17.9.09

INS Kochi


The navy will launch its second 6,500-tonne stealth destroyer on Friday that would be fitted with state-of-the-art weapon systems, including the supersonic BrahMos surface-to-surface missile. The destroyer will be named INS Kochi and has been indigenously built by Mazagon Docks Ltd in Mumbai. The three stealth destroyers will add to existing Delhi class fleet comprising INS Delhi, INS Mysore and INS Mumbai. Madhulika Verma, wife of navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma, will launch the ship. It has a built-in feature which makes it less vulnerable to detection by enemy radar. Besides BrahMos, it will be fitted with the LRSAM (Long Range Surface-to-Air Missiles) and the MFStar (Mult i - Function Radar System) for data on surface and aerial targets. A navy spokesperson said the ship’s close-range defence capability will be boosted by four AK-630 rapid-fire guns and a medium-range gun. The ship will also be fitted with indigenously developed twin-tube torpedo launchers and anti-submarine rocket launchers, the Humsa-NG hull-mounted sonar, and two multi-role helicopters adding punch to the ship’s anti-submarine capability. The maximum speed of the ship is above 30 knots. The destroyer will be launched using the pontoon-assisted technique, to be employed for the first time in indigenous warship building. It helps in overcoming slipway constraints and permits launch of heavier vessels.

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