The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates significantly in the Persian Gulf Region, the Horn of Africa, the Strait of Malacca, and routinely conducts anti-piracy operations and partners with other navies in the region. It also conducts routine two to three month-long deployments in the South and East China seas as well as in the western Mediterranean sea simultaneously.
The Maldivian Coast Guard is the naval or maritime arm of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF). Because the Maldives does not have a navy, the MNDF Coast Guard functions as the armed maritime force of the nation with a charter to contribute to national defence and by and large to respond to issues related to the maritime security of the nation. Therefore, the Coast Guard is documented as the custodian of the Maldives Maritime Domain. Maritime security is a constituent ingredient of the national security in a maritime nation such as the Maldives and its significance is best understood when one perceives the island or the archipelagic nature of the country.
The Car Nicobar class of high-speed offshore patrol vessels are built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) for the Indian Navy. The vessels are designed as a cost-effective platform for patrol, anti-piracy and rescue operations in India's exclusive economic zone. In 2023, one of the ships, INS Tarmugli, was donated to the Maldivian Coast Guard.
The Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) is a integrated tri-services command of the Indian Armed Forces, based at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India. It was created in 2001 to safeguard India's strategic interests in Southeast Asia and the Strait of Malacca by increasing rapid deployment of military assets in the region. It provides logistical and administrative support to naval ships which are sent on deployment to East Asia and the Pacific Ocean.
The Saryu class of offshore patrol vessels (OPV) are advanced patrol ships of the Indian Navy built at the Goa Shipyard Limited. These vessels are capable of ocean surveillance and monitoring and can maintain control of shipping lanes. They can also be deployed to provide security to offshore oil installations, and other naval assets.
The Abhay-class corvettes of the Indian Navy are the customised variants of the Soviet Pauk-class corvettes. The class was primarily intended for coastal patrol and anti-submarine warfare. The last ship of the class is expected to be decommissioned by 2025. The class is being replaced by Arnala-class and Mahe-class of Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft.
The Close Range Naval-91 is a naval version of the Medak 30mm automatic gun installed on the Sarath Infantry fighting vehicle, a variant of the Russian BMP-2 manufactured in India under license by the AVANI. The Medak gun itself is based on the Russian Shipunov 2A42 30 mm automatic cannon.
INS Kabra is the eigth Fast Attack Craft of the series of 10 Fleet I Car Nicobar-class patrol vessel built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) for the Indian Navy. It is named after an island of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago. The vessels are designed as a cost-effective platform for high-speed offshore patrol, anti-piracy and rescue operations in India's Exclusive Economic Zone.
The Rani Abbakka-class patrol vessel are a series of inshore patrol vessels being built by Hindustan Shipyard Ltd. for the Indian Coast Guard. They are based on Australian Thornycroft design. The ship, incidentally, is named after Abbakka Mahadevi, the legendary queen of Tulunadu, Karnataka who fought the Portuguese in the latter half of the 16th Century.
The Makar-class survey catamarans are a series of six 500 ton steel hull/aluminium superstructure Hydrographic Survey Catamarans being built by Alcock Ashdown (Gujarat) Ltd at its Bhavnagar shipyard for the Indian Navy. The ships are designed by an Australian naval architecture firm Sea Transport Solutions, which is based on Queensland's Gold Coast. The deal was canceled due to the extensive delays as the Navy was not satisfied with the timeline and a fresh award for construction of another class of survey vessels to the GRSE has also been undertaken.
The Rajshree-class patrol vessels are a series of eight inshore patrol vessels built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata for the Indian Coast Guard.
INS Shakti (A57) is a Deepak-class fleet tanker in service with the Indian Navy. She was built by Fincantieri, an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste. She is the second and final ship of her class. Shakti, along with her predecessor Deepak, is one of the largest ships of the Indian Navy.
INS Saryu is the first Saryu-class patrol vessel of the Indian Navy, designed and constructed indigenously by the Goa Shipyard Limited. The ship is home-ported at Port Blair, under the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC). She is the largest offshore patrol vessel in the navy.
The Indian Navy has been focusing on developing indigenous platforms, systems, sensors and weapons as part of the nation's modernisation and expansion of its maritime forces. As of November 2023, the Indian Navy had 67 vessels of various types under construction including destroyers, frigates, corvettes, conventional-powered and nuclear-powered submarines and various other ships. It plans to build up to a total of 200 vessels and 500 aircraft by 2050. According to the Chief of the Naval Staff's statement in December 2020, India has transformed from a buyer's navy to a builder's navy.
INS Tarasa (T94) is a patrol vessel of the Car Nicobar-class of Indian Navy and the last ship in the series of four Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC). Unlike the United States Coast Guard's similarly sized Sentinel class cutters, the class is propelled by water jets, at up to 35 knots (65 km/h), where the American patrol vessels conventional propulsion systems maximum stated speed is 28 knots (52 km/h). Both classes have a mission endurance of 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km).
The Trinkat-class patrol vessels of the Indian Navy were designed and constructed by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers.
MCGS Huravee, formerly INS Tarmugli is a patrol vessel of the Car Nicobar-class of Indian Navy and the first ship in the series of four Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC). The ship was commissioned by Vice Admiral HCS Bisht AVSM, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command. The indigenously conceived, designed and built ship, named after an island of same name in the Andaman archipelago is capable of operating in shallow waters at high speeds. Built for extended coastal and off-shore surveillance and patrol duties the warship is fitted with advanced MTU engines, water jet propulsion as well as latest communication equipment.
INS Batti Malv (T67) is the 3rd ship of the Bangaram-class patrol vessels of the Indian Navy, designed for interdiction against fast moving surface vessels and for search-and-rescue operations in coastal areas and in the exclusive economic zone. Named after the Battimalv Island in Nicobar, the vessel was designed and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers. The diesel generators on board are supplied by Cummins India. The electronic equipment on board including satellite communication and global positioning systems is from Bharat Electronics Limited, ECIL and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
India
Indian Navy