Navy to get another warship capable of hunting submarines

The Navy will commission another state-of-the-art the next-generation warship capable of detecting enemy submarines in shallow waters.

Named Mahe, the warship will be commissioned at the Naval dockyard at Mumbai on November 24. Classified as Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW-SWC), this will be the third warship of its class to be commissioned. The first ship of the class called INS Arnala was commissioned in June this year, this was followed by INS Androth in October.

Built by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), Kochi, Mahe represents India’s self-reliance initiative in naval ship design and construction. It is named after the historic coastal town of Mahe on the Malabar Coast. The Navy is getting 16 such ships made at cost of nearly Rs 13,000 crore. Public Sector shipyards -- 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 Mahe is 77.6 m long, with a gross tonnage of over 1,490 tonne.  The warship incorporates more than 80 per cent indigenous content and integrates advanced systems from leading Indian defence firms, including Bharat Electronics Limited, 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.