise.

This is well complemented with an efficient propeller which has high cavitation inception speed. The design also incorporates active shaft grounding system and multi zone impressed current cathodic protection for suppression of extremely low frequency electromagnetic signature.

The very low under water acoustic signature makes it a 'silent killer on the prowl'.

INS Kamorta has a multitude of systems such as Total Atmospheric Control, Integrated Platform Management, Integrated Bridge, Battle Damage Control and Personnel Locator System. This provides a contemporary and process oriented System of Systems for optimal functioning of the warship.

With her state of the art weapons and sensors, INS Kamorta is well equipped to fight in Nuclear, Biological and Chemical warfare conditions. The ship, in essence, showcases the nation's warship design capability and industrial prowess

The ship has a complement of about 15 officers and 180 sailors. The accommodation and living spaces have been designed with special emphasis on ergonomics and habitability. The ship is commanded by Commander Manoj Jha, a gunnery specialist.

The Navy has acquired three battle ships - INS Vikramaditya, INS Kolkotta and now INS Kamorta – in as many months since the new government took over, Jaitley pointed out, adding, the latest was special because of its high indigenous content.

He said, at the moment, 42 warships are under construction in various shipyards of the country, which is a welcome sign of the health of the ship building industry. He expressed confidence that the measures taken by the government will infuse healthy competition between the public and private shipyards.