INS Anjadip, the new submarine hunter, joins Navy’s coastal security fleet

NEW DELHI: To boost the country’s anti-submarine warfare capabilities, the Indian Navy on Friday commissioned INS Anjadip, also known as “Dolphin Hunter” as it will focus on detection, tracking and neutralisation of enemy submarines in coastal areas. INS Anjadip is the third of the eight vessels being built under the anti-submarine warfare shallow water craft project.

Commissioning the warship at the Chennai port in the presence of senior Navy, govt and ship-building officials, Navy chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi said the Navy aims at transforming into a 200-plus ship maritime force by 2035 and plans to induct 15 additional vessels in 2026. Noting that the concept of ‘atmanirbharta’ has progressed from ‘Make in India’ to ‘Trust in India’, he said, “We have embraced aatmanirbharta not only as a strategic imperative but also as an investment towards future assurance.” He said the Navy’s long-term vision is to achieve complete self-reliance in ship-building at component level and evolve into a fully ‘atmanirbhar’ force by 2047.

Built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata, INS Anjadip is a state-of-the-art vessel specifically designed to address the challenges of the littoral combat environment— the coastal and shallow waters vital for the nation’s security.

INS Anjadip, which has been named after the historical island off the coast of Karwar, is the latest addition in a series of warships designed specifically for anti-submarine warfare (ASW). The vessel boasts an indigenous content of over 80%, showcasing India’s self-reliance in warship design and defence electronics. This includes the integration of key indigenous systems, a release said.

The 77-meter-long, 1400-tonne vessel is configured for rapid response and sustained operations in a coastal environment. The ship is equipped with a modern ASW suite, an integrated advanced combat management system to effectively detect, track, and neutralise sub-surface threats, sensor package, including the hull mounted sonar Abhay, and armed with lightweight torpedoes and ASW rockets.

The commissioning of INS Anjadip followed its predecessors INS Arnala and Androth. These ships are the largest Indian naval warships propelled by waterjets and are also equipped with state-of-the-art shallow water sonar.

In addition to its primary ASW role, the agile and highly manoeuvrable warship is also equipped to undertake coastal surveillance, low-intensity maritime operations and search & rescue operations.