After dedicating aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya to the nation last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to induct country’s largest indigenously-built warship INS Kolkata in Mumbai and P-8 I long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft in the next few weeks.
INS Kolkata is the largest indigenously-built warship designed by Navy’s design bureau and constructed by the Mazagon Dockyards limited, Mumbai, and Modi has already invited to dedicate it, officials said here on Tuesday.
The 6,800-ton warship, which is over three years behind schedule, is a technology demonstrator and will showcase a giant leap in shipbuilding technology in the country, officials said. INS Kolkata will be a part of the Kolkata Class destroyers of the Indian Navy which will include follow-on ships by the name of INS Kochin and INS Chennai respectively.
The keel of the warship was laid in September 2003 and the ship was launched in 2006. Its original commissioning was planned in 2010, but was delayed due to some project related issues. The ship had also suffered a mishap during the trial phase when a Navy officer lost his life during an incident in the fire-fighting equipment of the vessel.
Modi is also likely to dedicate P- 8 I planes based in Tamil Nadu. At present, the Navy has four planes manufactured by Boeing and bought through Foreign Military sale (FMS) route from the US and plans to induct four more aircraft in the next two to three years.