Navy inducts its newest antisubmarine warship

SHINING ARMOUR INS Kiltan to strengthen force’s ability to detect, target hostile vessels

NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy inducted its newest anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette on Monday, boosting the force’s capability to detect and target hostile vessels and to provide protection to Indian warships.

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman commissioned the indigenously built INS Kiltan into the navy at the Naval Dockyard at Visakhapatnam in the presence of navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba.

“INS Kiltan strengthens our defence system and will be a shining armour in our ‘Make in India’ programme as it is totally built here,” Sitharaman said on the occasion.

Kiltan is the latest indigenous warship after Shivalik class, Kolkata class and sister ships INS Kamorta and INS Kadmatt to have joined the Indian Navy’s arsenal wherein a plethora of weapons and sensors have been integrated to provide a Common Operational Picture (COP), an official release said.

It is the navy’s first major warship to have a superstructure of carbon fibre composite material imported from Sweden, resulting in improved stealth features and lower weight and maintenance costs. INS Kiltan is 100 tonnes lighter than the previous corvettes.

INS Kiltan is also the first major warship to have undertaken sea trials of all major weapons and sensors as a pilot project prior to delivery by the shipyard to Indian Navy. It is ready to be operationally deployed.

The ship, measuring 109 meters long and 14 meters at the beam, is propelled by four diesel engines to achieve speeds in excess of 25 knots and has an endurance of around 3,500 nautical miles.

INS Kiltan’s weapons include heavy weight torpedoes, ASW rockets, 76 mm caliber medium range gun and two multi-barrel 30 mm guns.

The ship gets its name from an island in the strategically located Lakshadweep and Minicoy islands.