Missile boat Kirpan decommissioned from Indian Navy, handed over to Vietnam as gift

Subject :Science and Technology

Section: Defence

Context:

The indigenous missile corvette INS Kirpan is decommissioned after 32 years in the Indian Navy, and was handed over to Cam Ranh, Vietnam.

Details:

India’s indigenous shipbuilding prowess is also an “assurance to our friends and partners” that the Indian Navy is capable and ready to support our collective security needs in the region, said the Navy Chief R. Hari Kumar.
This is the first-ever occasion that India is offering a fully-operational corvette to any friendly foreign country.

India and Vietnam ties:

Recently, India and Vietnam has signed the ‘Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030’ to enhance the scope and scale of existing security collaboration and ensure that no ‘single’ nation can unilaterally alter or misinterpret rules to serve its own interests in the Indo-Pacific Region.
India has in the past trained Vietnamese Air Force pilots on SU-30 aircraft as well submarine crew of VPN on Kilo class submarines.

About INS Kirpan:

It is an indigenously-built in-service missile corvette.
It is a Khukri class missile corvette commissioned into the Navy on January 12, 1991.
Kirpan is 90 metres long and 10.45 metres in width with a maximum displacement of 1,450 tons.
It is capable of a speed of more than 25 knots.
The Khukri class are equipped with Diesel Engines assembled in India.
The ship is fitted with a medium-range gun, 30 mm close-range guns, chaff launchers, and surface-to-surface missiles.
It performs a wide variety of roles, including coastal and offshore patrol, coastal security, surface warfare, anti-piracy, and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations.