Indigenously Built ASW Corvette INS Kadmatt commissioned in Visakhapatnam

Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette INS Kadmatt was on 7 January 2016 commissioned in the Indian Navy at naval dockyard in Visakhapatnam by Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral R K Dhowan.

INS Kadmatt is the second ship of Project 28 (P28) class ASW corvettes and is the latest ship after Shivalik class, Kolkata class and INS Kamorta. In all these ships, an excessive amount of weapons and sensors had been integrated to provide a Common Operational Picture (COP).

The ship was manned by 13 officers and 180 sailors with Commander Mahesh Chandra Moudgil as the first Commanding Officer. The ship is an integral part of the Eastern Fleet under the Eastern Naval Command to safeguard the Eastern Seaboard of India.

About INS Kadmatt

• It was designed 90 per cent indigenously by the Directorate of Naval Design (DND) and constructed by M/s Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd. Directorate of Naval Design (DND) is the Navy’s Design Organisation undertaking indigenous design of all surface combatants.

• INS Kadmatt is named after one of the large islands amongst the Lakshadweep group of Islands off the west coast of India.

• The ship had been constructed using high grade steel (DMR 249A) produced in India. With a displacement of 3500 tonnes, the sleek and magnificent ship spans 109 meters in length and 14 meters at the beam.

• It is propelled by four diesel engines to achieve speeds in excess of 25 knots with an endurance of 3450 nautical miles. 

• The ship had a potent strike capability with guns, close in weapon system, heavy weight torpedoes and anti-submarine rockets. Very soon the ship will also be fitted with vertically launched Surface to Air Missiles to neutralise enemy missiles.

• This second ship of Project 28 has a low radio, acoustic, magnetic and IR signature owing to a ‘X’ shaped hull form, raft mounted engines and an IR suppression system.

• The unique architecture used to fit the engines on a separate mounting reduces its underwater noise thereby making it difficult to detect by sonars of enemy ships and submarines.

• As an ASW Corvette, the ship carries on the legacy of her predecessor INS Kadmatt (P 78), which served the Indian Navy for 24 years from 23 December 1968 to 30 November 1992.

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