Delhi-class

Summary

Description

The Delhi-class destroyers are a class of guided-missile destroyers operating in the Indian Navy. Launched under "Project 15" that began in 1980, they were intended as follow-on frigates to the Godavari class, but were later redesigned into destroyers. These vessels faced a delay in the construction phase due to the breakup of the Soviet Union, which disrupted the supply of weapon systems. Built by Mazagon Dock Limited, three ships of this class are active, and at the time of their commissioning, they were the largest warships to be built in India.

The design elements of the Delhi class take cues from the stretched Rajput class, Godavari-class frigates, and Sovremennyy-class destroyers. Featuring a unique arrangement of fore and aft funnels and equipped with two Zorya-Mashproekt M36E gas turbine plants, they are designed to operate in nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare conditions and act as command units in task groups due to their flag facilities. Some issues such as heat dissipation were resolved in later vessels with improved air conditioning facilities.

The armament of the Delhi-class includes the 9K-90 Uragan air-defence system with 9M38M1 Shtil missiles for air defence, and AK-630-based close-in weapon systems for last-ditch missile defence, with upgrades to Barak 1 missiles on two of the three ships. They feature a surface missile battery of 16 Kh-35E Uran anti-ship missiles and an AK-100 gun replaced by an OTO Melara 76 mm gun in refits during the early 2020s. Additionally, anti-submarine arms comprise SET 65E and Type 53–65 torpedoes and RBU-6000 rocket launchers, with improved submarine detection systems implemented in INS Mumbai. They also have advanced electronic warfare suites upgraded to Ellora for electronic countermeasures. Each destroyer can host two Westland Sea King Mk 42B helicopters equipped for anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare.

Recently, the class underwent modernisation which saw the inclusion of more advanced weapons like BrahMos missiles and enhanced sensors and electronic warfare systems. INS Delhi received these upgrades and successfully test-fired the BrahMos missile from its new launchers in April 2022. The destroyers are set to be re-based to Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam, with INS Mysore having moved and been under refit by December 2021.

Technical specifications