INS Agray, INS Dunagiri and INS Sanshodhak: How the three newly inducted vessels will boost the Navy’s combat capabilities

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday presided over the commissioning ceremony of three naval ships – INS Dunagiri, INS Sanshodhak, and INS Agray at the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port in Kolkata.

The induction of three different vessels with three different roles are set to significantly boost the Indian Navy’s combat capabilities.

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The vessels will also increase the Navy’s operational readiness, anti-submarine warfare capabilities, hydrographic survey functions and coastal defence preparedness.

INS Agray: The anti-submarine warfare vessel

According to INS Agray’s commanding officer, Commander Sunil Malpotra, the ship packs significant combat capability despite its relatively compact appearance.

“It may look small, but it is densely packed with weapons and sensors. It has all the capabilities required to detect and target an adversary’s submarines,” he said.

Not only that, Commander Malpotra added, “if you look at the kind of asymmetric warfare taking place on the surface, this ship also possesses significant capabilities to deal with such threats.”

For anti-submarine warfare, INS Agray is equipped with an indigenously developed sonar suite, a combat management system, indigenous rocket launchers, torpedo tubes, and a decoy system that helps divert incoming torpedoes.

It is the fifth in its class, the Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft. Its primary aim is to hunt submarines, specifically in shallow waters and the littoral domain.

Engineering Officer, Lt Commander Piyush, highlighted a key technological feature of the vessel, its waterjet propulsion system.

“This is better in this way because the other ships we have use propeller technology. But our ship is one of the largest in the Indian Navy that has been fitted with waterjet propulsion. In a waterjet system, it takes in water and then propels it out,” he said

INS Dunagiri: Connecting modern warfare to India’s mythological heritage

Captain Divya Alok, the commanding officer of INS Dunagiri, highlighted the vessel’s connection with India’s cultural and mythological heritage.

“This ship is linked to our mythology in its own way. As you mentioned, all the ships of the Giri class, that is, the P-17 Alpha class ships, have been named after mountains. Therefore, it is connected to our mythological heritage,” she said.

The vessel is equipped with advanced weapons and sensors, including BrahMos surface-to-surface missiles and the Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile system, significantly enhancing the Navy’s combat capability.

INS Sanshodhak: A deep water survey vessel

Indian Navy’s fourth Survey Vessel (Large), INS Sanshodhak is designed for coastal and deep-water hydrographic surveys and collection of oceanographic and geophysical data for defence and civil applications, and is equipped with advanced survey systems including Autonomous Underwater Vehicles and Remotely Operated Vehicles.