New Delhi, April 30: The Defence Ministry on Tuesday signed another contract worth Rs 6,311 crore with public sector undertaking Cochin Shipyard Limited to build eight Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Crafts (ASWSWC) for the Indian Navy. Yesterday, the ministry signed a similar contract with shipyard Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE) to build eight such vessels. Now, the Navy will get 16 of these warships.

On Monday, a contract worth Rs 6,311 crore with public sector shipyard GRSE for construction and supply of ASWSWCs. The first ship is expected to be delivered within 42 months from the date of contract signing. After that two ships per year will be delivered to the Navy. The project is expected to be completed in 84 months. GRSE is also handling major projects including building four survey vessels (large) for Indian Navy, three stealth frigates for Indian Navy under P17A project, LCUs for Indian Navy, ASW Corvettes for Indian Navy etc. India-Russia Sign $3 Billion Deal For Lease of A Nuclear Submarine.

The ASWSWCs will increase the ability of the Indian Navy in the Arabian Sea as the shallow sea bed reflects sonar signals emitted by anti-submarine vessels thus making it difficult to detect the enemy submarines. The advanced sonar present in ASWSWCs will help them in differentiating between the signals reflected off the enemy submarine and those reflected by the sea bed. Indian Navy to Get 6 Advanced Submarines, Defence Ministry Kickstarts Process.

Recently, reports also surfaced that the Defence Ministry started the process to acquire six advanced submarines under the ambitious 'strategic partnership' (SP) model at the cost of around Rs 45,000 crore. The submarines, to be fitted with anti-ship cruise missiles and other lethal weapons, will be constructed in India jointly by an Indian defence major and a foreign submarine manufacturer under the P-75 (I) programme.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 30, 2019 09:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).