"The induction of indigenously built auxiliary and support vessels is as important to naval capability as frontline combatants." Discuss with recent examples.

Naval power needs warships that fight and support ships that train, test, sustain and rescue them. The Navy is set to commission Samarthak, its first Multi-Purpose Vessel (MPV), at Karwar in October 2026 [1]. Larsen & Toubro (L&T) built it in India. Samarthak shows that this support base is now being built at home and that it supports combat power. It does not replace that power.

Why support vessels matter

• Freeing combatants: MPVs tow ships, launch and recover torpedoes, and operate aerial, surface and underwater targets for gunnery and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) drills [2]. Without them, frontline warships would be tied up doing this work.
• Speeding up indigenisation: Samarthak is also a trials platform for Indian weapons and sensors still being developed [3]. The CAG found that weapons and sensors arriving late were a main cause of warship delays [4].
• Future warfare: it can serve as a mothership for unmanned systems [1].
• Constabulary work and HADR: it can do surveillance, low-intensity maritime operations and firefighting and salvage, and it can become a limited hospital ship [1]. This supports India's role as "First Responder" in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
• Industrial base: the order went to private yard L&T under "Buy (Indian)", at ₹887 crore for two ships [2]. The major machinery came from Indian makers [3]. The sister ship Utkarsh was launched in January 2025 [5].

Limits of the claim

• Deterrence still rests on destroyers, submarines and carriers. Support ships add to combat power but cannot replace it.
• Support ships are simpler to build; Samarthak's top speed is 15 knots [3]. Delivering one on time does not show a yard can build complex warships. The CAG found that the first ships of warship classes came four to five years late [4].
• Delays persist even here. Deliveries were planned to start in May 2025 [2], but commissioning comes only in October 2026 [1]. The Standing Committee on Defence also noted that private yards are short of money and design expertise [6].

Support ships and combatants are two halves of one capability: support ships keep training, testing and supply going, and that makes combatants effective. India should plan both together. It should order follow-on support ships under the Buy (Indian-IDDM) category, use fixed-cost contracts with delay penalties [6], and let private yards build experience. This would help a self-reliant (Aatmanirbhar) Navy act as the IOR's net security provider.