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The Indian Navy has commissioned INS Samarthak, a multi-purpose vessel built by Larsen & Toubro (L&T), marking a milestone in private-sector participation in warship construction. With more than 75 per cent indigenous content, the vessel is designed to support weapons and sensor trials, maritime surveillance, unmanned systems operations and disaster-relief missions.
Samarthak will serve as a testbed for emerging naval technologies and a platform for operating unmanned systems, including drones. Its multi-purpose design is intended to support the Navy’s evolving operational requirements while strengthening India’s indigenous defence manufacturing ecosystem.
Vice-President C. P. Radhakrishnan, who was the chief guest at the commissioning of the vessel at the naval base in Karwar, Karnataka, said that Samarthak reflected the growing strength of India’s industrial, technological, and shipbuilding capabilities. The Vice-President underscored the strategic importance of indigenously built naval platforms in enhancing maritime capabilities and enabling the Navy to undertake a wider range of operational and testing missions.
Built by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) at its Kattupalli shipyard in Tamil Nadu under the Make in India initiative, Samarthak is designed for maritime surveillance and patrol, weapons and sensor trials, unmanned systems operations and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. Its versatility is expected to help the Navy respond to an increasingly complex maritime environment and emerging non-traditional threats.
Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Krishna Swaminathan described the commissioning as a significant step towards Aatmanirbharata, highlighting the growing role of private industry in developing advanced naval platforms. He said the vessel had been designed, engineered and constructed in-house at L&T’s Warship Design Centre and shipyard.
Samarthak’s advanced dynamic positioning system will support naval trials, including the launch and recovery of targets at sea. Its endurance and ability to support other vessels will also help sustain operations across geographically dispersed areas. Heavy-towing facilities, medical infrastructure and firefighting systems add to its emergency-response capabilities.
Admiral Swaminathan stressed the need to shorten the time taken to move indigenous technologies from prototype to production, saying this was critical to preserving the Navy’s operational edge. He also called for lessons from the ship’s construction to be used to improve build quality and reduce delivery timelines for future warships.
The commissioning reinforces the Navy’s effort to deepen collaboration with private shipyards, defence public sector undertakings, the Defence Research and Development Organisation, academic institutions, MSMEs and start-ups. Samarthak is the first of four multi-purpose vessels being inducted into the Navy, strengthening the domestic industrial base while expanding the service’s capacity to test and deploy emerging maritime technologies.
Team BharatShakti
