Overview
- INS Malvan was formally commissioned on 22 July 2026 at Karwar and is the second Mahe-class anti‑submarine warfare shallow‑water craft built by Cochin Shipyard Limited.
- The 80‑metre, roughly 1,100‑tonne vessel is fitted for littoral ASW with an RBU‑6000 rocket launcher, twin sets of triple 324 mm torpedo tubes for lightweight torpedoes, anti‑submarine mine rails, torpedo‑decoy systems, and small naval guns.
- Mahe-class ships use three marine diesel engines driving pump‑jet/water‑jet propulsion for high maneuverability in shallow waters and have a range of about 1,800 nautical miles and a top speed near 25 knots.
- Malvan is part of a 16‑ship programme—eight Mahe‑class vessels for the Western Fleet by Cochin Shipyard and eight Arnala‑class vessels for the Eastern Fleet by GRSE—with final deliveries scheduled by mid‑2028.
- The induction responds to rising submarine activity in the Indian Ocean Region from China and Pakistan and feeds into the navy’s broader modernisation that aims to grow the fleet from about 145 ships and submarines toward a larger force by 2035.