INS Arnala -- an anti-submarine corvette -- touches the waters of Bay of Bengal - Broadsword by Ajai Shukla

INS Arnala being launched at the Katupalli shipyard. It is the first of 16 locally built anti-submarine warfare vessels

By Vikas Gupta
Company Standard, 21 Dec 22

The Indian Navy vessel (INS) Arnala, the first of 16 anti-submarine shallow water warfare (ASW SWCs) built in India for the Indian Navy, was launched on Tuesday at the Kattupalli shipyard in Larsen & Toubro (L&T) near Chennai.

Of the 16 ASW SWCs on order, eight are being built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Kolkata, in partnership with L&T; and the other eight by Cochin Shipyard. The Navy plans to have all 16 corvettes built and in service by 2026.

Industry sources say the cost of the 16 corvettes will be Rs 12,622 crore or $1.6 billion. In 2022, the exchange rates stand at Rs 789 crore ($99 million) per vessel.

The Indian Navy’s need for shallow water anti-submarine craft stems from the special nature of the bottom of the Arabian Sea, which is extremely shallow even tens of nautical miles from shore.

“The ship was named INS Arnala to signify the strategic maritime importance given to the island of Arnala (located about 13 km north of Vasai, Maharashtra) by the great Maratha warrior, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,” said a Ministry of Defense (MoD) statement released on Tuesday.


“She [INS Arnala] made its first contact with the waters of the Bay of Bengal at 10:40 a.m. during the launch ceremony graced by Rasika Chaube, Financial Adviser (Defence Services), MoD. In keeping with naval seafaring tradition, Rasika Chaube launched the ship to the chant of invocation of the Atharva Veda,” the Ministry of Defense announced.


A contract for the construction of eight ASW SWCs was signed between the MoD and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata on April 29, 2019. The new Arnala-class corvettes will replace the navy’s aging Abhay-class ASW ships.

According to the MoD, “the Arnala class is designed to undertake anti-submarine operations in coastal waters and low intensity maritime operations (LIMO), including subsurface surveillance in littoral waters”.

The Arnala-class ASW corvettes, 77.6 meters in length, have a displacement of 900 tons, a maximum speed of 25 knots and a range of 1,800 nautical miles.

“Despite the challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, GRSE has made substantial progress on the vessels in this project,” the Department of Defense said.

“As part of the Prime Minister’s vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Governing India, ASW SWC corvettes will have over 80% indigenous content, ensuring that large-scale defense production is executed by Indian manufacturing units”, said the Ministry of Defense.