On November 21, 2021, the indian Navy's P-15B Visakhapatnam-class destroyer, the first ship, the Visakhapatnam, officially joined the Indian Naval Force after a long sea trial, and India also released the official map of the Visakhapatnam. It is reported that the ship was independently designed by the Indian Naval Design Bureau and built by the Mumbai Mazargaon Dockyard Company, and is a successor to the Type 15 "Delhi" class and Type 15A "Kolkata" class destroyers. In the future, the Indian Navy destroyers will be composed of the Type 15A Kolkata class and the Type 15B Visakhapatnam class, which will become the main force in the Indian Navy's ocean-going operations. So, as a guided-missile destroyer independently designed and built by India, how does the "Visakhapatnam" perform?
Indian Navy destroyer USS Visakhapatnam
The twists and turns of "Visakhapatnam"
In the multinational naval activities marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Navy, the Indian Navy sent the most advanced destroyer "Kolkata" at that time to participate, but at the same time, the entire Asian maritime powers were carrying out a new round of "shield ship" construction work, and the Indian Navy naturally could not lag behind, so it began the design work of the improved "Visakhapatnam" class of the "Kolkata" class, and soon put into construction.
The Indian Navy plans to build four P15B guided-missile destroyers with the planned launch dates of the first ship, Uss Visakhapatnam, launched in April 2015, HMS Mormugan 2 in September 2016, and Ship 3 Impal on 20 April 2019. Construction of the 4th ship, Bolbendell, is scheduled to begin on 19 July 2018. However, since construction began in 2013, the delivery time of the No. 1 ship, the Visakhapatnam, has been pushed back and forth from the initial 2018 until this commission. At present, the overall construction progress of the "Visakhapatnam" class is seriously lagging behind, which makes the completion time of the project much longer than planned, and the construction cost of the entire project has changed from the initial $4.5 billion to the state of "no ceiling". Previously, the three ships of the Indian Navy's "Kolkata" class destroyer basically took 10 years from laying the keel to officially entering service, so the fate of "Visakhapatnam" is not so difficult to understand.
Previously, the Indian Navy's main destroyers had 11 of three types, including three Type 15 "Delhi" class, three Type 15A "Kolkata" class, and 5 "Rajput" class. The service of the destroyer Visakhapatnam will not only enhance the Operational Readiness of the Indian Navy, but also be a major leap forward for the Indian military's goal of "self-sufficient India".
Early model of the Visakhapatnam class
Can performance meet expectations?
The Vishakhapatnam class has a displacement of more than 7,400 tons, a length of 163 meters, a width of 17.4 meters, and a draft of 6.5 meters. The power plant is 4 gas turbines with a maximum speed of 30 knots and an endurance of 4,000 nautical miles at 18 knots. The ship is equipped with medium-range ship-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, 76 mm naval guns, torpedo tubes, anti-submarine rocket launchers, anti-submarine helicopters, close defense weapon systems and other weapons. The destroyer adopts the overall environmental control system, which effectively improves its survivability in the nuclear, biological and chemical environment, and has regional air defense capabilities in performance.
Stealth performance has been improved. The Visakhapatnam class drew on some of the experience of previous destroyer construction and made various adjustments, including the shift of the main sonar from the bottom of the ship to the bow, and the redesign of the bridge and the trick bar for better stealth. Compared with the Kolkata class, the "Visakhapatnam" class has made a slight improvement in stealth ability, the hull is more concise and smooth, and a large number of messy equipment has disappeared.
The degree of localization has increased. According to the indian media official, the localization rate of the "Visakhapatnam" destroyer has reached 65%, which is actually a very good level relative to India. In recent years, India has begun to transition from importation, imitation, and independent research and development. Including the construction of the "Vikrant" aircraft carrier, the localization of the Type 15B shipboard equipment, the bidding for the construction of dock transport ships for local enterprises, etc., these measures are aimed at promoting the construction of the local ship industry and supporting facilities, and seeking industrial capabilities that match the development needs of naval equipment. However, it is worth noting that its core weapon system is still not independently developed, the main gun is actually replaced by an Italian-made naval gun, and the core phased array radar of the air defense system is also imported from Israel, including the cruise missile used also involves Russian technology, from some aspects it still does not have its own core support, it seems to be somewhat empty. Although it has been almost 30 years since India proposed localization, progress is still very limited, because of the weakness of the overall manufacturing industry, many important military projects have been delayed for more than a decade, or even decades, and the current "Visakhapatnam" is a living example.
There is a lack of motivation. In terms of power system, the power of the "Visakhapatnam" comes from 4 DT-59 gas turbines, and the DT-59 gas turbine comes from Ukraine, and the DT-59 gas turbine is also the power source of the "Glory-class" missile cruiser and the "Dreadnought-class" large anti-submarine ship, and the power package of the "Visakhapatnam" does not have a Soviet-style gas turbine surface ship with a share of the exhaust gas circulation steam boiler, which means that the power of the "Visakhapatnam" is the level of the Soviet Union in the eighties. Therefore, from this point of view, the power of the destroyer "Visakhapatnam" is not able to meet the actual needs of the Indian Navy.
Indian Kolkata-class (P-15A) destroyer
Overall, the service of the "Visakhapatnam" guided-missile destroyer has greatly improved India's overall naval strength, but India still has many problems to overcome in the development of domestic destroyers, and there is still a big gap compared with the advanced guided missile destroyers owned by the world's advanced military powers. For the mainland, it is necessary to see from the service of the destroyer "Visakhapatnam" that India's maritime power threatens us, and it is necessary to continuously strengthen naval power building to cope with various risks and challenges.