INS Arnala Inducted as India’s First Indigenous ASW Shallow Water Craft

INS Arnala Strengthens Coastal Anti-Submarine Capability

The Indian Navy has inducted INS Arnala, the first indigenously conceived Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW-SWC), marking a significant advance in domestic naval capability. The platform is tailored for operations in littoral zones, where detecting hostile submarines is technically challenging due to shallow depths and complex acoustic conditions.

Designed for Littoral Warfare Requirements

As the lead ship of a new ASW-SWC class, INS Arnala is engineered to conduct surveillance, detection and prosecution of underwater threats near India’s coastline. Shallow-water theatres often degrade conventional sonar performance, requiring specialised hull design, sensors and mission systems. The vessel’s configuration is intended to improve persistent coastal patrols and close-in maritime security.

Indigenous Development and Industrial Collaboration

The ship has been designed and constructed domestically by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers under the Ministry of Defence’s indigenous procurement framework. With indigenous content exceeding 80 percent, the programme integrates contributions from public shipyards, private vendors and numerous MSMEs supplying propulsion components, sensors and combat subsystems—demonstrating maturation of India’s defence manufacturing value chain.

Heritage-Linked Naming Convention

INS Arnala derives its name from the historic sea fort near Vasai, Maharashtra. The nomenclature follows the Navy’s convention of linking frontline platforms with maritime heritage sites, symbolically bridging legacy seafaring traditions with contemporary naval technology.

Strategic Implications for Naval Self-Reliance

The induction reinforces the Navy’s ongoing transition toward domestically built combatants, reducing external procurement dependence while expanding sovereign design expertise. As the first vessel of its series, INS Arnala establishes the baseline for subsequent shallow-water anti-submarine ships expected to augment coastal defence, sea-lane security and layered maritime domain awareness.

Exam-Focused Points

• INS Arnala is the first indigenously designed and built ASW Shallow Water Craft of the Indian Navy.

• ASW-SWC platforms are optimised for submarine detection in coastal and shallow waters .

• The project achieved over 80% indigenous content , reflecting the Aatmanirbhar Bharat defence push.

• Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) , located in Kolkata, executed construction.

• Lead ships establish the design template for follow-on vessels within a new naval class.