Androth, second of submarine-hunting ships, to commissioned on Oct 6

The Indian Navy is set to commission ‘Androth’ — its second state-of-the-art the next-generation ships — capable of detecting enemy submarines in shallow waters.

Called the anti-submarine warfare shallow water craft (ASW-SWC), Androth will be commissioned Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam.  The first ship of the class called INS Arnala was commissioned in June this year.

The Androth — derives its name from Island by the same name in in the Lakshadweep archipelago in the Arabian sea.

The ship is made by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Kolkatta, a public sector company which is in public-private-partnership with private company L&T having a shipyard at Kattupalli, Tamil Nadu.

The Navy is getting 16 such ships being made at cost of nearly Rs 13,000 crore.  Public Sector shipyards the Cochin Shipyard Limited and GRSE have been contracted to manufacture eight ships each.

The primary role of these ships is to detect, track and prosecute enemy submarines, particularly in coastal and shallow water regions. Equipped with advanced underwater sensors such as the hull-mounted sonar Abhay, underwater acoustic communication system and low-frequency sonar, these vessels are capable of comprehensive underwater surveillance.

To neutralise underwater threats, the ships feature a state-of-the-art weapon suite, including lightweight torpedoes, rockets, anti-torpedo decoys and advanced mine-laying capabilities.

The Androth is 77.6 m long, with a gross tonnage of over 1,490 tonnes.

The warship incorporates more than 80 per cent indigenous content and integrates advanced systems from leading Indian defence firms, including Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), L&T, Mahindra Defence, and MEIL.

The project has engaged over 55 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), promoting domestic industry and generating related economic activity.