INS Kiltan sets sail from Brunei after showcasing India’s prowess in warship building

Kolkata, May 30 (IANS) The INS Kiltan, a Kamorta Class Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Corvette of the Indian Navy is all set to sail from the Muara port in Brunei after a long-range operational deployment in the South China Sea for nearly a month.

The INS Kiltan was part of a three-ship flotilla led by destroyer INS Delhi. The other ship in the team was the fleet tanker INS Shakti. During this deployment, the Indian warships visited several ASEAN nations such as Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines and Brunei.

The INS Kiltan was the lone one to pay visits to Vietnam and Brunei. Apart from strengthening bilateral ties, the ship showcased India’s prowess in the field of modern shipbuilding.

Built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd in Kolkata, the warship was delivered to the Navy in 2017. The INS Kiltan was the first large Indian warship to be built with a composite superstructure. This technology was introduced by the Swedish firm Saab.

Apart from lowering the top weight significantly, the carbon-fibre composite material used for the superstructure, seamlessly integrated with the warship’s main metallic hull, has improved stealth features and lower maintenance costs.

The carbon fibre shields against a wide range of signals, such as electromagnetic, infrared, pressure, acoustic, radar and heat. This is an important factor behind INS Kiltan’s phenomenal stealth properties, ensuring that the ship is hard, if not impossible to trace by the enemy platforms, whether underwater or on the surface.

This stealth feature allows a warship more time to deploy countermeasures, thereby enhancing survivability.

An Indian Navy official said that India is among a few select nations that can build ships of this quality and is keen to export warships to friendly foreign nations.

He said that during foreign port calls, the INS Kiltan allowed onboard visits by naval personnel of those countries to enable them to take a closer look at the warship.

“It also participated in exercises during which the friendly foreign navies learnt more about the ship’s capabilities. One of the aims of such visits is to promote India’s capabilities in the field of shipbuilding in an effort to bag orders,” the official said.