SOURCE: TNN
The Navy will continue to maintain a high-tempo of operations’ andpeak combat readiness’ to tackle any contingency, said Admiral Karambir Singh on Thursday, even as the force inducted a new indigenously-built stealth corvette designed for potent anti-submarine warfare.
While the Navy chief reviewed the operational preparedness on the western seaboard off the Karwar naval base amidst the ongoing military confrontation in eastern Ladakh with China, Army chief General M M Naravane commissioned the stealth corvette INS Kavaratti at the naval dockyard at Visakhapatnam.
Admiral Singh oversaw weapon firings, air-to-air combat operations, anti-submarine drills and fleet manoeuvres after embarking on guided missile destroyer INS Chennai, which was part of the carrier battle group led by aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.
“The Navy has remained mission-deployed and combat-ready across the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), even during the rough seas of the monsoon period, towards maintaining the maritime security of the nation,” he said.
Gen Naravane, on the visit to the eastern seaboard, in turn, said, “The commissioning of INS Kavaratti marks yet another significant step in securing our country’s maritime goals. This indigenously built anti-submarine warfare vessel is equipped with advanced weapons, composite superstructure and stealth features.”
INS Kavaratti is the fourth and the last of the Project-28 Kamorta-class corvettes built by defence shipyard Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited, Kolkata (GRSE) in Kolkata.
Named after the capital of the Lakshadweep group of islands, the 3,300-tonne INS Kavaratti has been constructed using high-grade `DMR 249A steel’ produced in India. The corvette has enhanced stealth features resulting in a reduced radar cross-section, which makes her less susceptible to detection by the enemy.
The Indian Navy currently enjoys an edge over the Chinese one in IOR because of the tyranny of logistics faced by the latter. But the Indian Navy has a force-level of only one aircraft carrier, 10 destroyers, 14 frigates, 12 corvettes as well as 15 diesel-electric and two nuclear-powered submarines in terms of “major combatants” at present.
As reported by TOI earlier, China has the world’s largest Navy now. With an overall force of around 350 warships and submarines, including over 130 “major surface combatants”, China is now aggressively hunting for logistics bases in the IOR after establishing its first overseas military base at Djibouti on the Horn of Africa in August 2017. Chinese warships and submarines, of course, enjoy access to the Karachi and Gwadar ports in Pakistan.
