‘Densely packed with weapons, sensors’: Naval officers highlight capabilities of newly-commissioned INS Agray, INS Dunagiri
Kolkata: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi participating in the commissioning ceremony of INS Dunagiri, INS Sanshodhak, and INS Agray at the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port here, naval officers associated with the newly inducted vessels highlighted their advanced capabilities, indigenous systems, and strategic significance for the Indian Navy.
About the anti-submarine warfare vessel INS Agray, its commanding officer, Commander Sunil Malpotra, said the ship packs significant combat capability despite its relatively compact appearance.
“I would like to tell you not to go by the size of this ship. It may look small, but it is densely packed with weapons and sensors. It has all the capabilities required to detect and target an adversary’s submarines. Not only that, if you look at the kind of asymmetric warfare taking place on the surface, this ship also possesses significant capabilities to deal with such threats,” Malpotra told IANS.
Highlighting the vessel’s anti-submarine warfare role, he said: “For anti-submarine warfare, the ship is equipped with an indigenously developed sonar suite, a combat management system, indigenous rocket launchers, torpedo tubes, and a decoy system that helps divert incoming torpedoes.”
Meanwhile, INS Dunagiri’s commanding officer, Captain Divya Alok, highlighted the vessel’s connection with India’s cultural and mythological heritage.
“This ship is linked to our mythology in its own way. As you mentioned, all the ships of the Giri class, that is, the P-17 Alpha class ships, have been named after mountains. Therefore, it is connected to our mythological heritage,” she said.
INS Agray’s Executive Officer, Lt Commander Rishabh, described the journey from construction to commissioning as both professionally challenging and rewarding.
“The journey has been very satisfying, though professionally challenging as well. It began about 8 to 9 months ago, when we started by seeing this ship as bare steel, and now here we are, the ship is almost ready,” he said.
On the vessel’s operational role, he added: “It is the fifth in its class, the Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft. Its primary aim is to hunt submarines, specifically in shallow waters and the littoral domain.”
Engineering Officer, Lt Commander Piyush, highlighted a key technological feature of the vessel, its waterjet propulsion system.
“This is better in this way because the other ships we have use propeller technology. But our ship is one of the largest in the Indian Navy that has been fitted with waterjet propulsion. In a waterjet system, it takes in water and then propels it out,” he said.
The commissioning of INS Dunagiri, INS Sanshodhak, and INS Agray is being seen as a major step in strengthening India’s maritime capabilities. The vessels are expected to enhance the Indian Navy’s operational readiness, anti-submarine warfare capabilities, hydrographic survey functions and coastal defence preparedness, while also reflecting the growing emphasis on indigenous defence manufacturing and self-reliance in the naval sector.