Free Republic

The major disruption caused by Yemeni Houthis in the Red Sea is hardly the only trouble spot in the world’s increasingly dangerous seas. An Indian navy warship has intercepted a hijacked cargo ship in the Indian Ocean, safely rescued all 17 crew members, and detained all 35 Somali pirates. The Indian navy vessel INS Kolkata came to the rescue of the Bulgarian ship MV Ruen, which was hijacked by pirates back on December 14, 2023. The operation lasted no less than 40 hours. The hijacking of the Ruen was the first successful action by Somali pirates in the past six...

New Delhi: The largest indigenously-built warship INS Kolkata, to be inducted into the Navy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 16, will be commissioned without its main air defence weapon which protects the vessel from aerial attacks. The Long Range-Surface to Air Missile (LR-SAM) is under development in a joint venture between India and Israel and is expected to complete its trials in September and would then be available for being deployed on board the warship INS Kolkata, Rear Admiral AB Singh told reporters here. He said the 6,800-tonne warship will have close-in weapon systems and chaffes to provide...

Indian Navy will receive its first indigenous P15A, Kolkata class destroyer today. The destroyer completed delivery acceptance trails (DAT) and will be commissioned soon. The 6,800 tonne destroyer, which is over three years behind schedule, is a technology demonstrator and will showcase shipbuilding technology for India. It was constructed at Mazagon Dock, Mumbai. INS Kolkata will be a part of the Kolkata Class destroyers of the Indian Navy which will include follow-on ships by the name of INS Kochin and INS Chennai respectively. The keel of the warship was laid down in September 2003 and the ship was launched in...

Indian warship building is coming of age and the Indo-Pacific region knows it. Last week, when an Indian Navy frigate, INS Shivalik, visited China’s Qingdao naval base, China’s navy chief, Admiral Wu Shengli, asked the captain for a tour of the Combat Information Centre, the operation heart of the warship. The Shivalik’s young skipper, Captain Puruvir Das, turned down Wu’s request. The Chinese admiral would be even more interested in touring INS Kolkata, 7,200 tonnes of bristling steel, which could join the navy as early as next month as the most powerful and high-tech warship in its 140-vessel fleet. Tonne...