India's first nuke tracking ship ready for sail

- It got delayed due to the long spell of the pandemic

- The ship has a displacement capacity of over 10,000 tonnes

- Its long deck facilitates for landing and take-off of helicopters

- Equipped with advanced antennas, sensors, communication systems and e-intelligence systems, INS Dhruv will help India strategically in the backdrop of China's growing presence in the Indo-Pacific and the Indian Ocean Region

India enters the elite club of having a nuclear missile tracking ship after US, China, Russia and France

Visakhapatnam: IN yet another feather in its cap to the port city of Visakhapatnam after building India's first nuclear powered submarine INS Arihant at Ship Building Centre in 2013, the stage is set for commissioning of satellite and nuclear missile tracking ship INS Dhruv, built at Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL).

India's first nuclear missile tracking ship with ultra-modern communication gadgets and electronic intelligence system will be a big boon to the strategic ballistic missile programme. The ship got its name INS Dhruv after it was described for all technical purposes by the HSL executives and workforce as VC-11184 due to utmost secrecy attached to the project. HSL was given the project in 2013 and the hull for the ship was laid without any publicity in 2014. The entire construction from hull-laying till it was handed over in October, 2020, to the Navy after subjecting it to rigorous sea trials, was monitored jointly by the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Navy.

Even till today, the amount spent on the shipbuilding and its features have been kept confidential due to strategic reasons. A defence source told Bizz Buzz that though there are reports that it will be commissioned on September 10 by the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on September 10, there is no confirmation to this effect till date.

The commissioning of the ship will put India in the elite club of having a nuclear missile tracking ship, designed and built indigenously under the 'Make in India' initiative, Only United States, China, Russia and France are said to be having such a vessel. HSL, which built the ship, is under the Ministry of Defence.

The Ship Building Centre is located close to HSL and Naval Dockyard. Sources said there is some delay in official induction of INS Dhruv due to the long spell of the pandemic. The ship with a displacement capacity of over 10,000 tonnes, a long deck for landing and take-off of helicopters, advanced antennas, sensors, communication systems and e-intelligence systems will help India strategically in the backdrop of China's growing presence in the Indo-Pacific and the Indian Ocean Region.

Visakhapatnam has assumed significance in the Eastern Seaboard due to location of Eastern Naval Command headquarters, development of a futuristic naval base at Rambilli, establishment of a centre by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) at Atchutapuram, the first outside Trombay, existence of Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) under the government sector and Gangavaram Port in the private sector, the torpedo development centre by Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL), INS Kalinga, the unit for training of Marine Commandos (Marcos) and Naval Science & Technological Lab (a unit of DRDO).