Navy chief to commission INS Kadmatt today

Visakhapatnam: Chief of Naval Staff Admiral RK Dhowan will commission INS Kadmatt, the second indigenous stealth Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Corvette, built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd at the Naval Dockyard here on Thursday.

A unique feature of the ship is the high level of indigenisation incorporated in the production, accentuating national objective of `Make in India’. About 90 percent of the ship is indigenous. The ship has been indigenously designed by Directorate of Naval Design and constructed by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited.

Kadmatt is the latest indigenous ship after Shivalik class, Kolkata class and INS Kamorta wherein a plethora of weapons and sensors have been integrated to provide a ‘Common Operational Picture’.

It has state of the art equipment which includes the rail-less helo traversing system and foldable hangar door for the integral ASW helicopter which not only increases the strike capability of the ship but also enhances the detection capability manifold. Kadmatt’s weapons and sensors suite is predominantly indigenous and showcases the nation’s growing capability in this niche area.

This second ship of Project 28 has a low radio, acoustic, magnetic and IR signature owing to a X shaped hull form, raft mounted engines and an IR suppression system. The unique architecture used to fit the engines on a separate mounting reduces its underwater noise thereby making it difficult to detect by sonars of enemy ships and submarines. The IR suppression system reduces the heat emitted by the ship reducing the Infra red signature thereby defending the ship from heat seeking missiles.

The ship has been constructed using high grade steel (DMR 249A) produced in India. With a displacement of 3,500 tonnes, the sleek and magnificent ship spans 109 metres in length and 14 metres at the beam and is propelled by four diesel engines to achieve speeds in excess of 25 knots with an endurance of 3,450 nautical miles.