Rajnath launches two indigenous warships
Union defence minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday launched two indigenously built warships ‘Surat’ and ‘Udaygiri’ at the Mazagon Docks in Mumbai, and said this will “add might” to the Navy’s arsenal and represent India’s strategic strength before the world.
This is the first time that two indigenously built warships have been launched concurrently, a Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL) official said. The warships have been designed in-house by the Directorate of Naval Design (DND) and built at the Mumbai-based MDL, a premier ship and submarine building defence public sector undertaking.
The launch of a ship marks the commencement of the next phase involving extensive outfitting activities by the shipyards readying these vessels for delivery. Singh said building of these two warships leaves no doubt that in the coming days, India will not only cater to its needs in the arena of shipbuilding, but will also take care of the requirements of others.
“The two warships will add might to the Indian Navy’s arsenal and represent to the world India’s strategic strength as well as the power of self-reliance,” he said.The defence minister further said the indigenous aircraft carrier ‘Vikrant’ is a major milestone in the Navy’s path of “Aatmanirbharta” (self-reliance), and expressed hope that this will increase the country’s reach from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean. “The commissioning of Vikrant will be a golden moment in India’s defence history,” he said.
As per the navy, ‘Surat’ is the fourth ship of Project 15B Destroyers, which heralds a significant makeover of the P15A (Kolkata Class) destroyers.