The Indian Navy launched ‘Visakhapatnam’, the first of its stealth destroyers under the P15-B project in Mumbai on Monday.
The warship has enhanced capability to operate in nuclear, biological and chemical environments and will be the first of the four follow-up enhanced Kolkata-class warships. The ship will give a major boost to India’s maritime capabilities when it is inducted in 2018.
The stealth destroyer is 163 metres in length and weighs around 7,300 tonnes. It is 65 per cent indigenous and has a number of weapon systems which have been made in India.
Kolkata Class did not have a full-fledged Total Atmosphere Control System (TAC). The TAC system provides you with the capability of operating in a fall-out region, whether it is a nuclear, chemical or biological atmosphere, endlessly.
— Rear Admiral AK Saxena, Director General, Naval Design
‘Visakhapatnam’ will provide target information to 32 Barak 8 long-range surface to air missiles onboard the warship. These missiles are co-developed by India and Israel.
It will be the largest destroyer commissioned by the Indian Navy and will be equipped with the Israeli Multi-Function Surveillance Threat Alert Radar (MF-STAR). The total cost of the project is a little over Rs 29,600 crore.
The warship was launched by Minu Dhowan, wife of Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R K Dhowan. Admiral Dhowan and senior officials of the Navy and Mazgaon Docks Limited were present on the occasion.