Indian Navy Commissions INS Dunagiri, INS Sanshodhak and INS Agray: Three Indigenous Warships Strengthening India’s Maritime Power
In a significant boost to India’s maritime capabilities, the Indian Navy on June 21 inducted three indigenously built vessels that are designed to perform distinctly different yet complementary roles at sea.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the commissioning ceremony in Kolkata, marking another milestone in the Navy’s ongoing modernisation drive and the country’s push towards self-reliance in defence manufacturing.
The newly commissioned ships—INS Dunagiri, INS Sanshodhak and INS Agray—have all been constructed by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) in Kolkata.
Collectively, the three vessels contain more than 75 per cent indigenous components and have been developed with the participation of over 200 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Their induction underlines the growing sophistication of India’s naval shipbuilding ecosystem and its expanding domestic defence industrial base.
INS Dunagiri: A Powerful Stealth Frigate for Blue-Water Operations
The largest and most heavily armed among the three vessels is INS Dunagiri, a modern guided-missile stealth frigate.
Although frigates are generally smaller than destroyers, they are sufficiently large and versatile to undertake prolonged operations far from India’s coastline and across deep oceans.
INS Dunagiri is part of Project 17A, the Indian Navy’s ambitious programme aimed at developing a new generation of stealth-guided missile frigates.
In naval terminology, stealth does not imply complete invisibility. Rather, it refers to technologies and design features that significantly reduce a ship’s detectability by enemy radars and sensors.
The warship is equipped with an impressive arsenal, including BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, a Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM) system, advanced Multi-Function Surveillance, Track and Guidance Radar (MFSTAR), sophisticated sonar systems, electronic warfare suites and anti-submarine weapons.
According to naval officers, these multi-role frigates are designed to operate in blue-water environments, enabling them to confront both conventional military threats and emerging non-traditional security challenges.
INS Dunagiri joins other Project 17A frigates, including INS Nilgiri, INS Himgiri, INS Taragiri, INS Udaygiri and INS Vindhyagiri.
INS Sanshodhak: Mapping the Seas and Enhancing Maritime Awareness
INS Sanshodhak belongs to the Survey Vessel Large (SVL) category and serves a fundamentally different purpose. Rather than engaging in combat, its primary role is to explore, measure and chart the maritime environment.
The vessel is tasked with collecting critical information on water depths, seabed contours, navigational channels, coastal approaches and oceanographic conditions.
To accomplish these missions, it is fitted with cutting-edge technologies such as autonomous underwater vehicles, remotely operated vehicles and multi-beam echo sounders, which enable it to gather detailed information both above and beneath the ocean surface.
Naval experts point out that warships and submarines do not navigate through featureless expanses of water.
They operate in highly complex maritime environments shaped by underwater terrain, currents, reefs, ports, channels and coastal formations.
A comprehensive understanding of these factors is indispensable for safe navigation, operational planning and effective maritime missions.
The information collected by survey ships also has substantial civilian applications.
Updated nautical charts facilitate commercial shipping, support disaster management efforts, aid scientific research and contribute to coastal development initiatives.
INS Sanshodhak is the fourth and final vessel in the Sandhayak-class of Survey Vessel Large programme.
The contract for constructing four such vessels was signed in October 2018. Its sister ships—INS Sandhayak, INS Nirdeshak and INS Ikshak—were commissioned in February 2024, December 2024 and November 2025, respectively.
INS Agray: A Specialist Coastal Submarine Hunter
The smallest of the three newly commissioned vessels is INS Agray, but its role is highly specialised and strategically vital.
Designed specifically for anti-submarine warfare in shallow waters, the ship is tasked with detecting and neutralising underwater threats operating near India’s coastline.
INS Agray belongs to the Arnala-class of Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW-SWC).
These compact warships are purpose-built to safeguard coastal regions, ports, naval installations and strategically important maritime approaches from hostile submarine activities.
The vessel carries lightweight torpedoes, indigenous anti-submarine rocket launchers and advanced sonar systems capable of locating and tracking submarines in challenging coastal environments.
Naval officers explain that littoral or near-shore waters are among the most difficult environments for anti-submarine operations.
The presence of fishing vessels, commercial shipping traffic, underwater terrain features and other coastal activities generates substantial acoustic interference, making submarine detection extremely complicated.
Specialised platforms such as INS Agray are therefore indispensable for maintaining robust coastal security.
This capability assumes even greater importance because submarines remain among the most elusive and difficult military platforms to detect and track.
A Strategic Message Beyond the Commissioning Ceremony
The simultaneous induction of these three vessels carries significance beyond simply adding new ships to the Navy’s inventory.
Together, they represent a carefully balanced approach to capability development by strengthening long-range maritime operations, improving maritime domain awareness and enhancing coastal defence mechanisms.
The Indian Ocean region has become increasingly competitive, with both China and Pakistan steadily expanding their naval footprints.
Simultaneously, India’s maritime responsibilities now extend across the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, island territories and the broader Indo-Pacific region.
Against this backdrop, the commissioning of INS Dunagiri, INS Sanshodhak and INS Agray demonstrates the Indian Navy’s layered force development strategy.
The approach combines large, heavily armed warships capable of operating in distant oceans, sophisticated survey vessels that improve understanding of the maritime environment, and agile coastal platforms dedicated to protecting India’s shores from underwater threats.
The commissioning also sends a powerful industrial message.
The fact that three technologically distinct ships with entirely different operational roles have been designed, constructed and commissioned together in India reflects the remarkable progress of the country’s indigenous shipbuilding capabilities.
It highlights India’s growing confidence in producing complex naval platforms domestically and reinforces its long-term vision of achieving self-reliance in defence manufacturing.
