Navy commissions INS Kiltan as India's stealth capability in the Indian Ocean gets major boost

Commissioned into the Indian Navy by defense minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Visakhapatnam today, INS Kiltan - an Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) stealth corvette - is India’s first major warship to have a superstructure of carbon fibre composite material which provides improved stealth features, lower top weight and maintenance costs.

More importantly, about 81 per cent of the ship is indigenous and is well-equipped to fight in nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) warfare conditions.

With the changing power dynamics in the Indian Ocean Region, INS Kiltan is expected to augment Indian Navy’s mobility, reach and flexibility.

The commissioning of Kiltan will add a new dimension to the ASW capability of the Indian Navy and the Eastern Fleet in particular.

The multifarious missions that can be undertaken by the ship truly reflect the enhanced multi-dimensional capability of the Indian Navy.  The ship is manned by a team comprising 13 officers and 178 sailors with Commander Naushad Ali Khan at the helm as her first Commanding Officer. 

Deriving its name from one of the islands in Aminidivi group of the strategically located Lakshadweep and Minicoy group of islands, INS Kiltan hosts a predominantly indigenous cutting-edge weapons and sensors suite which includes heavyweight torpedoes, ASW rockets, 76 mm caliber Medium Range gun & two multi-barrel 30 mm guns as Close-in-Weapon System (CIWS) with dedicated fire control systems, missile decoy rockets (Chaff), advanced ESM (Electronic Support Measure) system, most advanced bow-mounted sonar and air surveillance radar Revathi.

The ship in the future would also be installed with short-range SAM system and carry an integral ASW Helicopter.

It is also the first major warship to have undertaken Sea Trials of all major weapons and sensors as a pilot project prior delivery by shipyard to Indian Navy and is ready to be operationally deployed on the day of joining the Indian Navy.

“The ship’s weapons and sensors suite is predominantly indigenous and showcases the nation’s growing capability in this niche area,” the Indian Navy said in a statement.

INS Kiltan has been Indigenously designed by the Indian Navy's in-house organization, Directorate of Naval Design and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata and is the latest indigenous warship after Shivalik class, Kolkata class and sister Ships INS Kamorta and INS Kadmatt to have joined the Indian Navy’s arsenal where in a plethora of weapons and sensors have been integrated to provide a ‘Common Operational Picture (COP)’.

The ship also boasts of the proud legacy of the erstwhile Petya Class ship of same name ‘Kiltan (P79)’ built in USSR, which had actively participated as Task Force Commander in ‘Operation Trident’ during 1971 Indo-Pak war and had served the nation with distinction throughout her illustrious service life from October 30,1969 to June 30, 1987.