INS Mormugao, All You Need to know About INS Mormugao

The second stealth-guided missile destroyer of Project 15B, which Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited built, was finally delivered to the Indian Navy on 24th of November 2022.

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INS Mormugao

The second stealth-guided missile destroyer of Project 15B, which Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited built, was finally delivered to the Indian Navy on 24th of November 2022. After commissioning, the ship will be christened INS Mormugao.

Construction of Mormugao commenced in June 2016, followed by the vessel’s launch in September of the same year. The ship began its initial sea trials in December last year.

The contract for four ships under Project 15B was earlier signed in January 2011. This project is a follow-on of the Kolkata-class destroyers built under Project 15A commissioned over the last decade with improved features of stealth, automation and ordnance. The lead ship of Project 15B, INS Visakhapatnam, was commissioned into the Indian Navy in November last year.

INS Mormugao UPSC

The ship is designed by the Warship Design Bureau, the Indian Navy’s in-house organisation and built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd in Mumbai, the four ships of the project are christened after cities from four corners of the country — Visakhapatnam, Mormugao, Imphal and Surat.

The ship is 163 meters long and 17 meters wide, displaces 7,400 tons when loaded fully, and can reach a top speed of 33.5 knots (62.0 km/h; 38 mph). Besides several indigenous pieces of equipment that form the ‘Move’ and ‘Float’ categories, the destroyer is installed with the under-mentioned indigenous weapons. The indigenous content of the overall project is about 75%.

Additionally, the vessels of the class are equipped with one OTO Melara 76 mm naval gun. Mormugao boasts medium-range surface-to-air missiles the BEL makes; surface-to-surface missiles made and designed by BrahMos Aerospace; advanced torpedo tube launchers (indigenous) and anti-submarine rocket launchers from Larsen and Toubro; and 76-mm super rapid gun mount from BHEL.

The ship reportedly embarked on her maiden sortie on 19 December 2021, coinciding with Goa Liberation Day. It has now been delivered.

INS Mormugao Facts: History of Project 15B

In 2009, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved of the procurement of four 6,800-tonne destroyers – classified as “Project-15B”, as a complement to the Kolkata-class destroyers, which was then under construction
It was planned to construct similar to the Kolkata-class destroyers (Project-15A), but little different – in terms of weaponry and sensors
This was envisaged to minimize the construction period of the specified class and to reduce costs.