Fifth anti-submarine shallow water craft 'Amini' delivered to Navy

9 November 2026 · English Defence

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Current affairs of 9 November 2026 (Shanmugam IAS Academy) – explained for UPSC, TNPSC and other competitive exams

News

'Amini', an Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW SWC) designed and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata, was delivered to the Indian Navy at Kattupalli, Tamil Nadu, on 5 November 2026. Rear Admiral Gautam Marwaha, Chief Staff Officer (Technical), Eastern Naval Command, accepted the vessel. It is the fifth of eight ASW SWCs being built by GRSE, and GRSE's 119th warship (81st for the Navy). About 77.6 m long with a draught of about 2.7 m, it runs on diesel engines coupled to waterjets. It carries lightweight torpedoes, indigenous ASW rockets, sonars, a combat management system and a GRSE-made 30 mm naval surface gun, and can also lay mines. It has over 80% indigenous content and is named after Amini Island in Lakshadweep. It revives the name of the earlier INS Amini, a Petya-class anti-submarine corvette decommissioned in 2002.

Key facts for the exam

Background

• Defence: ASW SWCs are built to detect and attack submarines in shallow coastal waters, and for coastal surveillance, search and rescue and mine-laying. In 2019 contracts were signed for 16 craft – 8 with GRSE and 8 with Cochin Shipyard (CSL). Hull construction and part-outfitting of 4 of GRSE's 8 were subcontracted to L&T Shipbuilding; Amini is one of them.
• The first of the class, INS Arnala, was commissioned at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam, on 18 June 2025 in the presence of CDS Gen Anil Chauhan. It is named after the historic Arnala sea fort off the Maharashtra coast. These are the largest Indian naval warships driven by a diesel engine–waterjet combination.
• Geography: Lakshadweep is a Union Territory of coral islands in the Arabian Sea (capital Kavaratti). The Amindivi group (Amini, Kadmat, Kiltan, Chetlat, Bitra) is in the north, the Laccadives in the middle and Minicoy in the south. The Nine Degree Channel separates Minicoy from the other islands and the Eight Degree Channel separates Minicoy from the Maldives. Many Navy ships are named after these islands.
• Science: Because radio and other electromagnetic waves are quickly absorbed in water, submarines are detected by SONAR (Sound Navigation and Ranging), which uses echoes of sound (ultrasonic) waves. Bats and dolphins use the same principle of echolocation.

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Sources: News On AIR; ThePrint (PTI); Swarajya; Maritime Gateway; Devdiscourse (PTI); PIB (Arnala, 18.06.2025, mirror). Compiled by Shanmugam IAS Academy.

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