INS Kiltan commissioned to Navy by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman

KOLKATA: INS Kiltan, third in the series of four anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvettes being built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd in Kolkata was commissioned by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the Navy's Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam on Monday.

Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba, Vice Admiral H C Bisht, flag officer-commanding-in-chief, Eastern Naval Command, Vice Admiral D M Deshpande, controller of warship production and acquisition, Rear Admiral V K Saxena (retd), chairman and managing director, GRSE and other senior officers were present during the occasion.

The INS Kiltan, delivered to the Navy on Saturday, is the first ship of its size - 109-metre long with a displacement of 3,250 tonnes - to have a carbon-composite superstructure. This reduces its weight considerably. It is also the first major warship to have undertaken sea trials of all major weapons and sensors before commissioning. This makes it ready for operational deployment immediately after commissioning.

"INS Kiltan strengthens our defence system and will be a shining armour in our 'Make in India' programme as it was built here totally," Sitharaman said during the commissioning ceremony.

GRSE is the only shipyard in the country which will be delivering 14 warships to the Navy and Coast Guard in next two years. While six would be delivered by the end of 2017-18, the remaining eight will get commissioned in 2018-19. INS Kiltan is a potent platform armed with heavyweight torpedoes, ASW rockets, 76 mm medium range gun and two multi-barrel 30 mm guns with dedicated fire control systems, missile decoy rockets (Chaff), advanced electronic support measure system, bow-mounted sonar and air surveillance radar Revathi.

"It was only due to the painstaking efforts of L&T that resulted in the successful developments of the indigenous rocket launcher (IRL) and foldable hangar door. M/s BEL contributed towards development of indigenous surveillance radar and ASW fire control system while the hull of the ship is built with special grade high-tensile steel developed by DRDO and Indian Navy and produced by SAIL. The rail-less helo traversing system was manufactured by the GRSE's engineering division under transfer of technology arrangement with M/s Mac Taggart Scott of UK," a senior GRSE official said.