| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | INS Airavat[1] |
| Namesake: | Indra's mount |
| Builder: | Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers |
| Yard number: | Yard 3016[2] |
| Commissioned: | 19 May 2009 |
| Homeport: | Visakhapatnam |
| Status: | Active |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Shardul class landing ship[3] |
| Displacement: | 5650 tons |
| Length: | 125 m |
| Beam: | 17.5 m |
| Draft: | 4 m |
| Propulsion: | Kirloskar PA6 STC engines |
| Speed: | 16 knots |
| Capacity: | 11 MBT 10 infantry trucks or APC 500 troops |
| Troops: | 500 |
| Complement: | 11 officers, 145 sailors |
| Electronic warfare and decoys: |
Chaff launchers |
| Armament: | 2 x WM-18 rocket launchers 4 x CRN-91 AA (Naval 30mm Medak) guns, MANPAD's shoulder-launched IGLA SAMs |
| Aircraft carried: | 1 Westland Sea King or HAL Dhruv[4] |
INS Airavat (L24) is the third Shardul class amphibious warfare vessel of the Indian Navy.
INS Airavat was built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers in Kolkata as Yard 3016.[2] She began sea trials in July 2008 after completing basin trials in May. She was commissioned at the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam on 19 May 2009, by the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sureesh Mehta. She is named for the mount of god Indra, the elephant Airavata, as mentioned in the Rigveda.[5]
Safety features aboard the Airavat include anti-roll Flume Stabilisation System, smoke curtains to impede spreading of smoke and toxic gases in case of fire, as well as battle damage control systems. Fully loaded, she can operate independently at high seas for up to 45 days.[4]
While primarily designed for amphibious assault operations, Airavat's missions also include Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief (HADR) during natural disasters, including tsunamis, cyclones, earthquakes, etc. She has a full-functioning hospital on-board and can provide stern refueling for other naval vessels.
Primary suppliers for her equipment are Bharat Electronics Limited, Kirloskar, Larsen & Toubro, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Keltron and the Godrej Group.
On 11 July 2011, INS Airavat made a goodwill visit to Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Between 19 and 28 July 2011, she made courtesy calls at Nha Trang and Hai Phong in Vietnam.[6][7]
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