Fast attack craft Tarmugli commissioned into Navy
Tarmugli would be based in Visakhapatnam under the Naval Officer-in-Charge.
Visakhapatnam: The Indian Navy commissioned the highly manoeuvrable fast attack craft INS Tarmugli at the Eastern Naval Command on Monday. The ship was commissioned into the Indian Navy by ENC commander in chief, Vice Admiral H.C.S. Bisht at a formal ceremony held at Naval Dockyard. Tarmugli would be based in Visakhapatnam under the Naval Officer-in-Charge (Andhra Pradesh) and would be deployed for coastal patrol and surveillance operations along the Eastern Coast.
INS Tarmugli is the first Follow-on Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC), built by M/s Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE), Kolkata. The ship is an improved version of WJFAC, earlier constructed by GRSE.
Conceived, designed and built indigenously, the commissioning of this ship completes the addition of another chapter to the nation’s ‘Make in India’ initiative and indigenisation efforts in the field of warship design and construction.
“India’s maritime interests are wide ranging and the Indian Navy is the principal manifestation of India’s maritime power. Our peninsular orientation and flanking island chains overlook strategic sea lanes in the Indian Ocean and India finds the sea to be the primary means of trade links with the world at large, with 90 pc of the external trade by volume and 70 per cent of by value, transacted through the seas. The Indian Navy, with its strategic reach on one end of the spectrum, to coastal security on the other, remains the net security provider in the Indian Ocean. Therefore, commissioning of new ships in the fleet and flotilla is an ongoing phenomenon which enhances the Navy’s overall capability,” said Vice Admiral Bisht.
Named after an island in the Andaman group, the 320-tonne INS Tarmugli, measuring 48 metres can achieve speeds in excess of 30 knots. The ship is capable of operating in shallow waters at high speeds and is equipped with enhanced fire power. Built for extended coastal and offshore surveillance and patrol the warship is fitted with advanced MTU engines, water jet propulsion and the latest communication equipment. GRSE CMD, AK Verma has said that INS Tarmugli is the 95th ship the shipyard has built in its 55 years of ship building and 55th vessel constructed for Indian Navy.
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The ships armament consists of a 30 mm CRN 91 gun manufactured by Ordnance Factory Medak.
An electronic day-night fire control system namely Stabilised Optronic Pedestal (SOP) manufactured by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) controls the gun.
The ship is also equipped with two 12.7 mm heavy machine guns (HMG) and multiple medium machine guns, besides shoulder-launched Igla surface-to-air missiles to combat aerial threats.