Indian Navy on Sunday enhanced its indigenous defence production capability by commissioning ‘Mormugao’, a P15B stealth-guided missile destroyer. Speaking after the commissioning ceremony, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh lauded India’s growing indigenous defence production capability and noted that countries across the world are stepping forward to strengthen and modernize their military power.
The ceremony that took place at the Naval Dockyard here, Singh said, “Due to global security scenario, countries across the world are moving forward towards strengthening and modernizing their military power. The demand for military equipment is increasing. We have introduced a number of policies which will help our public or private sector companies to become world class players,” Singh said.
The Mormugao, the Defence Minister emphasised, is an example of India’s indigenous defence production capability. It can rightfully be regarded as one of the most potent warships to have been constructed in India
“This warship built by MDSL (Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd) presents a great example of our indigenous defence production capability. India’s interest is directly linked to the Indian Ocean. Being an important country of the Indian Ocean Region, the role of the Indian Navy becomes more important in its security. It is heartening to see that the Indian Navy is discharging their duties well,” he said.
“In such a situation, today we have every opportunity to make full use of our capabilities and move forward towards making the country an indigenous shipbuilding hub,” Singh said.
Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar, Goa Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai, Goa CM Pramod Sawant and other dignitaries attended the commissioning ceremony.
Earlier in the day, speaking at the event, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said, “today is yet another milestone in the history of indigenous warship building as we commission the destroyer Mormugao, particularly when our sister ship Visakhapatnam was inducted into the Indian Navy just over a year ago.”
“This achievement is indicative of the large strides we have taken in warship design and building capability over the last decade. The Navy has a tradition of naming ships after cities which creates an enduring umbilical link between the two,” Navy Chief added. A defence ministry statement said, “A unique feature of this ship is the high level of indigenisation of approximately 75 per cent incorporated in the production, accentuating our national objective of ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’.
The statement said, “The ship has enhanced stealth features resulting in a reduced Radar Cross Section (RCS). Mormugao is packed with sophisticated ‘state of the art’ weapons and sensors such as Surface to Surface Missile and Surface to Air Missiles. The ship is fitted with a modern Surveillance Radar which provides target data to the gunnery weapon systems of the ship.”