Car Nicobar T 69 16 Feb 2009

                                   INS Car Nicobar  T 69 16 Feb 2009

The INS Car Nicobar Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC) are an improved version of the Fast Attack Craft with a speed in excess of 35 knots, designed in-house by GRSE. India's vast coastline an island territories demand extensive patrolling and monitoring and WJFAC were the best suited for the purpose. These ships are extremely useful for patrolling especially in coastal waters in the island territory of Andaman Nicobar and Lakshadweep, as well as in areas like the sea-lanes between India and Sri Lanka.

The war vessels are fitted with state-of-the-art main engine control, electronic, communication and navigation system. They have very high speed and long endurance. The ships are fitted with CRN-91 Gun along with sensors. The modified aluminium superstructure would reduce radar cross section and provide improved habitability with fully air-conditioned modular type accommodation. It was capable of covering a distance of upto 20,000 nautical miles and of patrol and rescue operations at sea. The water jet unit of the ship was powered by three engines developing 8160KW of propulsion power to achieve a speed of 35 knots.

The state-of-the-art war vessels are designed by the engineers of the Garden Reach shipyard. The engineering division of GRSE supplied the mooring capstan, anchor capstan, ammunition and boat davits fitted in these kind of naval ships. The main engine of the war vessels were manufactured by the engine division at Ranchi, under licence agreement with a Germany-based company. The ships have reserve osmosis plants for fresh water generation and sewage treatment plants to comply with International Maritime Organisation regulations and provided with improved habitability. The war vessels are fitted with mounted guns and machine guns and have a capacity to carry 100 naval officers.

The Water Jets of these ships are coupled with latest generation MTU 16V 4000 M90 engines with a combined propulsion power of 8160KW. The modified Aluminium superstructure of the vessels, reduces their Radar Cross Sections (RCS) and also provides improved habitability. A Reverse Osmosis (RO) Plants allow for fresh water generation increasing vessel endurance while the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) complies with the latest International Maritime Organisation (IMO) regulations on sea pollution. The armament includes the 30mm CRN-91 Gun along with sensors manufactured by Ordnance Factory, Medak. The ships are equipped with IGLA missiles, SLRs, HMGs and LMG/MMG in their armament fit. These features are an up-dation over ships of the previous class and the current version of design is comparable with similar ships, built across the world.

As of mid-2005 Indian Navy was expected to place order for 10 fast attack craft. The Navy was waiting for the government's approval for placing order 10 fast attack craft, each costing in the tune of Rs 50 crore. The fast attack craft would be placed in the east and west corridor primarily to provide local defence and coastal patrolling,

The entire series of the war vessels would be named after the islands of Andaman and Nicobar Islands as decided by the Indian Navy. It took two years to complete the first two vessels of the series. The first one, "Car Nicobar" was launched on 23 November 2007. An improved version and the second of the series of ten Water Jet Fast Attack Craft was launched at the Garden Reach Ship Builders and Engineers. The craft, named after one of the islands of Lakshadweep, Chetlat, was launched 27 November 2007 by Beena Suthan, wife of Vice Admiral R P Suthan.

The first two ships in this series, INS Car Nicobar and INS Chetlat, which were launched in November 2007, were later fitting-out and were scheduled to be commissioned in the navy from November 2008. Car Nicobar is the headquarters of Nicobar District. It is a flat fertile island covered with cluster of coconut palms and enchanting beaches with a roaring sea all around. The Nicobari huts, built on stilts having entrance through floor with a wooden, ladder, are unique to this island. 16 hrs. journey by sea from Port Blair.

Indian navy added two new warships to its fleet in July 2008. The INS Cinque (T71) and INS Cheriyam (T72) were launched by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE) at the Khidderpore docks. The warships were the first part of the 10-ship series, each costing 500 million rupees, to be delivered to the Navy by October 2010. INS Cinque was named after a pristine Island sanctuary in the Andamans and INS Chariyam was named after an Islet in Lakshadweep.

On 16 February 2009, the Indian Navy commissioned two ships, INS Carnicobar & INS Chetlat on the same day. These were the first two in a series of ten Water Jet fast attack ships being built at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata. The ships were commissioned at Chennai by the Hon'ble Governor of Tamil Nadu, Shri Surjit Singh Barnala and are the first ever water jet propelled ships of the Indian Navy. The commissioning marked another step in the direction of indigenisation of the Navy's ship building efforts. These fast attack crafts are named after pristine islands located in the Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep respectively and will be based at Chennai thereby strengthening coastal security of the region. These fast attack crafts are most suited for interception of fast moving surface crafts apart from performing anti smuggling, fisheries protection, as well as search and rescue operations