Project 15B
Also called: Visakhapatnam-class destroyers · Topic: Transport and Communication in India · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Project 15B is an Indian Navy programme to build four stealth guided-missile destroyers in India. A destroyer is a large, fast warship that guards a fleet. "Stealth" means its shape makes it hard for enemy radar to spot. "Guided missile" means it carries missiles that steer themselves to a target. The four ships are Visakhapatnam, Mormugao, Imphal and Surat, so they are also called the Visakhapatnam-class destroyers. Each ship is named after an Indian city. The programme matters because it shows India building complex warships at home and cutting its dependence on imports.
Example
INS Surat (Yard 12707) is the fourth and last Project 15B ship. It was commissioned on 15 January 2025 at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai, on India's west coast. It weighs about 7,400 tons, is 164 m long and has 75% indigenous content, which means three-quarters of it was made in India. It carries surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles and torpedoes.
Don't confuse with
- INS Udaygiri: it was launched together with Surat, but it is a stealth frigate. A frigate is a smaller escort warship, not a destroyer.
- INS Nilgiri and INS Vaghsheer: they were commissioned on the same day as Surat, but they are not Project 15B ships. Vaghsheer is a submarine.