INS Dhruv/Missile-Range Instrumentation Ships (MRIS)/VC-11184

I believe soon India might conduct 9000km range icbm test and for that this ship would be required as well. Obviously ISRO can't be involved all the time for this.
Also a true ICBM fired at elevated trajectory, will be more difficult for China to intercept..
Any info.. whether it would be an ICBM or an SLBM..?
 
Also a true ICBM fired at elevated trajectory, will be more difficult for China to intercept..
Any info.. whether it would be an ICBM or an SLBM..?

SLBM will be over kill as a test for now it will have to be ICBM playing safe from main land that would give more down range coverage over India and around Indian seas and then flat 8500km away observation ships.
 
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HSL poised to deliver India’s first missile tracking ship in New Year

By Santosh Patnaik, December 02, 2019 01:09 IST
30-VJ-MISSILETRACKINGSHIP

The missile tracking ship which is in advance stage of construction at Hindustan Shipyard Limited in Visakhapatnam.

The project’s objective is to provide a robust cover to India’s nuclear missile shield

India’s first missile tracking ship being built at Hindustan Shipyard Limited is in advanced stage of construction.

It is expected to be New Year gift to the Indian Navy, if the indications available at the HSL, a Ministry of Defence enterprise, hold water. The project which was launched in 2014 directly under the supervision of the National Technical Research Organisation, the Prime Minister’s Office and the National Security Advisor is being undertaken without a name due to secrecy attached to it.

Built with an objective to provide a robust shield to India’s nuclear missile shield, is referred to as VC 11184, the yard where the construction was taken up. It will be given a name only after its induction into the Navy.

Sources seeking anonymity told The Hindu that the progress so far was very encouraging and after some more sea trials and installation of certain facilities, it will be handed over to the Navy. The project is expected to give a fillip to ballistic missile programme. “We have work for a month or two after which it will be ready for delivery,” an official said without elaborating further on VC 11184.

The ship fitted with primary X band and secondary S band active electrically scanned array radar. It will have facility for 300 personnel, huge deck for landing of a helicopter and multiple missile tracking antennas. It will have a displacement capacity of 10,000 tonne with a speed limit of 26 knots.

HSL, founded on June 21, 1941 by Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd, was transferred from the Ministry of Shipping to the Ministry of Defence in February, 2010 in recognition of its strategic importance.

HSL is getting ready to construct five Fleet Support Ships at a cost of ₹9,045 crore and two Special Operation Vehicles valued at ₹5,000 crore from the Navy. It is also making a serious bid for medium refit and life certification of fourth EKM class submarine.

The yard is also in the race for the construction of six submarines for the Navy under the Project 75 (I) by forming a joint venture with Adani Defence System Technologies Ltd after obtaining required clearances from the Ministry of Defence and Niti Aayog.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/natio...tracking-ship-in-new-year/article30132810.ece
 
Speaking of Scandinavia, where is @Fafnir ? Haven't seen her in a while.

Busy. My new job keeps me far busier. I used to be able to work from anywhere, anytime during programming work, now I don't have such luxury nor the luxury or telling you when or for how long or why I'll be dropping of the face of the earth for a time.
 
Busy. My new job keeps me far busier. I used to be able to work from anywhere, anytime during programming work, now I don't have such luxury nor the luxury or telling you when or for how long or why I'll be dropping of the face of the earth for a time.
Well its good to have you back. Drop by whenever you are free.
Changed accounts again ? Log in troubles ?
 
Whatever happened to it? Was it commissioned or not?
Handed over to the Navy in February this year. Sea trials are ongoing now, I think. Give it a month we should see its commissioning, assuming its made public.
And what about that other TDV that was being constucted?
More than 75% of the work is done by CSL's own report. Out fitting going on of radars and subsystems. Another 6 to 8 months before completion, I think. Then you have harbour trials, sea trials et al. Will easily take a year to be commissioned.
 
Sat pics of the VC-11184.

Pic1 : March 2019
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Pic2 : June 2020
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5 new radomes visible on top of the bridge of the ship. The small one on the starboard side is likely a satcom. The 4 other radomes at the fore are likely to be housing radars.

