Overview
- The Indian Navy formally commissioned INS Samarthak at Karwar, which was inducted on Friday, October 16, 2026, as the lead ship of a new multi‑purpose vessel class built by Larsen & Toubro.
- The vessel was designed and constructed at L&T’s Warship Design Centre and Kattupalli shipyard and the Defence Ministry and Navy say it carries more than 75 percent indigenous content.
- Samarthak is built as a trials‑and‑evaluation platform and mothership for unmanned aerial, surface and subsurface systems and will be used to launch and recover targets for weapons and sensor tests.
- Reported technical details list a displacement of about 3,700–3,750 tonnes, a length near 106–107 metres, a top speed of about 15 knots and a Dynamic Positioning System for precise station-keeping during complex operations.
- The ship is the first of two MPVs ordered under a reported Rs 887 crore contract; the sister ship INS Utkarsh is currently in sea trials and the Navy has said lessons on build quality and construction timelines should inform future private‑sector projects.