INS KOLKATA

INS KOLKATA

 Kolkata class destroyer  is the India’s latest guided missile destroyer designed for Indian navy. Fast and stealthy, with an advanced sensor suite and an array of potent air, land and sea weapons, the Kolkata class would be a formidable ship in any navy.

The Kolkata class destroyers are true multipurpose destroyers, capable of providing protection to India’s aircraft carriers or operating independently. The primary radar system, an actively scanned array radar provided by Israeli Aircraft Industries, is reportedly comparable to the American Aegis radar system. The radar is capable of detecting contacts in the air and at sea and provides guidance to radar-guided missiles. 

The Kolkatas will also feature a bow mounted and towed sonar arrays for detecting submarines.

Armament will be considerable, with vertical launch cells for up to 64 air defense missiles. The missiles  will be a mix of short-range Barak 1 and medium range Barak 8 radar-guided surface to air missiles, capable of point and area defense, respectively. Such defensive missile armament will allow it to provide air defense for carrier battle groups, surface action groups, amphibious groups and shipping convoys.

The Kolkatas will pack the heaviest surface-to-surface firepower of any destroyer in any navy, with each ship carrying 16 BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles. Rounding out the ship’s armament is a 76mm gun, four AK-630 close-in weapons systems, anti-submarine rockets and torpedoes, and two embarked helicopters with a hangar.

Three Kolkata destroyers are to be built, with the first of class expected to be commissioned this year. A follow-on class of four destroyers with improved stealth characteristics is already being planned.China would fear the Kolkata class because it would provide air defense for ships such as the Vikramaditya. Armed with 16 BrahMos missiles, the Kolkatas could also operate independently as commerce raiders, threatening Chinese shipping.