• ‘Arnala’, the first of the eight ASW SWCs (Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Crafts) was delivered to the Indian Navy on May 8 at L&T Shipyard, Kattupalli.

• Arnala was indigenously designed and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata.

• The warship has been designed and constructed as per the Classification Rules of Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) of GRSE with L&T Shipyard, thus demonstrating the success of collaborative defence manufacturing.

• Arnala is named after the historic fort located off Vasai, Maharashtra.

ASW Shallow Water Craft (SWC) Project

• Contract for building eight ASW SWC ships was signed between the  Defence Ministry and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata on April 29, 2019.

• ‘Arnala’, the first of the project was launched on December 20, 2022.

• Arnala class of ships will replace the in-service Abhay class ASW Corvettes of the Indian Navy and are designed to undertake anti-submarine operations in coastal waters, Low Intensity Maritime Operations (LIMO) and Mine Laying operations including subsurface surveillance in littoral waters.

• The ASW SWC ships are 77.6 m long, have a displacement of 900 tonnes with a maximum speed of 25 knots.

• The ASW SWC ships will have over 80 per cent indigenous content, thereby ensuring that large scale defence production is executed by Indian manufacturing units, generating employment and capability enhancement within the country.

• Anjadip, Amini, Abhay, Agray, Androth, Akshay are the other ASW SWC ships that are being built by GRSE.

• They are designed for underwater surveillance, search & rescue operations and Low Intensity Maritime Operations (LIMO). 

• They are capable of undertaking ASW operations in coastal waters, along with advanced mine laying capabilities.

 • The induction of ASW SWC ships would significantly boost shallow water Anti-Submarine Warfare capabilities of the Indian Navy.

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