INS Kabra

India’s latest warship ‘INS Kabra’ was commissioned at Naval Base in Kochi on Wednesday. ‘INS Kabra’ named after an island of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, is an indigenously designed water jet propelled fast attack craft. Vice Admiral K N Sushil, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command who commissioned the ship in his address stressed the importance of relatively smaller ships like Fast Attack Crafts for a blue water navy as they were part of the essential inventory for low-intensity conflicts and anti-piracy operations. With a top speed of over 35 knots, and excellent manoeuvrability the ship is ideally suited for highspeed interdiction of fastmoving targets. The low draught of the ship allows her to operate in shallow waters close to the coast as well. The main armament of the ship is a 30 mm CRN 91 Gun. The ship has also been fitted with machine guns of various types and shoulder launched Surface to Air Missiles.