Why INS Vajrakosh's commissioning is BIG deal

Spread out over 1000 acres, INS Vajrakosh, Indian Navy’s latest establishment which was commissioned by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday, would be the home base for a bulk of the Indian Navy's strength on the western coast.

Here are some facts you should know about INS Vajrakosh:

* Constructed by DRDO at the most strategic location in the West Coast, the naval missile base will store the long-range BrahMos missiles and armaments.

* Naval units operating out of Karwar are required to be equipped with specialised armaments and missiles. These sophisticated missiles and ammunition require special storage facility and specialised servicing facilities. INS Vajrakosh will have all the required infrastructure and is manned by specialists to meet these requirements.

* The commissioning of INS Vajrakosh, the third naval establishment commissioned in Karwar, will allow the Navy to further bolster the offensive and defensive capabilities of its platforms.

* Along with INS Kadamba that was commissioned in 2005, Vajrakosh will make for one of the largest military bases complete with two airstrips, submarine pens, a ship repair yard, a dry dock, jetties for two aircraft carriers and 50 warships. INS Kadamba has the only shiplift in the country -- a giant platform that can lift ships up to 6,500 tonnes (all warships of the Indian Navy barring the aircraft carriers) and place them in a drydock.

* Vajrakosh is part of "Project Seabird", conceived by the then navy chief, Admiral Oscar Dawson, in 1985 to de-congest Mumbai harbour and locate a naval base beyond the range of Pakistani fighter aircraft. The navy chose the location for the natural defences the hills give it. Submarine pens -- covered shelters for submarines that make them difficult to detect -- are likely to be bored into the hillsides.

* INS Vajrakosh will also have a naval air station that will base the Boeing P-8i, an advanced maritime surveillance aircraft that is known as 'Poseidon'. The facility will also feature a helicopter base.

* A similar base is in the works on the east coast. Called "Project Varsha", the navy plans to base most of its assets for the eastern seaboard a few kilometres south of Visakhapatnam, which is currently the headquarters of the Eastern Naval Command. Project Varsha involves the resurrection of a Second World War airstrip built by the Americans at Rambili.

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Image: Defence Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar tweeted this photograph of INS Vajrakosh