INS ''Brahmaputra'' (F31) is the lead ship of her class of

guided missile frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

s of the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

. She was built at the

Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd, abbreviated as GRSE, is one of India's leading shipyards, located in Kolkata. It builds and repairs commercial and naval vessels. GRSE also builds export ships. Founded in 1884 as a small privately ...

(GRSE), Kolkata. The design and construction of the ship is entirely Indian, and is a modification of the of frigates. It is fitted with an array of modern sensor suites and matching weapon systems. INS Brahmaputra was commissioned on 14 April 2000 by Captain Pradeep 'Billoo' Chauhan, VSM. This 3,600-tonne ship is long and can reach speeds of up to . She operates the

Westland Sea King The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engin ...

helicopter and the MATCH (Multi Role Anti Submarine Torpedo Carrying Helicopter) helicopter, which is an

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are t ...

variant of the

Chetak Chetak or Cetak is the name given in traditional literature to the horse ridden by Maharana Pratap at the Battle of Haldighati, fought on 18 June 1576 at Haldighati, in the Aravalli Mountains of Rajasthan, in western India. The story Hi ...

helicopter. ''Brahmaputra'' is the second ship of the Indian Navy named for the

River Brahmaputra The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. It i ...

. The first vessel of the name was a Type 41 that was commissioned in 1958. The symbol of ''Brahmaputra'' is 'The Raging Rhino', for the one-horned rhino native to the Brahmaputra valley.

Operations

Operation Sukoon

In July 2006, ''Brahmaputra'', under the command of Captain Kapil Gupta, was a part of Task Force 54 on its return to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

from the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, when it was turned back to assist in

Operation Sukoon Operation Sukoon (Hindi, lit ''relief'') was an operation launched by the Indian Navy to evacuate Indian, Sri Lankan and Nepalese nationals, as well as Lebanese nationals with Indian spouses, from the conflict zone during the 2006 Lebanon War. The ...

. The task force consisted of three warships and a fleet tanker which were returning from a goodwill visit and were just about to cross the Suez Canal. After the evacuation, the task force remained on station in international waters off Lebanon, monitoring the conflict and ensuring the safety of remaining Indian nationals in Lebanon. The vessels left for their home ports on 10 August 2006. during the 2006 Israeli-Lebanese conflict.

Task Force Europe 2009

During May–July 2009, ''Brahmaputra'' was a part of the Indian Navy task force on deployment to Europe. During this deployment, the task force participated in joint-exercises with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

and the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

. Exercise ''Konkan-09'' with the

, was conducted off the coast of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Exercise ''Varuna 2009'' with the

was off the coast of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Gallery

File:INS Brahmaputra Malabar 07.jpg, ''Brahmaputra'' during Exercise Malabar 2007. File:INS Brahmaputra-2.JPG, ''Brahmaputra'' departing Portsmouth Naval Base, UK, 20 June 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brahmaputra (1994) Brahmaputra-class frigates Frigates of the Indian Navy 1994 ships Ships built in India Ships built in Kolkata