Mumbai: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday will formally commission INS Visakhapatnam destroyer into the Indian Navy at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.
Taking to micro-blogging site twitter, Singh said, "Will be in Mumbai tomorrow, 21st November. Looking forward to attending the commissioning ceremony of INS Visakhapatnam. The event marks the formal induction of the first of the four 'Visakhapatnam' class destroyers, into the Indian Navy".
INS Visakhapatnam is the first stealth-guided missile destroyer ship of Project 15B.
According to reports, the INS Visakhapatnam is about 163 meters long and weighs about 7400 tonnes. This ship has about 75 percent indigenous 'content'.
The ship is equipped with indigenous weapons. The frigate is equipped with BEL's Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM), surface-to-surface BrahMos, L&T Company's Torpedo Tube Launcher, L&T's own Anti-Submarine Rocket Launcher and BHEL's 76mm Super Rapid Gun (Cannon).
At present, there are 130 warships in the Indian Navy's combat fleet with one aircraft carrier (including INS Vikramaditya). Apart from this, 39 warships are being built in different shipyards of the country.
Indian Navy celebrates its Raising Day every year on 4th December. The Navy celebrates its foundation day to commemorate the decisive role it played in the victory against Pakistan in the 1971 war.
Reportedly, the Navy will receive a total of four of the Visakhapatnam class of destroyers as part of Project 15B and the cumulative cost of building the four destroyers stands at over Rs 35,000 crore.
Meanwhile, Submarine Vela will also be commissioned by the Navy on November 25. Vela will be the fourth submarine of Project 75.
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