India's first stealth destroyer, INS Visakhapatnam launched

Indian Navy’s new stealth destroyer, INS Visakhapatnam, designed ingenuously and fitted with advanced features, was launched today, boosting the maritime force’s firepower capability.

The Kolkata-class warship, the first of P15-B stealth destroyers, was launched by Minu Dhowan, wife of Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R K Dhowan, at Mazgaon Docks Ltd (MDL). The ship, weighing approximately 3,000 tons during the launch, is slated to be christened as ‘INS Visakhapatnam’ on commissioning.

The 163-metre-long vessel propelled by four gas turbines, a speed of over 30 knots at a displacement of approximately 7,300 tons has e state-of-the-art weapons, sensors, an advance Action Information System, in Integrated Platform Management system, sophisticated Power Distribution System and a host of other advanced features.

It will be fitted with supersonic surface-to-surface missile system enabling the ship to engage shore-based and naval surface targets at long range, making it a lethal platform for strike against enemy targets. The ship’s air defense capability, designed to counter the threat of enemy aircraft and anti-ship cruise missiles, will revolve around the vertical launch and long range surface to air missile system. The vessel is expected to be commissioned in the Navy in 2018.