The ship will be inducted into the Indian Navy in July 2018.
Chief of Naval Staff RK Dhowan launched India’s latest destroyer warship at the Mazagon Dock Limited on Monday, which is part of the Project 15B. However, it is only in July 2018 that the ship will be inducted into the Indian Navy. It is during the induction or commissioning of the destroyer that it will be christened as the Indian Naval Ship Visakhapatnam. Under the estimated Rs29,340 crore Project 15B has construction of four stealth destroyers.
Here are some of the features of INS Visakhapatnam:
1) Eight BrahMos anti-ship missiles will be installed on the ship after it is ready. BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile developed jointly by Russia and India's Defence Research and Development Organisation.
2) Likely to be test fired by October this year, the Barak 8 missile will be park of the stealth destroyer, including INS Kolkata and Visakhapatnam. There will be 32 Barak-8 Long Range Surface to Air Missiles (LR-SAM). Barak-8 is being jointly developed by Israel and India.
3) Another Israeli equipment will be fitted onboard this 163 metre long ship - the Multi Function Surveillance Threat Alert Radar (MF-STAR). This system will provide targeting information to Barak-8 missiles.
4) Except the machinery compartment, the rest of the warship will have a Total Atmosphere Control System. This system will enable the crew to operate the ship in regions of nuclear, chemical or biological fall out. Those working in the machinery section will have to wear specialised suits and masks to keep the destroyer moving.
5) The AK-630 Close-In Weapon System will be fitted on the bow or front side of this 7,300 tonne ship.
6) Twin tube torpedo launchers and rocket launchers have been developed indigenously and it will add punch to the ship’s anti-submarine capability.
7) Other systems that will be in place on commissioning will include network centricity with Ship Data Network (SDN), Automatic Power Management System (APMS), Combat Management System (CMS) and Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS).
8) Turbines that will be fitted have been built by Ukraine, and are Zorya gas turbines.
9) Stealth features of this latest warship are better than its previous versions as the shape of the hull and radar transparent deck fittings will make it difficult for the enemy to detect INS Visakhapatnam.
10) The Rail less helo traversing system will be introduced on its deck for better handling of the helicopters. The vessel will be able to carry and operate two multiple role helicopters during its missions.
11) INS Visakhapatnam is a 65 percent indigenous vessel and 11 of the weapons and sensor systems that will become part of the stealth destroyer will be indigenous.
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