Indian Navy Launches INS Arnala: Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft

The Indian Navy launched ‘Arnala’, the first of the eight indigenously-built anti-submarine warfare shallow water craft (ASW-SWC), at the shipbuilding facility of L&T in Chennai’s Kattupall. Built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), ‘Arnala’ made its first contact with the water of the Bay of Bengal.

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Arnala: What The Name Suggest:

The ship has been named ‘Arnala’ to signify the strategic maritime importance accorded to the island of Arnala, located about 13 kilometres north of Vasai, Maharashtra, by Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. 

More About This Current Development: Its Significance:

The ‘Arnala’ class of ships will replace the ‘Abhay’ class ASW ships of the Indian Navy. These are designed to undertake anti-submarine operations in coastal waters and low-intensity maritime operations (LIMO), including subsurface surveillance in littoral waters. The 77.6-metre-long ASW-SWC ships have a displacement of 900 tonnes with a maximum speed of 25 knots and endurance of 1800 nautical miles (NM).

About Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Crafts (ASW-SWC):

• It is anti-submarine warfare vessel in 700 ton displacement range and will replace Abhay-class corvette (a corvette is a small warship) currently serving in Indian Navy.
• It is designed for deep750 tons displacement, 25 knots speed and 57 complement and capable of full-scale sub surface surveillance of coastal waters, Search Attack Unit (SAU) and Coordinated ASW (Anti-submarine warfare) operations with Aircraft.
• It can also be deployed for Search and Rescue operations by day and night in coastal areas.
• Apart from having capability to interdict/ destroy sub surface targets in coastal waters, their secondary role would be of being capable of prosecuting intruding aircraft, and lay mines in sea bed.
• The vessels are equipped with advanced state-of-the-art integrated platform management systems (IPMS) including Propulsion Machinery (machineries that provides the power to drive the propeller of the ship), Auxiliary Machinery, Power Generation (includes pumps, compressors, and blowers for circulating fuel and fresh water) and Distribution Machinery and Damage Control Machinery, etc.