Nirmala commissions INS Kiltan

Visakhapatnam: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday commissioned the indigenously-built anti-submarine warfare stealth corvette INS Kiltan at the Eastern Naval Command here.

Kiltan is the latest indigenous warship after Shivalik class, Kolkata class and sister ships INS Kamorta and INS Kadmatt to have joined the Indian Navy’s arsenal wherein a plethora of weapons and sensors have been integrated to provide a Common Operational Picture (COP), an official release said.

It is India’s first major warship to have a superstructure of carbon fibre composite material resulting in improved stealth features, lower top weight and maintenance costs, it said. Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Naval Command H S Bisht and other senior officers attended the event at the Naval Dockyard here.

“INS Kiltan strengthens our defence system and will be a shining armour in our ‘Make in India’ programme as it is totally built here,” Nirmala said on the occasion. The stealth corvette has been designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house body, the Directorate of Naval Design, under Project 28 (Kamorta Class).

INS Kiltan is also the first major warship to have undertaken sea trials of all major weapons and sensors as a pilot project and is ready to be operationally deployed on the day of joining the navy. In the future, it would also be installed with short-range SAM system and carry an integral ASW helicopter.

The ship derives its name from one of the islands in Aminidivi group of the strategically located Lakshadweep and Minicoy group of islands. The ship also boasts of the proud legacy of the erstwhile Petya Class ship of the same name ‘Kiltan (P79)’ built in the erstwhile USSR, which had actively participated as Task Force Commander in Operation Trident during the 1971 Indo-Pak war, the navy stated.