Kolkata: In a landmark achievement, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd, delivered the first ASW Shallow Water Craft Arnala, to Indian Navy. Incidentally during 2022, GRSE was awarded the Defence Minister’s Award for designing the Arnala, termed as a ‘most silent ship’.
Simultaneous contracts for construction of 16 ASW SWCs (8 by GRSE and 8 by another PSU Shipyard) were concluded by Indian Navy, and with the delivery of Arnala, the first of these 16 vessels by GRSE, the Indian Navy will get a shot in the arm with respect to its Shallow Water ASW capabilities. The ship was constructed through a PPP model, a first of its kind in India, where a major PSU shipyard collaborated with a capable private shipyard, L&T Kattupalli.
INS Arnala will add necessary punch to the Indian Navy’s capability to patrol coastal areas where enemy submarines could be lurking.
The ship has been, named after an island with a historic fort, off the Maharashtra Coast, has nearly 88% indigenous content, underscoring GRSE’s commitment towards the Government of India’s Aatmanirbharta policy.
Though smaller in size as compared to Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvettes of the Kamorta Class built and delivered to the Navy by GRSE earlier, the 77.6-metre-long and 10.5-metre-wide ASW SWCs pack a punch. They are capable of full-scale sub-surface surveillance of coastal waters as well as Search and Attack. They can also carry out coordinated anti-submarine operations with aircraft. These ships have Combat Management Systems on board and will be armed with lightweight torpedoes as well as anti-submarine warfare rockets. These ships will have a complement of 57 personnel, including seven officers.
With three water jets (fitted to marine diesel engines), the INS Arnala is extremely agile and manoeuvrable. A great advantage is that she only requires a draught of 2.7-metres, allowing her to access the coasts easily in search of sub-surface threats.
GRSE is now building 16 more warships, including three P17A advanced stealth frigates, seven ASW SWCs, two Survey Vessels Large and four Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessels. Apart from this, the shipyard is building 24 other vessels, nine of which are export platforms.
