Indian Navy Eyeing For Next-Gen Heavily Armed Corvettes Under 'Make in India'

The Indian Navy is looking for seven "next generation" heavily armed Corvettes to be manufactured under 'Make in India' project.

The several billion rupees project, if takes place, will strengthen domestic industry since it will be a part of 'Make in India' project, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported today.

The navy  is expecting the ships to be delivered from 2023. Further, the corvettes will be capable of carrying out surface-to-surface missile attacks, anti-submarine warfare operations. 

Along with the state-run shipyards, private shipyards like Reliance Defence and Engineering Limited (RDEL) are likely to respond to the navy's Request for Information (RFI).

"We will be strongly pitching for it. We have made different types of warships in our shipyard and we are the only ones to have delivered earlier than schedule," Chairman and Manging Director of Goa Shipyard, Rear Admiral Shekhar Mital (Retd) said.

The project’s value is yet to be fixed, but it is safe to assume that each corvette would cost about Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,800 crore, an official said. The cost depends on the kind of weapon platform that will be on board, the official added.

The criteria for the new vessels are largely similar to the Khukri-class boats they will replace. They feature 4,000 nautical mile range, maximum and sustained top speeds of 25-27 knots. 

Further, the 120-meter-long single hull corvettes, or small warships, will have low radar, acoustic, magnetic, visual and infra-red signatures. 

The ships should able to carry a minimum of 8 surface-to-surface missiles and engage sea-skimming missiles, flying 3-5 metres above sea level, upto maximum speed of Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound). 

Active towed array sonar, two light-weight torpedo launchers should be on board fitted to the corvettes, a navy document said.  There are at present at least 45 ships and submarines under construction in India. 

India has already built four anti-submarine warfare corvettes under Project-28, the first of which was handed over to the navy in 2014. This was built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd.