Project 28 ASW Corvette
The modernization program includes a new antisubmarine warfare corvette. In late December 2003, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers was developing a new corvette design that will follow the Kora-class, of which the fourth and final unit (Karmukh) was commissioned in 2004. The new corvette will displace about 2,400 tons full loaded, in the size-class of a modern frigate. With the design currently under development, plate-cutting has started on the first in 2005 and up to eight units of the class could eventually be built.
The 2nd International Naval & Defence Show (IMDS-2005) held in St Petersburg provided new information on the Project 28 (P-28) ASW corvette to be designed and built by GSRE. The Russian Severnoye Design Bureau confirmed that the P-28 will be derived from from the Russian Project 20382 design. The platform will be Russian, and most major systems will be Indian.
The P-28 will displace 1,800 tons light, are 94 m in length, 13m in beam, and 3.5 m in draft. The CODAG propulsion system, comprising twin gas turbines, twin diesel engines and twin diesel generators will drive two-shaft, controllable-pitch propellers. The corvette will have a maximum speed of 27 Knots, range of 4,000nm, endurance of 15 days and a crew compliment of 85. The helicopter deck will be able to house either the dipping sonar-equipped Ka-28PL or Naval HAL Dhruv.
Armaments will consist of an eight-cell vertical launched Klub-N 220km-range supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles, an OTOBreda 76/62 main gun, twin 12-barrelled RBU-6000 ASW mortar launchers, twin ILAS triple-tube torpedo launchers for launching Franco-Italian MU-90 lightweight torpedoes, and one 16-cell Israeli Barak-1 VLS anti-missile defence system. The Barak Weapon System seems to be the favored missile, over the Shtil, in newer IN ships.
