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Context

• The Defence Ministry signed four contracts worth ₹22,986 crore for acquisition of 11 Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessels (NG-OPVs) and six Next Generation Missile Vessels (NGMVs) for the Navy, and equipment and BrahMos supersonic missiles for coastal defence.

About the contract

NG-OPVs

• The contract for acquisition of 11 NG-OPVs was signed with Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata.
• Of the 11 ships, seven will be indigenously designed, developed and manufactured by GSL and four by GRSE.

Need

• The acquisition of these ships will enable the Navy to maintain its combat capability and meet various operational requirements such as anti-piracy, counter-infiltration, anti-poaching, anti-trafficking, non-combatant evacuation operations, Search and Rescue (SAR) and protection of offshore assets.

Armed vessels

• The contract for acquisition of six NGMVs was signed with Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) and delivery is scheduled to commence from March 2027.

Need

• The NGMVs would be heavily armed war vessels incorporating stealth, high speed and offensive capability.

About OPV

• A patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement.
• There are many designs for patrol boats, and they generally range in size.
• They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, police, or customs, and may be intended for marine ("blue water"), estuarine ("green water"), or river ("brown water") environments.
• Depending on the size, organization, and capabilities of a nation's armed forces, the importance of patrol boats may range from minor support vessels that are part of a coast guard, to flagships that make up a majority of a navy's fleet.
• Their small size and relatively low cost make them one of the most common naval vessels in the world

Uses

• Patrol boats are primarily used to patrol a country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), but they may also be used in other roles, such as anti-smuggling, anti-piracy, fishery patrols, immigration law enforcement, or search and rescue.

Classification

• They may be as large as a frigate or a corvette, though the term may also be used for vessels as small as a yacht or rigid inflatable boat.
• They can include fast attack craft, torpedo boats, and missile boats.
• They may be broadly classified as inshore patrol vessels (IPVs) or offshore patrol vessels (OPVs).
• OPVs are usually the smallest ship in a navy's fleet that are large and seaworthy enough to patrol off-shore in the open ocean, while IPVs are typically too small to do so and are instead kept in lakes or rivers, or close to coasts; IPVs specifically used in rivers can also be called "riverine patrol vessels".

Indian Navy

Bangaram-class patrol vessel

Car Nicobar-class patrol vessel

Saryu-class patrol vessel

Sukanya-class patrol vessel

Trinkat-class patrol vessel

Indian Coast Guard

Aadesh-class patrol vessel

Rajshree-class patrol vessel

Rani Abbakka-class patrol vessel

Samar-class offshore patrol vessel

Samarth-class offshore patrol vessel

Sankalp-class offshore patrol vessel

Sarojini Naidu-class patrol vessel

Tara Bai-class patrol vessel

Vikram-class offshore patrol vessel

Vishwast-class offshore patrol vessel

About Next Generation Missile Vessels

• They are a planned class of anti-surface warfare corvettes for the Indian Navy.
• Under this programme the Indian Navy intends to acquire six advanced missile vessels.
• Ships in this class will be armed with Anti-ship missile or Land-attack missile like BrahMos.
• Ships under this class will feature advanced stealth features like a low radar cross section (RCS), infrared, acoustic and magnetic signatures.

Description

• The range will be at least 2,800 nautical miles and speed performance will be 25 knots.
• The ships will carry eight surface-to-surface missiles, a full-fledged surface-to-air missile (SAM) system.
• The ships will also have radar and electro-optically (EO) guided close-in weapon systems (CIWS) with 360-degree anti-missile defence.

About BrahMos

• The BrahMos (designated PJ-10) is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarine, ships, aircraft, or land.
• It is the world's fastest anti-ship cruise missile in operation.

Developing Agencies:

• It is a joint venture between the Russian Federation's NPO Mashinostroyeniya and India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), who together have formed BrahMos Aerospace.
• It is the world's fastest anti-ship cruise missile in operation.

Version in use: 

• Land-launched and ship-launched versions.

Recent developments:

• In 2016, India became a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime(MTCR), India and Russia are now jointly developing a new generation of Brahmos missiles with 600 km-plus range.
• In 2019, India upgraded the missile with a new range of 500 km.

PRACTICE QUESTION Q) What do you mean by Offshore Patrol Vehicles and Next Generation Missile Vehicles? Discuss their significance in India’s defence preparedness. (250 words)

https://epaper.thehindu.com/ccidist-ws/th/th_delhi/issues/30671/OPS/G3EB28DNN.1+GNKB299EM.1.html