With a lot of hemispherical radomes coming to service both on land & at sea. It has become very important to check the structural integrity of such designs in adverse weather conditions. Simulations were run to check structural integrity of radomes at 75-360kmph wind speeds.
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The VC11184 was made using telescopic construction method. It is the older method of ship construction that would almost always result in delays and cost escalation. Let me run you down the process with the help of photos of the VC11184's construction to give you an idea of how tedious a process this is.

We start at one of the many workshops of HSL. Here we have large sized warship grade steel plates being cut to required size and shape to start off the construction. The start of any shipbuilding project is celebrated as "Plate Cutting Ceremony".
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Once the plates are cut to proper size then begins the welding work. The cut plates are welded together according to the design requirements.
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Welding can continue on for months if the ship is big enough.
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Once the plates have been welded they are called plate assemblies. These assemblies can be small enough to be lifted by hand but also can be large enough to need small cranes to be lifted.
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Plate assemblies are placed on work jigs and welded together to form partial hull blocks.
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Partial hull blocks are joined to form complete hull blocks. Sometimes this work is not done in the workshop rather in the drydock. It depends on where the block sits in the ship.
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Hull blocks can be of various shapes and sizes.
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Once welding work on the hull blocks end the excess material of the weld beads have to be removed via grinding. The grinding is done on the work shop and not on the drydock as the total weight of the weld beads can go up to a few metric tons. That's too much waste to handle in a drydock.
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Finally when grinding work ends the hull blocks are painted to prevent rusting. The paint is a primer and the blocks would have to be painted again when the ship is fully assembled.
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Notice how some of the hull blocks are green in colour and the others are red. The anti-fouling paint used in shipbuilding industry is usually red in colour. The green is also the same paint of a different colour. It is used to differentiate hull block that would eventually make compartments where the crew spend most of their time. The differentiation is needed as those hull block go though some additional chemical treatments.

What kind of chemical treatments ? I don't know. But it is a part of the Navy's CBRN certification. Most of Navy's newer ships are CBRN certified, meaning those ships can keep their crew safe and can thus operate in contaminated environments. The VC11184 has CBRN certification too.

Continued below................
 
The hull block can continue to be assembled until the hull is complete. The work on superstructure can begin.
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When work on the super structure is mostly complete, outfitting the ship with engines, electronics, air-conditioning etc. begins. When the shipbuilders have determined that the hull have reached a sufficient level of safety the dry dock is flooded and the ship floats for the first time. This event is celebrated as the "launching of the ship". Once launched the ship is floated out of the flooded dock and parked nearby. The outfitting work continues in this new location.
MRIS.jpg

MRIS2.jpg

This of course is a very very simplified version of ship building using telescopic construction method. In actual practice the assembly of hull blocks is often very complicated. This is where modular construction method shine, here hull block are designed in a way that's easy to assemble. The block manufacturing work is outsourced to smaller shipyards. This enables larger shipyards to free up their workshop space and makes their operations more efficient. It also helps grow a supply chain of smaller shipyards. Since the smaller shipyards compete for orders the price of hull blocks goes down preventing chances of cost overruns.

The Navy should've taken up modular construction years ago. Better late than never I guess.
 

EXCLUSIVE | India’s 1st N-missile tracking ship Dhruv to be launched on Sept 10

By Shishir Gupta, New Delhi
UPDATED ON SEP 03, 2021 11:12 AM IST
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The nuclear missile tracking ship will be manned by Indian Navy personnel with the Strategic Forces Command. (File Photo)

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is expected to commission India’s first satellite and ballistic missile tracking ship Dhruv from Visakhapatnam on September 10. Built by Hindustan Shipyard in collaboration with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), INS Dhruv has the capability to also map ocean beds for research and detection of enemy submarines.

It is understood that the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh and NTRO Chairman Anil Dasmana will be present at the launch ceremony along with senior DRDO and Navy officials. The nuclear missile tracking ship will be manned by Indian Navy personnel with the Strategic Forces Command (SFC). Such ships are operated by France, the US, the UK, Russia, and China only.

The 10,000-tonne ship, which is part of a classified project, will be at the heart of India’s future anti-ballistic missile capability as it will act as an early warning system for enemy missiles headed towards Indian cities and military establishments. The ship will be a vital key to maritime domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific and is being commissioned at the time when the era of underwater armed and surveillance drones has dawned.

With both China and Pakistan having nuclear ballistic missile capability and land disputes with India, the INS Dhruv will act as a major force multiplier to India’s maritime security architecture as well add to the capability to understand the true missile capability of the adversary when they test their ballistic missiles.

