The second of the Project 15B stealth-guided missile destroyers built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL), INS Mormugao (Pennant D67), was commissioned into the Indian Navy on Sunday. The ship, named after a key port in Goa, was commissioned a day before the Goa Liberation Day celebrations.
Project 15B
Over the last decade, the Indian Navy has commissioned three guided missile destroyers of the Kolkata class — INS Kolkata, INS Kochi, and INS Chennai — under the project codenamed 15A. These ships were a step ahead of their precursor Delhi class of ships — INS Delhi, INS Mysore, and INS Mumbai.
All these ships were built by MDSL, one of the country’s most important Defence PSUs. A ship ‘class’ describes a group of vessels of similar tonnage, usage, capabilities, and weaponry.
The contract for four guided missile destroyers more advanced than the Kolkata class was signed in January 2011. This was Project 15B, and the lead ship, INS Visakhapatnam (Pennant D66) was commissioned into the Navy in November 2021.