Delivery of navy's destroyers delayed
Delivery of the Indian Navy's three most modern destroyers is delayed by nearly three years due to a hold-up on the part of foreign vendors to supply vital arms and equipment for these warships.
As a result, the ships that were to come to the navy between July 2014 and 2018 under project 15B, would now be delivered by dockyard between 2021 and 2022, defence ministry officials said.
The first two ships, to be named INS Visakhapatnam and INS Mormugao on commissioning, were released into the water in April 2015 and September 2016, respectively.
Defence ministry and navy officials informed lawmakers that procurement of arms and sensors for these ships have been delayed.
According to the navy's Rs 29,300 crore contract with the Mazgaon dockyard, the four ships under Project 15B were to be delivered between 2014 and 2018. The first three vessels were to be delivered in 2018, 2020 and 2022.
Late delivery of long-range surface to air missile from Israel and its radar (MFSTAR) also contributed to the deferment of the final delivery of the Visakhapatnam and Mormugao to the navy.
In May, the Indian Navy for the first time fired a Barak-8 missile from INS Kochi - one of its new destroyers. It was followed by another firing in November.
With a delay at the supply end, the defence ministry decided to indigenously manufacture some of the items like the sonar system developed by DRDO and the ship surveillance radar, which would be manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited.
A decision has also been taken to manufacture the main gun of these ships in India, after Italian company Oto Melara was barred from supplying guns to the navy because of the VVIP helicopter scam that involved its parent company Finmeccanica.
Very sharp eyes you have got. . A very good development I would say. Any Idea about range and band of these radars we are going to install. Any link or detail would be helpful.These are the recent images of the launch ceremony for the 3rd Scorpene-class SSK of Indian Navy (INS Karanj), note the P-15B DDG in the background.
Compare these with the same P-15B DDG seen during launch of the 2nd boat in class (INS Khanderi) about an year ago (17 Jan 2017):
Since then, I'd day the space in the main mast for the MFSTAR radar has been 'filled in' but I'm not sure if the array face itself has yet been installed or not. Either way, of note is the fact that the surveillance radar to be mounted on the rear mast has still not been installed.
@Abingdonboy @Aashish @Ashwin @Shashank
Very sharp eyes you have got. . A very good development I would say. Any Idea about range and band of these radars we are going to install. Any link or detail would be helpful.
What we don't know for sure, which one is it? lead ship or follow on of P15BThese are the recent images of the launch ceremony for the 3rd Scorpene-class SSK of Indian Navy (INS Karanj), note the P-15B DDG in the background.
Compare these with the same P-15B DDG seen during launch of the 2nd boat in class (INS Khanderi) about an year ago (17 Jan 2017):
Since then, I'd day the space in the main mast for the MFSTAR radar has been 'filled in' but I'm not sure if the array face itself has yet been installed or not. Either way, of note is the fact that the surveillance radar to be mounted on the rear mast has still not been installed.
@Abingdonboy @Aashish @Ashwin @Shashank
RAWL-02 should be replaced with Indian AESA radar like Arudhra MPR or enlarged NMDRWell, the Elta EL/M-2248 MF-STAR is a multifunction S-band solid-state AESA radar that is set to be the mainstay of IN's future surface combatants. It's already installed on the 3 Kolkata-class DDGs, and the coming 4 Vizag-class DDGs, 7 P-17A FFGs and the IAC-1 carrier will also have the same radar. The MFSTAR is static and has 4 arrays covering all directions.
http://www.iai.co.il/2013/34481-36668-en/Groups_ELTA_EltaNumber_Products-ELM.aspx
Product brochure: http://www.iai.co.il/Sip_Storage//FILES/3/42053.pdf
The secondary radar (on rear mast) is planned to be the L-band BEL-made RAWL-02 (already installed on Kolkata-class) which is basically an Indian-manufactured improved version of the LW-08 (now from Thales). This radar, unlike the MFSTAR, has a single array and rotates the mount in order to cover 360 degrees, and is of an older generation of architecture (standard pulse-doppler design compared to MF-STAR's AESA).
BEL | Products
While BEL has been making improved versions of the RAWL-02, I personally would prefer IN to ditch this older generation of surveillance/volumn search radars altogether and move on to a solid-state AESA for this purpose as well. Radars of this new-gen type would be like the Thales SMART-L.
@Parthu thank you very much for detailed reply. Just wondering what is the reason for using a PESA along with an AESA on same ship.
Is it to have some kind of redundancy or having a better observation capability in different frequency range?
What are the major differences between Kolkata class and Visakhapatnam class destroyers ??
Any clue that we shall see a flush Deck for improved stealth for the P15B?Another good shot:
Any clue that we shall see a flush Deck for improved stealth for the P15B?
What are the major differences between Kolkata class and Visakhapatnam class destroyers ??
How is this different from the HUMSA-NG?https://www.drdo.gov.in/drdo/pub/newsletter/2018/feb_18.pdf
- Combat Sonar Dome was fitted onboard INS Kolkata and INS Chennai.
Not a new hull-mounted sonar but just Dome.How is this different from the HUMSA-NG?
Sonar Dome
Oops ... DOME .... my bad!