Next-Generation Corvettes:
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has given the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for procurement of next-generation Corvettes for the Indian Navy at an approximate cost of Rs 36,000 crore.
- A Corvette is the smallest class of naval ships and it falls below the warship class of a frigate.
- These are highly agile ships and are categorised as missile boats, anti-submarine ships, coastal patrol crafts and fast attack naval vessels.
- Modern Corvettes can go up to 2,000 tons in displacement which helps in keeping them agile.
- The Indian Navy at present has the Kamorta Class Corvettes, which are also known as Project 28.
- These ships have an anti-submarine role and are manufactured at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers in Kolkata.
- These vessels also have the ‘Sanket’ electronic warfare systems and ‘Kavach’ decoy launchers.
- The four Kamorta Class Corvettes that the Indian Navy possesses are named INS Kamorta, INS Kadmatt, INS Kiltan and INS Kavaratti.
- The first of these was commissioned in 2014 and the last one in 2020.
- The next-generation Corvettes will be manufactured for various roles like surveillance missions, escort operations, deterrence, surface action group operations, search and attack and coastal defence.
- These roles will be in addition to the anti-submarine roles being already performed by the existing Corvettes in the Navy.
