Superweek For Indian Shipbuilding: After P15A Kolkata, Navy Gets 1st P28 ASW Corvette Tomorrow

Official Indian Navy literature shared with Livefist today along with these exclusive photographs: Kamorta, the lead ship of the four Project 28 anti-submarine (ASW) corvettes being built by India’s state-owned Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), named after the erstwhile Petya Class ship from USSR ex-Kamorta (21 Nov 1968 – 31 Oct 1991), the new Kamorta has been indigenously conceived and designed. With a unique hull-form, stealth features, state-of-the-art weaponry and integrated systems, Kamorta is designed to operate in the multiple threat environment.
The ship’s keel was laid on 20 Nov 2006 and the ship was launched on 19 April 2010. The ship is 110 m long and displaces about 3,400 T. With four diesel engines in CODAD (combined diesel & diesel) propulsion she has a max speed of about 25 knots. She is capable of carrying an integral ASW helicopter. Her manning comprises of 13 officers and 176 sailors. The formidable array of weapons include heavy weight torpedoes, ASW rockets, 76 mm Medium Range gun and two guns as Close-in-Weapon System (CIWS) with dedicated fire control systems, chaff systems and the PDMS which would be installed in due course. Her sensors include the most advanced bow mounted sonar, advanced ESM system and direction finder, an air surveillance radar with capability to detect target exceeding 200 Km and an active towed array system which would be installed in due course. 
The ship is being delivered to the Indian Navy on 12 July 2014. Kamorta would be commissioned next month at Visakhapatnam and would form part of the Eastern Fleet under the Eastern Naval Command.
Cost of four of these class of ships is Rs. 7852.39 crore. These ships have been designed the Indian Navy’s in-house Design Organisation i.e. Directorate of Naval Design (DND). Stealth features include X-form Hull for low RCS, Raft Mounted Gear Box for low under water noise and Infra Red Signature Suppression Device for low heat radiations. Usage of DMR 249A steel for construction which has been developed indigenously by Defence Material Research Laboratory and manufactured in-house Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL). Use of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) superstructure integrated with the steel hull in the third and fourth ships of the class. First time installation of revolutionary foldable hanger door and Railless Helo Traversing System and Telescopic Boat Davit.
Highlights of the design includes Low Radar Cross Section (RCS) signature through full beam superstructure, inclined ship sides and reduced Infra red (IR) signature by use of “Infrared Suppression System (IRSS) device’ for cooling the engine and diesel alternator exhausts, developed indigenously by Naval Scientific and technical Laboratory (NSTL). It has ‘Combination of Diesel and Diesel (CODAD)’ propulsion system with the two diesel engine along with one gear box on each shaft. The ship is fitted with indigenous state-of-the-art weapons and sensors, including a Medium Range Gun (form M/s Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd), Torpedo Tube Launchers as well as Rocket Launchers (form M/s Larsen & Tubro), Close-In Weapon System (form M/s Gun and Shell Factory) and Chaff System (from M/s Machine Tool Prototype Factory). Ship is equipped with a Bow mounted Sonar and are capable of deploying a Seaking 42B helicopter, adding considerable punch to the ship’s anti-submarine capability.
Modular Accommodation, Gallery and Vacuum Sanitation System for high standard of Crew Habitability. Total Atmospheric control system for effective heat ventilation and air conditioning. Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS) which include Integrated Bridge System as well as Battle Damage System for effective modern warfare.

23 thoughts on “Superweek For Indian Shipbuilding: After P15A Kolkata, Navy Gets 1st P28 ASW Corvette Tomorrow”

  1. NSR says —

    I think India should replace HAL officials with some of these design and management people so that there will rapid progress in aeronautical systems needed by IAF…

    The performance of HAL,, and interaction between IAF and HAL is abyssymal, worst kind,….

    I think HAL house cleaning of management and technical leaders is in urgent need and should be of highest priority..

    On the other hand if India is producing CIWS system locally and installed on this ship, then it should be installed on INS Vikramaditya immediately and look for a good company to collaborate and get a more capable one later…

  2. The texture of the ship looks a awkward? is it done purposefully or is it poor workmanship. I feel like the metal used is actually crumpled… It looks uneven…

    looking forward to your inputs.

  3. GRSE build quality is worse then MDL kochi is the best. the sides of the ship look like a state st bus.

  4. Hey but why that smoke emitting chamber looks black outside,doesn't look nice.Has it been repainted before tomorrow handover.

