guided-missile destroyer
A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers which have a pr ...
s built for the
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...
are modified versions of
Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
s. They are also known as the Kashin-II class. The ships were built in the former Soviet Union after considerable Indian design modifications to the Kashin design. These included the replacement of the
helicopter pad
A helipad is the landing area of a heliport, in use by helicopters, powered lift, and VTOL, vertical lift aircraft to land on surface.
While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a ...
in the original design with a flight elevator, as well as major changes to the electronics and combat systems. Five units were built for export to India in the 1980s. All units are currently attached to the
Eastern Naval Command
The Eastern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The command is responsible for the all naval forces in the Bay of Bengal and parts of the Indian Ocea ...
.
Service history
The ''Rajput'' class inherited their
anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...
and
anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the 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 ar ...
roles for aircraft carrier task-force defense against submarines, low-flying aircraft, and cruise missiles from the Kashin class.
They were the first ships in the Indian Navy to deploy the
BrahMos
The BrahMos (also designated as PJ-10)SS-N-2D Styx AShM launchers in and eight cell VLS system replacing aft S-125M (NATO: SA-N-1) SAM launcher in and . ''Ranvijay'' was deployed with an updated vertical launcher for the BrahMos missile. As of 2008, the Indian Navy is planning to upgrade the propulsion of the ''Rajput''-class ships with indigenous Kaveri Marine Gas Turbine (KMGT) engine developed by Gas Turbine Research Establishment of DRDO. The engine is currently in the testing phase.
During the TROPEX-21 exercise of the
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...
, the decommissioned ''Ranjit'' was sunk by a torpedo.
was decommissioned from the service on 21 May 2021.
Armaments
Ships of the class
See also
*
List of active Indian Navy ships
The Indian Navy (IN), which is the naval warfare branch of the Indian Armed Forces, has approximately 135+ warships on active commission.
By forethought, the IN's Maritime Capability Perspective Plan (MCPP) for the period 2012–2027 had set ...