Does Indian Navy's latest warship INS Arnala have an Israeli-origin gun system?

The Indian Navy, on Wednesday, commissioned INS Arnala, the first warship in the anti-submarine warfare shallow water craft (ASW SWC) designed to conduct subsurface surveillance, search and rescue missions and low-intensity maritime operations.

 

The 77-metre-long warship, with a gross tonnage of over 1490 tonnes, is the largest Indian naval warship to be propelled by a diesel engine-waterjet combination.  

 

The warship is reportedly equipped with an Israeli-origin Naval Surface Gun (30mm). India is not directly acquiring the 30mm Naval Surface Gun as a finished product from Elbit Systems, but the company serves as a technology and production partner.

 

A few weeks ago, the makers of the warship, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd. (GRSE)  announced that it had completed acceptance firing trials of the indigenous Naval Surface Gun using a sophisticated indigenous electro-optical fire control system.

 

The trials were conducted onboard one of the ASW SWC. 

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The company had then thanked the Israeli manufacturer of the naval gun, Elbit Systems. "This significant achievement has been made possible with a very strong tie-up between GRSE and BHSEL (Hyd) as well as Elbit Systems Land, who are the technology and production partners for the Gun project," GRSE had said.

 

The gun systems has 60 per cent indigenous content.

 

The gun has undergone rigorous quality checks in the factory prior to extensive sea trials with firing on live targets, the company said, adding, that the gun system is highly accurate and reliable and will be "an extremely potent addition to the Indian Navy's inventory of technologically superior weapon systems."

 

According to Elbit Systems, the 30mm Naval Surface Gun is a "configurable naval weapons station, adding effective firepower to a wide variety of naval platforms including fast patrol, frigates and missile boats."

 

While GRSE is yet to reveal the specifications of the gun system, according to Elbit Systems, the maximum effective range (MER) of the gun and ammunition is 3km and it has a ROF (rate of fire) of 200 rounds per minute. 

 

Defence