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INS DHRUV: INDIA’s EYE IN THE INDIAN OCEAN

 INS Dhruv - India's First Indigenous Nuclear Missile Tracking Ship


Indian Navy secretly commissioned a huge high-tech surveillance ship. The vessel formerly only known by the code designation VC-11184 is now designated INS Dhruv.

With this, India has joined the elite club of nations that has this kind of ship - till now the United States, France, Russia, and China — possessed such ship.According to the reports, the ship would be  operated by India’s technical intelligence agency  NTRO (National Technical Research Organization),  

the DRDO (Defense Research and evelopment Organization), and the Indian Navy.The involvement of NTRO, which is a top-tier intelligence-gathering organization indicates that INS Druv has clandestine roles to play.


INS Dhruv was was laid down June 2014 under a covered drydock in Visakhapatnam by government-owned Hindustan Shipyards Limited. It is thought to be delivered in 2018 and  

completed sea trials the year after. The ship has length of 175 meters which is almost as long as two football fields and has a displacement of 15,000 tonnes.It will have a crew complement of 300 personnel .It is powered by two imported 9,000 kilowatt combined diesel and diesel  (CODAD) configuration engines  and three auxiliary generators.

The ship has no weapons and will most  likely be escorted by Indian Navy warships  incase any threat is perceived. 

It has the provision to carry  a single utility helicopter.

INS Dhruv's main components are the  sensors fitted in the huge radar domes.The ship will be fitted with a primary  X band and a secondary S band radar.The X band class of sensors is used for focused, precision scans while S band  is useful for larger coverage.Both are reportedly  AESA or Active  Electronically Scanned Array systems, the most sophisticated type  of radar in use currently.AESA systems tend to have  to higher resolution, are jam resistance and have the capability  to  tracks multiple targets simultaneously.

Interestingly as per reports, the sensors are so powerful that the ship's three auxiliary power generators which  generate 14 MW are devoted to operate them.

As per some reports, ISRO or Indian Space Research Organization is involved in developing these sensors and the S band one is actually a variant of one ISRO uses.

There is no publicly available data regarding their performance but it’s safe to assume these sensor  will be some of the best in the world.

INS Dhruv is thought to be capable of performing many different types of roles.


  1.  It is expected serve as a missile test instrumentation ship. That means  

it sensors would be used to collect data from tests of India’s land-based and  

submarine-launched ballistic missiles. In this context it is to be noted that India  

is continuing to develop long range weapons.


  1.   The ship will also most likely be used for  

ELINT that is Electronic Intelligence and will monitor movements of ships and aircraft in the  

water surrounding the Indian subcontinent. This is getting important since China is trying to  

increase its presence in the Indian Ocean region. 


  1.  

This could be prime one. INS Dhruv would  

be used as part of the India's ballistic missile defense system. Viewers nay note  

that India has a homegrown two-layer BMD (Ballistic Missile Defense). 

The two-tiered BMD System consists of the PAD (Prithvi Air Defense), which will intercept missiles at exo-atmospheric altitudes of 50 to 80 km or 31 to 50 mi,  

and the AAD (Advanced Air Defense) missile for an interception at endo-atmospheric altitudes of up to 30 km or 19 mi. As of now New Delhi & Mumbai are thought to be protected by this system.  


Currently, India uses huge Swordfish surveillance radars  

to acquire tracking data and going forward INS Dhruv's sensors will complement this. INS Dhruv could provide early warning, improve the tracking accuracy of incoming missile  

and also help guide interceptor missiles towards their target.

No ship can remain in the waters indefinitely and INS Dhruv will also need periodic maintenance, upgrades. So, early warning coverage will not be possible with only one ship. The Indian strategic establishment seems to have taken this into consideration and a smaller 118 m long surveillance vessel  

having similar role is reportedly under construction at the Cochin shipyard.Secondly, since INS Dhruv has  no weapons , it is vulnerable. The fact that it will continuously emits radar waves from its powerful sensors, it will be even easier to detect. Long range Anti-Radiation missile will find it easy to home in on the ship apart from other weapons.To mitigate this  

India Navy will need to the provide escorts for anti-air and anti-submarine defense. INS Dhruv is built under ‘Make in India' initiative and showcases the increasing self-sufficiency of India when it comes fielding hi tech systems. 


The ship delivery was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but all tests & trails were cleared in 2020 to ensure it is ready to join Indian Navy. The secrecy maintained regarding INS Dhruv indicates there is much more to it than what meets the eyes.Now that it is getting into the action, Indian military establishment can use it to their advantage at multiple levels. The ship will largely be helpful in countering the threats from China which has continued to pursue hostile policy towards India.

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