GRSE lays keel for Indian Navy’s fifth ASW shallow watercraft

Indian shipbuilder Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) has laid down the keel for the Indian Navy’s fifth anti-submarine warfare shallow watercraft (ASW-SWC).

As disclosed, the keel-laying ceremony was held today at GRSE Main Works Unit Kolkata. The design of these ships has been done completely in-house by GRSE, the company revealed.

The 5th ASW-SWC is a part of eight such warships being built by GRSE. The primary role of shallow watercraft is to conduct anti-submarine operations in coastal waters, low-intensity maritime operations and mine-laying operations.

Specifically, the craft is designed for a deep displacement of 750 tonnes and is capable of full-scale sub-surface surveillance of coastal waters, search attack unit (SAU) and coordinated ASW operations with aircraft.

What is more, these vessels are propelled by water jets capable of reaching maximum speed of 25 knots and are compact and loaded with anti-submarine weapons (lightWeight torpedoes, ASW rockets and combat management system).

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Guest Shri V.L Kantha Rao, Additional Secretary & Director General (Acquisition) highlighted that the Acquisition Wing of the Ministry of Defence has formulated several measures to speed up the procurement in the Armed Forces.

C&MD GRSE Rear Admiral VK Saxena highlighted that GRSE has delivered 70 ships to the Indian Navy and 15 more are at various stages of construction by GRSE.

Apart from building eight ASWSWCs for the Indian Navy, the shipyard is currently executing indigenous shipbuilding projects which include three frigates under Project 17A, four survey vessels and one fast patrol vessel for the Indian Coast Guard. With its core emphasis on exports, the shipyard is also building ships for the Republic of Guyana and a government agency of Bangladesh.