In this article, we will look into India's First Nuclear Missile Tracking Ship - INS Dhruv. This ship also called the VC 11184, the specialized Ocean Surveillance Ship. With this Ship secretly commissioned after completing all its Sea Trials, India has now become the 5th Country in World with this Capability. Apart from India, only handful of nations like USA, China, Russia and France has similar type of Vessels.
About Indian Navy
Indian Navy is the Naval branch of Indian Armed Forces founded on 26th January, 1950. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The primary objective of the Navy is to safeguards the Indian Coastlines and work along with the other branch of Armed Forces to prevent any foreign attacks and disruption in the Peace of the Land.
About National Technical Research Organization(NTRO)
National Technical Research Organization is an Intelligence Agency setup in 2004 under National Security Adviser in the Prime Minister's Office. It also includes National Institute of Cryptology Research and Development(NICRD). The primary objective of NTRO is to protect the Country technical Infrastructure from any external threats by gathering Intelligence and feeding input to other wings of Indian Intelligence Agencies.
About Defence Research and Development Organization(DRDO)
Defence Research and Development Organization is a premiere Organization setup in 1958 under the Department of Defence Research and Development in Ministry of Defence of the Government of India. The Primary objective of DRDO is to empower India with latest cutting-edge defence technologies to achieve self reliance in the design and development of Arms and Ammunitions required by the different branches of Indian Armed Forces.
What is Nuclear Missile Tracking Ship
A Nuclear Missile Tracking Ship is a unique kind of Vessel designed to track and monitor any long range Missile Launch within a specified range with the help of onboarded electronic Instrumentation and Radar Systems.
INS Dhruv - India's First Nuclear Missile Tracking Ship
INS Dhruv was under construction since 2014 at Hindustan Shipyard Limited(HSL) in Vishakhapatnam. Although the delivery of Ship is delayed by few months due to Covid-19 crisis but it has finally completed all its trial and tests and has now been secretly deployed into the Service. It was commissioned last year on October 2020 in a ceremony that was not made public. More on Economic Times.
Why India Need Nuclear Missile Tracking Ship
India surrounded by aggression on both sides of its neighborhood really needed a ship like this to protect its territory from Nuclear nations like China and Pakistan. This ship will provide an edge to India's tracking and monitoring capability. It will boost the India's Ballistic Missile Defence Capability and electronic warfare in Maritime domain.
Who will Operate the Ship
It will be jointly operated by the crew of National Technical Research Organization(NTRO), Defence Research and Development Organization(DRDO) and the Indian Navy.
Design and Description of Ship
The Ship has been designed in India by Vik Sandvik Design India with a cost around Rs1500 Crore. Although the Ship has been constructed on a Covered Dry Dock in Vishakhapatnam to avoid detection from Satellites but it is highly believed that it contains below components:-
- Displacement of more than 10,000 tonnes.
- Length of 175m.
- Beam of 22m
- Draught of 6m
- Max Speed of 21 Knots
- Powered by two 9000 Kilowatt CODAD Configuration Engines and three 1200 kilowatt Auxiliary Generators.
- Fitted with Primary X band and secondary S band AESA Radar.
Roles and Advantages of India's Nuclear Missile Tracking Ship
- It will be able to monitor India's Developmental Trial of Missiles of Greater Range than ever before.
- It will virtually have Unlimited range due to its ability to traverse the Oceans.
- INS Dhruva will be able to detect launches by adversaries like China and Pakistan.
- This Nuclear Missile Tracking Ship will be able to track Enemy missiles giving accurate data.