INS BETWA

INS BETWA

An indigenously built naval frigate, INS Betwa (F39) was being dry docked and put through a thorough check owing to an anomaly reported in its sonar dome which lies at the very bottom of the ship. While the cause behind this incident was not clear, it was revealed that the issue was a 'minor one' which cropped up at the time of periodic checks which the ship was undergoing.

• Class                          Brahmaputra class guided missile frigate
• Displacement              3850 tons full load
• Length                         126.4 metres
• Beam                           14.5 metres
• Draught                       4.5 metres
• Propulsion                   Two Bhopal turbines with 30,000 hp, two 550 psi boilers and two shafts
• Speed                          In excess of 30 knots (60 km/h)
• Range                          4500 miles at 12 knots (20 km/h)
• Complement               440-450 (incl. 40 officers + 13 aircrew)
• processing systems      Air/Surface; 1 x Bharat RAWS-03 radar at S-band frequency using a DA08 antenna
• Armament                   16 x Kh-35 (SS-N-25 Switchblade) AShMs (4 x quadruple KT-184                                                          launchers)3 x 8 Barak SAM VLS system,1 x OTO Melera Super Rapid                                                       76mm main gun
•                                   4 x 6-barrelled 30mm AK-630 Gatling guns,6 x 324mm ILAS 3 (2 x triple tubes)                                         with Whitehead A244S anti-submarine torpedoes
• Aircraft carried           2 helicopters,2 Sea King Mk.42B or a combination of the HAL Chetak and a Sea                                      King Mk.42B

INS BRAHMAPUTRA

INS BRAHMAPUTRA

INS Brahmaputra is the second ship of the Indian Navy named after the River Brahmaputra. The first vessel of the name was a Type 41, Leopard class frigate that was commissioned in 1958. The symbol of the INS Brahmaputra is 'The Raging Rhino', for the one-horned rhino native to the Brahamaputra valley.INS Brahmaputra is the lead ship of her class of guided missile frigates of the Indian Navy. She was built at the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkatta.The design and construction of the ship is entirely Indian, and is a modification of the Godavari class of frigates. It is fitted with an array of modern sensor suites and matching weapon systems.

The Brahmaputra Class is armed with sixteen 3M-24E (Kh-35 Uran or NATO: SS-N-25 Switchblade) AShMs, housed in four quadruple KT-184 launchers, angled at 30º, two on either side of the bridge superstructure. Equivalent to the Harpoon Block 1C AShM, these missiles have active radar homing (ARH) out to a range of 130 km at 0.9 Mach, with a 145 kg warhead. All 16 Urans can be ripple-fired in 2-3 second intervals. Fire control is provided by a BEL Aparna (modified Garpun-Bal FC, NATO: Plank Shave) radar. 

The Garpun-Bal FC radar combines active and passive channels and in the active target designation mode, it operates in X-band (I/J-band) and can handle up to 150 targets at ranges between 35 - 45 km, although it is possible to obtain ranges of more than 180 km in wave-guide propagation conditions. The passive channel operates in the ESM mode searching for pulse and CW signals, and accurately identifying the bearing of hostile emitters from a built-in classification library of up to 1,000 signatures. The maximum range of the passive channel is over 100 km depending on the frequency.

OTO Melera Super Rapid 76mm main gun, for use against ship and shore targets, with 65 rds/min to 4.4n miles; 8 km. Four multi-barrelled 30mm AK-630 Gatling guns on either beam, to shoot down incoming anti-ship missiles, with 5500 to 6000 rds/min to 2.5 km. Fire control for these five gun mounts are provided by two BEL Shikari (based on the Contraves Seaguard) opto-electronic trackers that operate in the I- and Ka-bands. Either of the Shikari trackers can control all five gun mounts or any combination thereof. Good minimum ranges, for the 76mm gun, have been largely achieved by advanced software.Six 324mm ILAS 3 (2 triple) tubes with Whitehead A244S anti-submarine torpedoes, with active/passive homing to 3.8n miles; 7 km at 33 knots with a 34 kg shaped charged warhead. Can also fire the AET anti-submarine torpedo, a locally produced version of the A244S.

INS SATPURA F-48

INS SATPURA

The INS Satpura, which follows the INS Shivalik into service, is the second of three Project 17 stealth frigates that are being built by Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai. It will be followed by INS Sahyadri early next year. These three “state-of-the-art surface combatants” as Verma called them — trace their design ancestry to three Talwar-class frigates that Russia built for the navy a decade ago. INS Satpura is a Shivalik class frigate of the Indian Navy, built at Mazagon Dock Limited. Ship was handed over to the Indian navy on 9th July 2011.  The Shivalik class frigates or Project 17 class frigates are multi-role frigates with stealth features being built for the Indian Navy.  They are the first warships being built in India with such features. The 6200-tonne Satpura which measures 142.5 metre from bow to stern will have Israeli Barak surface-to-air missile and Russian Klub cruise missile along with the torpedoes, anti-submarine missile and two helicopters which will soon be seen public. It has “versatile” control systems with signature management and radar cross-section reduction features.

INS Satpura is also equipped with the Israeli Barak air defence system, to ward off enemy aircraft and missiles. It has torpedoes to deal with enemy submarines, as well as an RBU-6,000 multi-barrelled rocket launchers that can be set to explode underwater. Posted on board the Satpura is a tiny aviation unit, with hangars and facilities for two Sea King, or indigenous Dhruv helicopters. Driving this 142 metre-long warship through the water are two French Pielstick diesel engines. In addition, there are two General Electric LM-2500 gas turbines. This provides the advantage of fuel-efficient operation in the normal course, using the Pielstick diesels, while the gas turbines take over when bursts of speed are required, especially in battle. This is known as CODOG (combined diesel or gas) configuration.