INS Arnala joins The Indian Navy
‘INS Arnala’
1st indigenously built ASW shallow watercraft delivered by GRSE under the landmark PPP model
The Indian Navy has inducted its first indigenously built Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW SWC), INS ARNALA.
The ship constructed by Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd is the first of 16 such vessels ordered by the Indian Navy — eight being built by GRSE and the rest by Cochin Shipyard Ltd.
The project by GRSE has been executed under a pioneering public-private partnership model between GRSE and L&T Kattupalli, is the first of its kind in India’s shipbuilding history.
Named after a historic island off the Maharashtra coast, INS Arnala boasts an impressive 88% indigenous content, reflecting India’s firm commitment to the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
The vessel is tailored for anti-submarine operations in shallow coastal waters of the Western Coast leading to the Arabian Sea, where enemy submarines often attempt to infiltrate undetected.
These ships though smaller than the earlier Kamorta-class ASW corvettes are generations ahead in all aspects of Naval Warfare. 77.6-metre-long and 10.5-metre-wide Arnala-class ships are very formidable.
Equipped with Combat Management Systems, lightweight torpedoes, ASW rockets, and three powerful water jets fitted to marine diesel engines, INS Arnala is designed for speed, agility, and precision.
Its shallow draught of 2.7 metres allows it to operate close to shorelines, flushing out sub-surface threats that larger warships might miss.
Capable of sub-surface surveillance, coordinated anti-submarine strikes with aircraft, and full-scale ASW missions in littoral waters, these ships will play a crucial role in India’s coastal defence network.
These ships have a DRDO developed Combat Management Systems on board for Fire Control system, Integrated Platform Management System and Automatic Power Management System.
It is armed with 1 x 30 mm naval gun, lightweight torpedoes as well as anti-submarine warfare rockets and even anti submarine mines.
These ships will have a complement of 57 personnel, including seven officers. The ship can have a speed of excess of 46km/h and a range of 1800 nautical mile.
Hopefully by 2027 Western Naval Command should be operating two squadrons of (8 x ASW SC in each squadron) of these ships under its Coastal flotilla.
Thereafter MoD must endeavour to provide a minimum of 1 x squadron of these ships to even Southern Naval Command.
The deep waters in the area of Eastern Naval Command don’t require these types of crafts but more of ASW Corvettes.
