The Fourth Kamorta class Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) Corvette (Project-28),
christened ‘Kavaratti’, was launched today at a glittering
ceremony held at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE),
Kolkata. The Hon’ble Raksha Rajya Mantri, Shri Rao Inderjit Singh
was the Chief Guest at the occasion. In keeping with the nautical traditions,
the ship was launched by Smt Manita Singh, wife of the Hon’ble
Raksha Rajya Mantri. After an invocation to the Gods was recited, Smt
Manita Singh broke a coconut on the Ship’s Bow, named the ship
and wished her future crew good luck. |
Speaking
on the occasion the Hon’ble Raksha Rajya Mantri, Rao Inderjit
Singh lauded the contributions made by GRSE, Kolkata in meeting the
growing requirements of the Navy. Admiral RK Dhowan, Chief of the Naval
Staff, during his address acknowledged the excellent work done by the
yard for contributing towards achieving Indian Navy’s dream of
transforming itself from a “Buyers Navy” to “Builders
Navy”. He also commended the work of DGND and his team at Directorate
of Naval Design in designing state of the art warships for the country.
The four ships of Project-28 built by GRSE, Kolkata have been designed
indigenously by the Directorate of Naval Design, New Delhi and bear
testimony to the acclaimed legacy of Naval Designers. The ships have
been constructed using high grade steel (DMR 249A) produced in India.
With a displacement of 3300 tonnes, the sleek and magnificent ASW Corvettes
span 109.1 meters in length and 13.7 meters at the beam. They are propelled
by four diesel engines to achieve speeds in excess of 25 knots and have
an endurance of more than 3000 Nm. The P-28 corvettes also boast of
"firsts" such as the revolutionary Rail-less Helo Traversing
System, Foldable Hangar Door, use of Personnel Locator System and use
of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) Superstructure integrated
with the Steel Hull in the third and fourth ships of the Class. These
ships have common raft mounted Gear Box and Diesel Engines, which give
the vessels very low radiated underwater noise. This is well complemented
with an efficient propeller with very high cavitation inception speed.
The P-28 Ships also have Total Atmospheric Control System (TACS) and
an Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS) which include Integrated
Bridge System as well as Battle Damage Control System. The ASW Corvettes
also incorporate new design concepts for improved survivability, sea
keeping, stealth and manoeuvrability. Enhanced stealth features have
been achieved by including Low Radar Cross Section (RCS) signature through
full beam superstructure, inclined ship sides and reduced Infra Red
(IR) signature by use of ‘Infra Red Suppression System (IRSS)
device’ for cooling the Engine and Diesel Alternator exhausts.
The ships are also equipped to carry and operate one multiple role helicopter.
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