Introducing INS Mormugao, the Navy’s new guided missile destroyer

Subject :Science and Technology

Context:

The second of the Project 15B stealth-guided missile destroyers built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL),INS Mormugao (Pennant D67), was commissioned into the Indian Navy on Sunday. The ship, named after a key port in Goa, was commissioned a day before the Goa Liberation Day celebrations.

Project 15B and its predecessors:

1987-2001: Delhi class of ships:
- Active: 3 (INS Delhi, INS Mysore, and INS Mumbai.)
- Range: 4,500 mi (7,200 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
- Length: 163 m (535 ft)
- Displacement: 6,200 tonnes (full)
- Aircraft carried: 2 × Sea King Mk 42B helicopters
Kolkata class:
- Commissioned in: 2014
- Project code name: Project 15A
- Build by: MDSL
Project 15B:
- Signed in 2011
- Designed by the Warship Design Bureau
- Built by MDSL in Mumbai
- Four ships of Project 15B: INS Visakhapatnam, INSMormugao, INS Imphal, and INS Surat.
- Lead Ship: INS Visakhapatnam (commissioned in 2021)
A ship ‘class’ describes a group of vessels of similar tonnage, usage, capabilities, and weaponry.
A ship class is identified by its lead ship, in this case, INS Visakhapatnam.

Specifications and weaponry

INS Mormugao— and the other three ships in the class — are 163 m long and 17.4 m wide, with a displacement of 7,300 tonnes.
For comparison, the recently commissioned first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant is 262 m in length and 62 m in width and displaces around 43,000 tonnes when fully loaded.
It incorporates advanced stealth features and a higher degree of automation.
The sleeker hull design and the radar-transparent deck fittings make the vessels difficult to detect.