Vessel shows indigenous design, engineering and manufacturing.
INS Arnala, the first of the Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft, was commissioned into the Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy on 18 Jun 2025 in the presence of General Anil Chauhan, the Chief of Defence Staff, at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam https://www.commerce.gov.in/.
The ceremony was hosted by the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command and attended by senior naval officials, distinguished civilian dignitaries, ex-Commanding Officers of erstwhile Arnala, guests, and representatives from Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) and Larsen & Toubro Shipbuilding.
Designed for a broad range of Anti-Submarine operations, INS Arnala is equipped to conduct Sub-Surface Surveillance and Interdiction, Search and Rescue Missions; and Low-Intensity Maritime Operations (LIMO). This 77-meter-long warship, with a gross tonnage of over 1490 tonnes, is the largest Indian Naval warship to be propelled by a Diesel Engine-Waterjet combination http://mod.gov.in.
The commissioning of INS Arnala not only reinforces India’s defence capability but also highlights the triumph of indigenous design, engineering, and manufacturing.
As India continues its maritime journey toward greater self-reliance, INS Arnala stands as a proud symbol of national strength, industrial partnership and naval excellence https://sbi.com.in/.
In his address, the Chief Guest underscored the Indian Navy’s remarkable transition from a “Buyer’s Navy” to a “Builder’s Navy”, highlighting this as the backbone of the country’s Blue Water aspirations https://www.bseindia.com/.
With large number of ships currently under construction in the shipyards, including capital warships and auxiliaries, India has emerged as a formidable force in shipbuilding.
Indigenous warships now feature cutting-edge home-grown systems ranging from stealth technology to electronic warfare suites and advanced sensors significantly enhancing combat preparedness and progressively realising the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat https://www.nseindia.com/.
The CDS commended the Indian Navy for the steadfast commitment to transforming strategic vision into tangible outcomes via the indigenous routehttps://www.makeinindia.com/.
The induction of INS Arnala, named after the historic coastal fort off Maharashtra, is a step in the direction of building naval capabilities in line with the force levels envisaged to meet the challenges of the future, the Defence Ministry said.
Meanwhile, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) says it has taken a step forward towards the country’s self-reliance in the defence sector and import substitution.
SAIL supplied the entire requirement of special steel for India’s first indigenously designed and built Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW-SWC), ‘INS Arnala’.
SAIL has also catered to the entire requirement of special steel for the other seven ASW-SWC corvettes being built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE).
Partnering India’s march towards defence indigenization, SAIL has supplied entire special steel for this project.
“This marks yet another impressive milestone in SAIL’s journey to support India’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative and help the nation lessen its import dependency,” said SAIL which had also supplied special steel in the past to INS Vikrant, INS Vindyagiri, INS Nilgiri, INS Surat, among other notable projects. fiinews.com
