Navy Next Generation Corvettes: ₹53,866 Crore Contracts Signed

The Ministry of Defence on Monday, 2 November, signed contracts worth ₹53,866 crore with Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) and Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) in New Delhi to build eight Next Generation Corvettes for the Indian Navy, according to the ministry’s announcement as reported by PTI. GRSE will build five of the ships and Goa Shipyard the other three. The Navy expects to receive the first ship by 2030, The Tribune reported.

Five Hulls in Kolkata, Three in Goa

The ministry said this is the first project in which the Navy designs the ships in India and state-run defence shipyards build them, with the builders chosen through a competitive process. According to The Tribune, the Navy’s design directorate keeps control of sensor and weapon integration and of future upgrades, so the yards build to a Navy design rather than their own.

A 127-Metre Ship for Escort and Strike Work

The Tribune’s report gives the ship’s length as 127 metres, its beam as 17.6 metres and its deadweight as 4,950 tonnes. It can reach 26 knots, stay at sea for 14 days without replenishment and carry 11 officers and 139 sailors. Propulsion is a combined diesel and gas turbine system driving two propellers. The weapons listed are medium-range anti-ship missiles, medium-range surface-to-air missiles, 324 mm torpedo tubes, a 76 mm gun and an AK-630 close-in weapon system. The corvettes can operate a helicopter and will replace the ageing Khukri and Kora classes. For the wider purchase pipeline, see our report on the Defence Acquisition Council’s ₹2.12 lakh crore clearance.

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First Delivery Due by 2030

Reports on 29 and 30 October said the Cabinet Committee on Security had cleared a project of about ₹40,000 crore for eight such corvettes; the announcement on Monday put the contract value at ₹53,866 crore. No report has given a delivery date for the last of the eight ships. More defence stories are in our Daily Updates.

Source: Based on reporting by ThePrint (PTI) and The Tribune.

Image: PIB via PTI.