Hull of the third ship of the P15A Kolkatta-class destroyer was launched by Elizabeth Antony, wife of Defence Minister AK Antony at the Mazagaon Docks Ltd (MDL) in Mumbai on April 01, 2010 in the presence of the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Nirmal Verma and other dignitaries.
Project 15-A, though conceived as a follow-on of the earlier P-15 Delhi Class, had incorporated major advances in its weapons and sensors and is technologically far superior.
These are the largest warships ever constructed at the Mazagaon Docks, the oldest and the most prolific of all Indian Naval dockyards. The lead ship INS Kolkatta and its sister ship INS Kochi have already been launched. The Delhi-class destroyers, INS Delhi, INS Mysore and INS Mumbai, also built at Mazagaon Dock, are considered to be frontline ships of the Indian Navy.
With a length of 163 metres, width of 17.4 metres and displacement of 6,800 tonnes, the Kolkatta-class ships will carry two helicopters onboard. Project 15-A destroyers will incorporate Indian systems including the Hull Mounted Sonar Array – New Generation and the Nagin active towed array sonar, jointly developed by the DRDO’s Naval Science and Technology Laboratory in Visakhapatnam and Bharat Electronics Ltd in Bangalore.
It will also feature reduced noise and radar signatures, affording the ship a certain degree of stealth. Russian assistance with shafts, propellers and the know-how for pontoon-assisted launches for Project 15-A is available.