INS Rajput sails into the sunset
-Admin Alpha Mariner
On 21st May, 2021 INS Rajput was decommissioned from the Indian Navy after 41 years of her service. A lead ship of the Rajput class, she was commissioned on 4th May 1980 with Commodore (later Vice Admiral) Gulab Mohanlal Hiranandani as her CO. She is a Soviet design built by 61 Kommunara Shipbuilding plant.
INS Rajput in brief
With a standard displacement of 3950 tons, INS Rajput has a length of 142 m, a beam of 15.8 m and draught of 5m. From a naval architect’s perspective, she had a pretty good L/B of ~9 and a B/T of ~3.16. She is powered by 4 gas turbines producing 54 MW of total power and with 2 propellers driving it. It reaches a maximum speed of 35 knots and can have range of 6400 km at 18 knots.
It was complemented by 320 crew including 35 officers. For navigation, it has 2 Volga I-band frequency radar whereas for air surveillance it has MP-500 Kilver radar at C-band. It also has EL/M-2238 STAR for E-band. For communications, it has Inmarsat. She has Bharat HUMSA sonar and a Vyega MG-325 variable depth sonar.
INS Rajput was a very capable destroyer that fulfilled both anti-aircraft and anti-submarine roles completely.
-Alpha Defense
She is equipped with 4 Brahmos supersonic anti ship missiles, 2 SS-N-2D Styx anti ship missiles, 1 Dhanush baliistic missile. For air defence she is equipped with 2 S-125M SAM launchers, 2 76.2 mm main gun, 4 30 mm AK-230 CIWS. For sub surface warfare, she has 533 mm PTA quintuple torpedo tube launcher and 2 RBU-6000 anti-submarine mortars. INS Rajput carried a HAL chetak helicopter.
Key Services of INS Rajput
- She served as a trial platform during the Brahmos missile tests.
- She tracked the Dhanush ballistic missile during a successful test in 2005.
- She also served as trial platform for a new variant of Prithvi-3 missile in March 2007.
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