The Indian Navy received its first indigenous multi-purpose vessel, Samarthak, from Larsen & Toubro at its Kattupalli shipbuilding yard. An indigenous content of 75% indigenous content, marking the next step in India’s initiative to build naval warships indigenously. It was built with features to fulfil various requirements, such as surveillance, maritime patrol, and participation in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) activities. Furthermore, the vessel can successfully carry out launching and recovering of naval targets, use automated systems, and evaluate naval weapons, sensors, etc.
This inherent flexibility should provide the capability for the Navy to employ the ship in an operational role in addition to its testing and evaluation capacity. These vessels are critical because new underwater systems and other unmanned vehicles and new radars and weapons need to be rigorously tested in the natural sea environment before they are widely deployed into operations. The ship was built under a contract for two Multi-Purpose Vessels and demonstrates enhanced cooperation between the Indian Navy and private shipbuilding. Its induction proves the increasing capabilities of Indian companies in designing and building advanced, technically complex naval platforms.