  5. About the P28, this ship is still in their sea trials and the conning tower is already covered in soot.

  6. Mr Anon 10:58 PM – this is a SHIP. Conning towers are found in submarines. Get a life and gen up before commenting.

  7. Kochi is the worst when it comes to delivery and workmanship…look at plight of INS Vikrant one delay after another. This project was granted to Kochi purely due to push from A.K.Antony, the most useless Defense Minister in India's history after Krishna Menon.
    The soot covering means this vessel has been tried and tested well before handing over to Indian Navy.
    The "texture" of all warships are same on closer inspection, even the ones in the service of US or UK navies.

  8. India should NOW get more submarines then surface ships, import them then building at home yards. china is way ahead of india in numbers and quality/weaponary.

  9. Anay naval armada no matter how efficient and powerful it is, is easy target without submarines. Get a dozen of Scorpions/Akula or whatever at the earliest to complement these surface ships.

  10. India should have a mix of indian Russian and european ships (surface/submarines). I am sure these indian ships have a high engine noise making them easy targets for subs. Also they have very little protection against asymmetrical threats like small terrorist boats packed with explosives.

  11. The problem is – india is building ships to send them on diplomatic missions, rescue and fighting pirates. There are very few ships that can actually deliver a punch to China in southern china sea. India just does not have the infrastructure to match the China numerically…so import more ships from israel and russia.

  12. @anon 12.22 PM,

    there are several areas where Israel is the best, including EW, but i guess ships are not among them. Indian ship building is not all that bad, but when it comes to armament and electronics almost all are imported (which includes Israel)

    Sreenivas R

  13. From observation of recent projects the Navy is too Pakistan focused to make any serious claim to being a global power. Why I say this? Quite simple…look at the AAW suite on all of the recent projects…there is no coherent approach to long range ship defense. Most vessels have been built without the kind of long range radar and combat management systems seen on the Kolkata. Even in the case of the Kolkata there is no weapon system capable of exploting the capability. LR-SAM with 70km range hardly counts as long range in world where the top of the line systems are approaching 200nm over the horizon engagement zones. On top of that a large vessel like the Kolkata carries only 32 missiles in ready to fire configuration! That's enough to defend against maybe 1 saturation attack…after that?

    So where does Pakistan come into the picture? Simply because as far as we know the Pakistani's do not posses the weapon systems to outrange the Brahmos in surface engagements…and their Air Force is unable to operate against the IN. Hence the IN has happily cruised along neglecting the aerial threat and with Brahmos is happy to engage in long range surface warfare.

    But is this going to work against China? No. Do we have a backup plan? No…

  14. To the guy who is saying kochi is the worst, just look at the pics of the vikrant, it looks like a western ship. AK antony is the only defense minister who has delayed the acquisition of western weapons favoring indigenous weaponry, he advanced kochi because that is a better place to build as it is out of reach of pak and china it also has a longer and better maritime history. with travancore being the only local power to defeat the dutch.

  15. Rohan

    LR SAM is equivalent to aster 30 which is widely used by France, UK etc. Also much longer range 120 km SAM is also in development for P-15B, unlike whether it will fit in existing P-15A.

    No SAM has over the horizon engagement capability let alone 200nm it is not possible, US is making that claim that SM-6 can engage target over the horizon (even then limited to less 60 km) but it is all on paper. Supposedly Barak-8 has over the horizon capability but IAI/DRDO are tight lipped about it.

  16. @Anon 7.44 PM

    Any pic of Vikrant will show that even after so many years in the making and unlimited infusion of funds it's still half complete tub decked with flowers like a temple elephant.
    There is one delay after another associated with this project. It's build quality will be apparent after it is complete.
    Other shipyards are also out of reach of Pakistan and China. If the defense minister and secretary of defense is from south, all major defense contracts will go to southern firms. MDL is however immune to this phenomena. Worst victim is GRSE.

  17. Integral ASW chopper has not yet been a acquired for the corvettes. Nor do they have an active array towed sonar (still under development by DRDO). Not a complete ASW platform without these essential components; especially in the Indian Ocean.

  18. The Keel of the vikrant was laid in 2009 and it has only been 5 yrs considering it is the firt effort kochi is making good time. Looks lime somebody thinks Groskov was in record time.

  19. The Keel of the vikrant was laid in 2009 and it has only been 5 yrs considering it is the firt effort kochi is making good time. Looks lime somebody thinks Groskov was in record time.

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