INS Sahyadri adds teeth to 'blue water' navy

In the salty sea breeze of an overcast Mumbai monsoon day, the country’s latest warship, the INS Sahyadri, joined the Indian Navy on Saturday. The tricolour and the naval ensign were hoisted, the national anthem played, and AK Antony, the defence minister, formally commissioned the bristling 5,600-tonne warship, urging the crew to “promote peace and stability in the Indian Ocean Region.”
Whatever Antony says, the INS Sahyadri, however, like frontline battleships through the ages, is less about “peace and stability” than about projecting Indian combat power. A muscular addition to India’s ongoing naval build up, the Sahyadri is the Indian Navy’s 134th ship. Another 46 vessels are under construction, 43 of these in India including three 6,800 tonne destroyers under Project 15A; four similar warships under Project 15B; four 2,500 tonne corvettes under Project 28; and six Scorpene submarines under Project 75. Meanwhile three warships are being built in Russia: the aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya (formerly the Admiral Gorshkov); and two more stealth frigates slightly smaller than the Sahyadri.
t Multirole frigates like the Sahyadri are essential for protecting the three aircraft carrier battle groups that India plans to deploy by the end of this decade. The aircraft carrier is a mobile air base that is floated to coastal flashpoints, from where fighter aircraft can be launched against even inland targets. But an aircraft carrier must be protected from enemy aircraft, submarines, and missiles and that is a key wartime task for frigates like the Sahyadri.

THE SAHYADRI: ARMED TO THE TEETH
Anti-air defence	Radar-guided (Russian) Shtil missile system.
Point Defence	Two Barak-1 Vertical Launch
System Missile (PDMS)	Systems (VLS) and Two AK-630 Rapid Fire Guns
Anti-surface missiles	Eight Russian Klub cruise missiles with a range of almost 300 km
Anti-submarine	RBU 6000 rocket launchers, total 24 barrels. Also, two onboard helicopters, with sonars and torpedoes
Main gun	OtoMelara 76 mm Super Rapid Gun Mount (SRGM) manufactured at BHEL, Haridwar. This can engage ground and aerial targets 15-20 km away

Read More...............