Indian Navy Launches 4th Anti-Submarine Waterfare Craft ‘Amini’

Amini is the fourth in a set of eight Anti-Sub Warfare Shallow Water Craft (abbreviated ASW-SWC) assignments built by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (popular as GRSE) for India’s Navy, which was introduced on Thursday at Kattupalli, Tamil Nadu.

Vice Adm. Sandeep Naithani, the Chief of Materiel, presided over the launch event.

In keeping with maritime tradition, the wife of Sandeep Naithani, Manju Naithani, launched the vessel to the invocation from the Atharva Veda.

The vessel has been titled ‘Amini’ to signify the maritime importance accorded to the island of Amini based at Lakshadweep, located approximately 400 km west of Kochi.

The 77m long ASW SWC vessels boast a displacement of about 900 tons and have a speed of 25 knots with an endurance of approximately 1800 NM.

The third vessel of the class was introduced on 13 June 2023 at L&T in Kattupalli.

A government release mentioned that launching four vessels of the same class in a year highlights the strides in favour of indigenous shipbuilding toward Aatma Nirbhar Bharat.

The exact release further highlighted that the contract for eight ASW SWC vessels was reportedly signed between the MoD and the GRSE in Kolkata on 29 April 2019.

Following the build strategy, four vessels are being constructed at GRSE in Kolkata, and the balance of four vessels have been subcontracted to L&T Shipbuilding (Kattupalli) for the hull and part outfitting.

Arnala-class vessels will replace the in-service ASW Corvettes belonging to the Abhay class of the Indian Navy. The release further mentioned that they are specifically designed to take on anti-submarine operations in the coastal waters and low-intensity maritime operations (abbreviated LIMO) alongside mine-laying operations.

The release mentioned that the first-ever vessel of the project has been planned to be successfully delivered in early 2024.

The ASW SWC vessels will have more than 80% indigenous content, thereby making sure that large-scale defence production is facilitated by India-based manufacturing units, generating more employment and capability enhancements in the country, it explained.

Reference- NDTV

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Source: Maritime Shipping News