History | |
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Name | INS Amini |
Owner | Indian Navy |
Operator | Indian Navy |
Ordered | 29 April 2019 [1] |
Builder | Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) |
Cost | ₹789 crore (US$93 million) (FY2020) |
Yard number | 3031 |
Laid down | 17 June 2022 |
Launched | 16 November 2023 |
Identification | Pennant number: P75 |
Status | Launched |
General characteristics | |
Type | Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft |
Displacement | 900 t (890 long tons) [2] |
Length | 77.6 m (254 ft 7 in) [3] |
Beam | 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in) [3] |
Draft | 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in) [3] |
Propulsion | Water-jet propulsion [4] |
Speed | 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) |
Range | 1,800 nmi (3,300 km; 2,100 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) [3] |
Boats & landing craft carried | 1 × RHIB [5] |
Crew | 57 (7 officers + 50 sailors) |
Sensors & processing systems |
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Armament |
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Notes | Largest class of waterjet-powered vessels in the Indian Navy. |
INS Amini is the third ship of the Arnala class of the Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW SWC). The ship was ordered by the Indian Navy . [9]
On 23 December 2013, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) –- the main acquisition panel subordinate to India's Ministry of Defence (MoD), approved the procurement of sixteen anti-submarine warfare (ASW) vessels capable of operating in shallow waters, at a cost of ₹ 13,440 crore (equivalent to ₹230 billionorUS$2.7 billion in 2023), to replace the ageing Abhay-class corvettes of the Indian Navy – which were commissioned between 1989 and 1991. This includes the development of the vessels with about 700 t (690 long tons; 770 short tons) displacement and an operational radius of 200 nmi (370 km; 230 mi) from its home port. They would be built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE). [10] [11]
In June 2014, the MoD issued a tender, worth USD2.25 billion under the 'Buy and Make India' category to private-shipyards – including Larsen & Toubro (L&T), ABG Shipyard, Pipavav Defense and Offshore Engineering, Goa Shipyard (GSL) and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), for the procurement of the 16 anti-submarine vessels. [12]
In October 2017, Cochin Shipyard (CSL) and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) emerged as the first and the second-lowest bidder in the tender, respectively. CSL had quoted a value of ₹5,400 crore (US$829.22 million) while GRSE had to match the bid value of CSL in order to get the contract. [13]
On 29 April 2019, the MoD and GRSE signed a contract, valued at ₹6,311.32 crore (equivalent to ₹78 billionorUS$930 million in 2023), for eight anti-submarine vessels, to be delivered between 2022 and 2026. The contract mandates the first vessel to be delivered within 42 months of the date of signing, with the remaining seven vessels delivered at a rate of two ships per year within 84 months. [1] [14]
On 30 April 2019, the MoD and CSL signed a similar contract for the construction of the remaining eight vessels – within a deadline of 84 months. [15] Under this contract, the first ship was also expected to be delivered within a span of 42 months, with subsequent deliveries of two ships per year. [14] [16] [17]
GRSE formed a Public Private Partnership alliance with Larsen & Toubro involving its Kattupalli Shipyard to undertake the entire ASW SWC project along with the Survey Vessel (Large) Project. [18]
The keel laying ceremony of the ship was conducted on 17 June 2022 at GRSE Main Works Unit in Kolkata. [19] [20]
INS Amini has a displacement of 900 tonnes [23] with a gross tonnage of 1,490 tonnes. [24] The class of warship is considered as the largest warship of the Indian Navy to be designed and propelled by pump-jet technology. The warship is equipped with three marine diesel engines coupled with a water jet each. By dimensions, the ship measures 77.6 m (255 ft) by length and 10.5 m (34 ft) by width. Androth offers a maximum speed of 25 kn (46 km/h; 29 mph) and a maximum range of 1,800 nmi (3,300 km) at a speed of 14 kn (26 km/h). The ship has a standard accommodation for seven officers and 50 sailors and has a provision to carry an RHIB. [5]
The ship has an indigenous content of 88% [22] with equipment from Bharat Electronics, Mahindra Defence, and Larsen & Toubro among others. [25]
The weapons suite of Androth is designed to support its intended anti-submarine warfare operations in shallow waters. The anti-submarine weapons that equip the ship includes a forward-mounted RBU-6000, a triple 324 mm lightweight torpedo tube each on port and starboard equipped with Advanced Light-Weight Torpedo (ALWT) at the aft and anti-submarine mine-laying rails. Behind the torpedo tubes, two Mahindra Defence Systems-supplied torpedo decoy launching systems (DLS), as a part of the Integrated Anti-Submarine Warfare Defence Suite (IADS). [5] [26] [27] [28]
For surface warfare and self-defence, the ship employs a Naval Surface Gun (30 mm), [29] [30] which serves the role of main gun as well as two OFT 12.7 mm M2 Stabilized Remote Controlled Gun (SRCG) as general-purpose machine guns. The SRCG is the Indian variant of Elbit Systems' Remote Controlled Naval Weapon Station (RCNWS). [5]
As part of its sensor suite, Androth is equipped with Abhay compact active hull-mounted sonar (HMS), a towed low-frequency variable-depth sonar (LFVDS) procured from a joint venture firm between Indian CFF Fluid Control Ltd. and German Atlas Elektronik, a division of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) along with an underwater acoustic communication system (UWACS). [5]
The Abhay active sonar system — developed by DRDO's Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) and manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) — includes transducer array, data acquisition system, power amplifier and the dual multi-function console (DMFC). The system utilises advanced adaptive signal and information processing techniques to detect, track and classify of targets. [5] The compact system helps in the application of the systems onto smaller category of naval warships like Shallows Water Crafts, Light Frigates & Patrol Vessels by replacing legacy Russian sonar. Earlier, hull-mounted sonars were only limited to frigates and destroyers. [31]
Additionally, the corvette employs two navigation radars, an electronic warfare suite which employs Radar Electronic Support Measures (R-ESM) and Communications ESM (C-ESM) or COMINT and is equipped for Satellite Communications (SATCOM). As part of its network-centric warfare suite, the enite sensors and weapon suite is integrated into the combat management system (CMS) and the ship is equipped with integrated bridge system (IBS), an expadable bathy theromograph (XBT), an automatic identification system (AIS), an echo sounder and an automatic weather observation system (AWOS). The ship employs an integrated ASW complex (IAC) which computes fire control solutions and facilitates firing of ASW weapons including torpedoes and rockets. The IAC was developed by BEL and DRDO. [5]