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| INS Kolkata, lead ship of the Kolkata class Destroyer |
By Franz-Stefan Gady
The 7,500-ton stealth guided missile destroyer is New Delhi’s latest addition to its burgeoning naval arsenal.
On Wednesday, Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrika commissioned the stealth guided missile destroyer INS Kochi at a ceremony held at the Mazagon naval dockyards in Mumbai, The Hindu reports.
The INS Kochi is the second in a series of three planned Kolkata-class (Project 15A) destroyers of the Indian Navy. The destroyers are designed to be multi-mission ships capable of engaging in anti-submarine/anti-ship warfare, land attacks, and air defense. Given their multi-purpose role, the destroyers are ideally suited for supporting expeditionary and surface strike groups.
An Indian defense official paraphrased by The Hindu outlined key features of the latest addition to the Indian Navy’s surface fleet:
The ship incorporates new design concepts for improved survivability, stealth, seakeeping and maneuverability. (…)Enhanced stealth features have been achieved through shaping of hull and use of radar-transparent deck fittings. A bow mounted sonar dome, the second of its kind in an indigenous naval platform, has been introduced to enhance sonar acoustic performance.
With a crew of 325 and powered by four gas turbines, the 7,500-ton vessel boasts a speed in excess of 30 knots and has a range of approximately 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 kilometers, 9,200 miles).
Read the full story at The Diplomat