MUMBAI, OCTOBER 18: The Indian Navy's finest warship frigate, `Raging Rhino'INS Brahmaputra, is expected to be fitted with the deadly surface-to-air missile Trishul by the time the ship joins the International Fleet Review in Mumbai, in February next year.INS Brahmaputra already has got a strike power of 16 `URAN' tactical guided missiles of over 100 km range, along with a super rapid-fire gun. It's radar systems and anti-submarine torpedoes have `Made in India' stamped all over it.``The Trishul is which is expected to be fitted to the warship as soon as it is tested, will pack the INS Brahmaputra with an extra punch living up to her image of being a raging rhino in the blue waters,'' remarked Captain Pradeep Chauhan of INS Brahmaputra.Captain Chauhan added that it is a matter of pride that the warship, which was commissioned in April this year, has been fully made in India. ``In a war situation, the frigate (which is relatively smaller than a Destroyer Class Warship) specialises in independent anti-submarine surveillance of the sea,'' informed the skipper who has over 26 years of experience in the Navy.The ship's Gunnery Officer, Lieutenant Commander G S Oberoi, further remarked: ``Apart from submarine warfare, any threat from the skies in the form of enemy aircraft and missiles is dealt with INS Brahmaputra's multi-layered anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems. Our frigate already has 76 mm super-rapid gun mount and four multi-barrelled 30 mm guns that consitute her close-in weapon system.''INS Brahmaputra is propelled by twin steam turbines and can sustain speeds in excess of 30 knots. Built for extended `blue-water' naval operations, she is capable of covering over 5,000 nautical miles without replenishment. Moreover, while at sea, the warship is geared to embark fuel, water provisions, ammunition, and general stores from fleet replenishment tankers such as INS Shakti,INS Jyoti and the recently commissioned INS Aditya.This capability of underway replenishment is a feature common to all frontline warships of the Indian Navy and is what provides the navy with the strategic `reach'.All her sensors are greatly augmented by the two large, multimission capable 10 tonne `Seaking' helicopters that she carries. Each helicopter itself boasts of a very significant sensor-cum-weapon capability, inclusive of radar, sonar and an advanced electronic warface suite.The 400-feet-long INS Brahmputra is named after one of India's most powerful rivers, the 2,900 km long Brahmaputra.
