GRSE delivers fifth ASW-SWC ‘Amini’ to Navy

• Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) delivered the fifth of the eight anti-submarine warfare shallow water craft (ASW-SWC) to the Indian Navy on November 5.

• Amini derives its name from Amini Island in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep.

• The ship is also a reincarnation of the erstwhile INS Amini, a Petya III Class Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvette decommissioned in 2002, thereby continuing the naval tradition of perpetuating distinguished legacy names.

• Delivered to the Navy in Chennai, the warship is equipped with an advanced combat management system, lightweight torpedoes and anti-submarine warfare rockets.

ASW Shallow Water Craft (SWC) Project

• The 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.

• It was delivered to the Indian Navy on May 8 at L&T Shipyard, Kattupalli.

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

• The 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.

• Androth, Anjadip, Amini, Abhay, Agray, Akshay and Ajay are the other ASW SWC ships from the GRSE.

• Out of these, Arnala, Androth, Anjadip and Agray are commissioned by the Navy.

• 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.

• These ships are propelled by a diesel engine-waterjet combination and are equipped with state of the art lightweight torpedoes, indigenous ASW rockets, advanced shallow water Sonar (sound navigation and ranging), enabling effective submarine detection and engagement in littoral zones.

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

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)