Guarding Indian Ocean region: INS Kochi to add more teeth to Navy's sword arm

NEW DELHI:'Jahi Shatrun Mahabaho' loosely means 'armed to conquer the enemy' in Sanskrit. It's an apt motto for the guided-missile destroyer INS Kochi, packed with weapons and sensors as well as advanced stealth features, which will be commissioned on Wednesday as the largest-ever warship to be built in India till now.

Destroyers are second only to aircraft carriers in projecting raw combat power on the high seas. Induction of the 7,500-tonne INS Kochi, the second of the three Kolkata-class destroyers being built at Mazagaon Docks (MDL) at Mumbai for over Rs 4,000 crore apiece, will make it the 10th destroyer in India's combat fleet.

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The first of this class, INS Kolkata, was commissioned in August last year, while the third INS Chennai will be inducted towards end-2016. There is also the even bigger ongoing Rs 29,644-crore project to build another four stealth destroyers at MDL, with the first INS Visakhapatnam slated for delivery in 2018-2019.

It's no wonder the Navy is all excited. "INS Kochi will add more teeth to the Navy's sword arm in discharging our duty of safe-guarding maritime interests in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). It further reaffirms our resolve and faith in indigenous ship-building and the 'Make in India' programme," said Admiral Robin Dhowan on Monday.

The Navy, on its part, has plans to become a 200-warship force with around 600 aircraft and helicopters by 2027 to ensure it can effectively guard the country's expanding geo-strategic interests in the backdrop of the IOR emerging as "the world's centre of gravity".

The IOR has over 120 warships at any given time, with China fast becoming a force to reckon with in the region.