INS Rana (D52)

INS Rana leads the passing exercise formation
Career
Name: INS Rana
Builder: 61 Kommunara Shipbuilding Plant
Commissioned: 28 June 1982
Homeport: Visakhapatnam
Identification: Pennant number: D52
Status: in active service, as of 2015
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:Rajput class destroyer
Displacement:3,950 tons standard,
4,974 tons full load
Length:147 metres (482 ft)
Beam:15.8 metres (52 ft)
Draught:5 metres (16 ft)
Propulsion:4 x gas turbine engines; 2 shafts, 72,000 hp
Speed:35 knots (65 km/h)
Range:4,000 miles (6,400 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h)
2,600 miles (4,200 km) at 30 knots (56 km/h)
Complement:320 (including 35 officers)
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • Navigation: 2 x Volga (NATO: Don Kay) radar at I-band frequency,
  • Air: 1 x MP-500 Kliver (NATO: Big Net-A) radar at C-band or 1 x Bharat RAWL (Dutch Signaal LW08) radar at D-band (installed on INS Ranjit),
  • Air/Surface: 1 x MR-310U Angara (NATO: Head Net-C) radar at E-band, replaced by 1 x EL/M-2238 STAR[1]
  • Communication: Inmarsat,
  • Sonar: 1 x hull mounted Vycheda MG-311 (NATO: Wolf Paw) sonar replaced with Bharat HUMSA during MLR, 1 x Vyega MG-325 (NATO: Mare Tail) variable depth sonar
Armament:Anti-surface:

Air-defence:

  • 2 x S-125M (NATO: SA-N-1) SAM launchers

Guns:

Anti-submarine:

  • 1 x 533 mm PTA 533 quintuple torpedo tube launcher,
  • 2 x RBU-6000 anti-submarine mortars,
Aircraft carried:1 x HAL Chetak helicopter
For other ships of the same name, see INS Rana.

INS Rana is a Rajput-class destroyer in active service with the Indian Navy. She was commissioned on 28 June 1982.[2]

She is a redesigned Soviet Kashin-class guided missile destroyer.

Service history

INS Rana serves in the Eastern Fleet of the Indian Navy. Her home port is Visakhapatnam.

With Ranjit, she made a call at Qingdao Port, PRC in mid-April 2007.[3]

In April 2008, she visited Bangkok, Thailand with Kirpan. Later that month she visited Manila, Philippines.[4]

On 5 and 6 June 2010, she made a friendly visit to Fremantle, Australia to enhance bilateral cooperation between the Indian and Australian navies.[5]

South China Sea and the North West Pacific

The ships, as part of a battle group of 4 ships began a sustained operational deployment to the South China Sea and the North West Pacific Ocean. the other three ships were Shakti, a Deepak-class fleet tanker, Shivalik, a stealth frigate, and Karmuk, a Kora-class corvette. This battle group was under the command of Rear Admiral P Ajit Kumar, Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Naval Command. According to the Ministry of Defence, the two-month deployment, far from India's usual area of operations, along with naval exercises with a number of countries, aimed to demonstrate the Indian navy's operational reach.[6][7]

During the deployment the battle group participated in passage exercises with the navies of the countries visited. The 'passage exercises' focussed on maritime security cooperation, which included humanitarian aid & disaster relief operations and 'visit, board, search and seizure' (VBSS) drills for anti-piracy operations. These exercises aimed to increase naval inter-operability, enabling the two navies to function together smoothly during possible disaster relief operations. In addition, during the port visits, the fleet commander along with the commanding officers of the ships met high-ranking officials of the navy, state administration, port management, coastal security organization, police, and other stakeholders of maritime security in the countries visited, to share professional experiences and exchange best practices in areas of mutual interest.[6][7]

JIMEX 2012

The ship was deployed in the North West Pacific for JIMEX 2012 (Japan-India Maritime Exercise) with the four ship group, and took part in India's first bi-lateral maritime exercise with Japan. The Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) was represented by two destroyers, one maritime patrol aircraft and a helicopter.[8]

The four ships entered Tokyo on 5 June after visiting Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines and Republic of Korea. They stayed in Tokyo for 3 days. This visit coincides with commemoration of 60 years of diplomatic relations between India and Japan. Vice Admiral Anil Chopra, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command also visited Tokyo to witness the first JIMEX.[6][9][10]

Southeast Asia

After the deployment in the North Pacific, the battle group was deployed in the South China Sea.[11][12] As part of India's Look East policy, the ships visited the Shanghai port on 13 June 2012, for a five-day goodwill tour.[9][13] Shakti served as the fuel and logistics tanker to the three destroyers. The ships left the port on June 17, 2012.[14] Before leaving the port, the ships conducted routine passage exercise with the People's Liberation Army Navy.[7][15][16]

After the visits to Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, Japan, South Korea and China, the ships visited Port Klang, Malaysia. This was the last port call of the battle group, after which it returned to the Eastern fleet of the Indian Navy, after being on a two-month-long deployment which started in May 2012.[6][17][18]

References

  1. ↑ Friedman, Norman (2006). The Naval Institute guide to world naval weapon systems (5th ed. ed.). Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute. p. 243. ISBN 1557502625.
  2. ↑ "Rajput (Kashin II) Class". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
  3. ↑ "INS Rana, INS Ranjit Call On Qingdao Port in China". Indian Defence. 2007-04-23. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
  4. ↑ "INS Rana Arrives in the Philippines". Retrieved 2012-01-08.
  5. ↑ "Visit of INS Rana to Fremantle". Royal Australian Navy. Retrieved 2012-01-08.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "First bilateral maritime exercise between India and Japan" (PDF). Indian Navy Press Release. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Mohan, C Raja. "Analysis: Japanese Navy". Observer Research Foundation. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  8. ↑ "India, Japan to hold first naval exercise from today". IBN Live. 9 June 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "How Indian Navy is expanding and modernising". NDTV. June 25, 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  10. ↑ "Japanese warships call at Kochi". The Hindu. 15 June 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  11. ↑ "Warm reception to Indian naval ships in China". Zee News. June 13, 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  12. ↑ "Indian warships to dock at Chinese port". Zee News. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  13. ↑ Indian warships to dock at Chinese port after 6 yrs gap
  14. ↑ "Indian warships wrap up China visit". NDTV. 19 June 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  15. ↑ "Chinese Navy calls for trust building with India". The Hindu. June 15, 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  16. ↑ "Chinese Navy calls for trust building with India". THE WEEK IN REVIEW. IDSA. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  17. ↑ "Indian warships on goodwill tour, dock in Malaysia". NDTV. 28 June 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  18. ↑ "Indian navy ships on 4-day visit". New Straits Times. 28 June 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.