The Indian Navy inducted a new member in its fleet of warships with the commissioning of stealth guided missile destroyer ‘Mormugao’ on Sunday. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended the commissioning ceremony of INS ‘Mormugao’, the second of the four ‘Visakhapatnam’ class destroyers, at Naval Dockyard in Mumbai. The warship has been indigenously designed by the Navy’s in-house organisation, Warship Design Bureau and constructed by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited and is named after the historic port city of Goa.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the warship’s commissioning will boost India’s maritime power. An official release by the Ministry of Defence read, “The ship’s Anti-Submarine Warfare capabilities are provided by the indigenously developed Rocket Launchers, Torpedo Launchers and ASW helicopters. The ship is equipped to fight under Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) warfare conditions.”

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Among the most potent warships built in India

  • The majestic warship measures 163 metres in length and 17 metres in breadth with a displacement of 7,400 tonnes
  • It has a maximum speed of 30 knots (55 kmph)
  • The warship is packed with sophisticated state of the art weapons and sensors such as surface to surface missile and surface to air missiles
  • It is fitted with a modern surveillance radar which provides target data to the gunnery weapon systems on board
  • The ship is propelled by four Gas Turbines, in a Combined Gas and Gas (COGAG) configuration
  • The ship has enhanced stealth features resulting in a reduced Radar Cross Section (RCS)

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‘Shining example of Make in India’

“This achievement is indicative of the large strides we have taken in warship design and building capability over the last decade. The Navy has a tradition of naming ships after cities which creates an enduring umbilical link between the two,” Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said at the ceremony.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh along with Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar and other dignitaries at the ceremony. (Image/Indian Navy)

The Defence Minister said that ‘Mormugao’ is a testament to the manufacturing capabilities of India. “INS Mormugao is one of the world’s most technologically-advanced missile carriers. With over 75% indigenous content, it is a testimony to India’s excellence in design and development of warships and a shining example of our growing indigenous defence production capabilities,” Singh said.