In what could be a sign of growing capability of the Indian Navy, the third of four indigenously built Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) stealth corvettes ‘INS Kiltan’ under Project 28 (Kamorta class) was commissioned into the Indian Navy at Visakhapatnam’s Naval Dockyard.
The stealth corvette ‘INS Kiltan’ is a big step towards the country becoming self-reliant through indigenisation, with as much as 90 percent of its content drawn from India itself.
Zee News
The Kamorta-class corvettes are the first anti-submarine warfare stealth corvettes to be built in India. INS Kamorta and INS Kadmatt were commissioned in 2014 and 2016 respectively, while the last of the corvettes — INS Kavaratti will be commissioned by the end of 2017.
Here are some interesting facts about INS Kiltan:
1. INS Kiltan is capable of “fighting under nuclear, biological and chemical environments.”
2. It is India Navy’s first major warship to have a superstructure of carbon fibre.
It translates into improved stealth features, lower top weight and maintenance costs.
Indian Navy
3. INS Kiltan is the latest indigenous warship after Shivalik Class, Kolkata Class and sister ships INS Kamorta and INS Kadmatt to have joined the Indian Navy’s arsenal.
Indian Navy
4. The ship hosts a predominantly indigenous cutting-edge weapons and sensors suite.
Heavyweight torpedoes, ASW rockets, 76 mm caliber Medium Range gun and two multi-barrel 30 mm guns, most advanced bow mounted sonar and air surveillance radar Revathi are part of it.
WATCH: INS Kiltan firing its RBU 6000 ASW rocket during sea trials. P 30 INS Kiltan is being commissioned by the @DefenceMinIndia today. pic.twitter.com/cwa05jeM09
— Delhi Defence Review (@delhidefence) October 16, 2017
5. It carries 17 officers and 106 sailors on-board.
6. The ship in the future would also be installed with short range SAM system and carry an integral ASW helicopter.
Indian Navy
7. The INS Kiltan is the successor ship to the Arnala-class corvette INS Kiltan, which was part of Operation Trident and was later decommissioned in 1987.
One India
8. The warship comes with a low-radar signature.
9. The keel of INS Kiltan was laid in August 2010 and it was launched in Kolkata on March 26, 2013 by Chitra Joshi, wife of Admiral D.K. Joshi, the then Chief of Naval Staff.
Hon’ble @DefenceMinIndia @nsitharaman meets proud parents of Commander Naushad Ali Khan Commanding Officer of INS Kiltan at Commissioning Ceremony pic.twitter.com/7ZBoEF6JIh
— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) October 16, 2017
10. Built by Kolkata-based Garden Research Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), the INS Kiltan gives a big thrust to Modi government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.
11. The corvettes are named after the islands in the Lakshadweep archipelago.
12. After commissioning, the ship would become an integral part of the Eastern Fleet and would boost Indian Navy’s striking capability and sustainability in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
INS Kiltan commissioned by Hon’ble @DefenceMinIndia @nsitharaman todate pic.twitter.com/YFeuRZGTG4
— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) October 16, 2017