INS Dhruv is equipped with DRDO developed state of the art active scanned array radar or AESA with the ability to scan various spectrums to monitor spy satellites watching over India as well as monitor missile tests in the entire region. This will add to the Indian Navy’s capability to monitor the region from the Gulf of Aden to the ingress routes to the South China Sea via Malacca, Sunda, Lombok, Ombai and Wetar straits.

INS Dhruv by mapping the Indian Ocean bed will also help the Indian Navy plan better military operations in all three dimensions—sub-surface, surface and aerial. Given that China has moved to sea-based military doctrine with huge investments in long-range aircraft carriers, warships and submarines, the latest Indian ship will help India’s electronic intelligence-gathering spy agency, the NTRO, to project threat to India in real-time.

EXCLUSIVE | India’s 1st N-missile tracking ship Dhruv to be launched on Sept 10
 

EXCLUSIVE | India’s 1st N-missile tracking ship Dhruv to be launched on Sept 10

By Shishir Gupta, New Delhi
UPDATED ON SEP 03, 2021 11:12 AM IST
View attachment 20777
The nuclear missile tracking ship will be manned by Indian Navy personnel with the Strategic Forces Command. (File Photo)

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is expected to commission India’s first satellite and ballistic missile tracking ship Dhruv from Visakhapatnam on September 10. Built by Hindustan Shipyard in collaboration with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), INS Dhruv has the capability to also map ocean beds for research and detection of enemy submarines.

It is understood that the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh and NTRO Chairman Anil Dasmana will be present at the launch ceremony along with senior DRDO and Navy officials. The nuclear missile tracking ship will be manned by Indian Navy personnel with the Strategic Forces Command (SFC). Such ships are operated by France, the US, the UK, Russia, and China only.

The 10,000-tonne ship, which is part of a classified project, will be at the heart of India’s future anti-ballistic missile capability as it will act as an early warning system for enemy missiles headed towards Indian cities and military establishments. The ship will be a vital key to maritime domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific and is being commissioned at the time when the era of underwater armed and surveillance drones has dawned.

With both China and Pakistan having nuclear ballistic missile capability and land disputes with India, the INS Dhruv will act as a major force multiplier to India’s maritime security architecture as well add to the capability to understand the true missile capability of the adversary when they test their ballistic missiles.

INS Dhruv is equipped with DRDO developed state of the art active scanned array radar or AESA with the ability to scan various spectrums to monitor spy satellites watching over India as well as monitor missile tests in the entire region. This will add to the Indian Navy’s capability to monitor the region from the Gulf of Aden to the ingress routes to the South China Sea via Malacca, Sunda, Lombok, Ombai and Wetar straits.

INS Dhruv by mapping the Indian Ocean bed will also help the Indian Navy plan better military operations in all three dimensions—sub-surface, surface and aerial. Given that China has moved to sea-based military doctrine with huge investments in long-range aircraft carriers, warships and submarines, the latest Indian ship will help India’s electronic intelligence-gathering spy agency, the NTRO, to project threat to India in real-time.

EXCLUSIVE | India’s 1st N-missile tracking ship Dhruv to be launched on Sept 10
So the MRIS has sea bed mapping capability too. That's new.

Also the steel weight of the ships is 10,000 tons. The MRIS' displacement is well over 15,000 tons.
 
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INS Dhruv: India all set to launch nuclear missile tracking ship​

India is set to launch its first ballistic missile and satellite tracking ship INS Dhruv on Friday, said a report. It is a 10,000 tonne vessel and it will be commissioned from southern Indian port of Visakhapatnam.

As per a report in Hindustan Times, the ship is to be launched in the presence of senior officials of Indian Navy, National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

INS Dhruv will be the latest weapon in Indian Navy's arsenal. It has been built by Hindustan Shipyard along with DRDO and NTRO.

Dhruv will be Indian Navy's first ship capable of tracking nuclear missiles even at long range. Moreover, INS Dhruv will also have capability to map ocean beds for research as well as detection of enemy submarines.

The ship's capabilities mean that India will be able to gauge the true missile capability of the enemy when it tests their ballistic missile.

China has moved to a 'sea-based military doctrine' and inclusion of INS Dhruv gives Indian Navy capability to better strategise in all domains of naval warfare.
 
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