INS Mormugao, the latest guided-missile Destroyer, successfully hit 'Bulls Eye' during her maiden BrahMos Supersonic cruise missile firing. The ship and her potent weapon, both indigenous, mark another shining symbol of Atmanirbharta and Indian Navy's firepower at sea, reports news agency ANI.

India has successfully tested a BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the guided-missile destroyer INS Delhi. The test of the anti-ship variant of the missile was conducted using an upgraded modular launcher onboard the INS Mormugao.

"Successful maiden BrahMos firing by INS Mormugao from an upgraded modular launcher once again demonstrated long-range strike capability of BrahMos along with validation of integrated Network Centric Operations from frontline platforms," the Indian Navy tweeted along with a video of the test fire.

About INS Mormugao

The second of the Project 15B stealth-guided missile destroyers built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL), INS Mormugao (Pennant D67), was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 19, December 2022. The ship, named after a key port in Goa, was commissioned a day before the Goa Liberation Day celebrations.

Project 15B

Over the last decade, the Indian Navy has commissioned three guided missile destroyers of the Kolkata class — INS Kolkata, INS Kochi, and INS Chennai — under the project codenamed 15A. These ships were a step ahead of their precursor Delhi class of ships — INS Delhi, INS Mysore, and INS Mumbai.

All these ships were built by MDSL, one of the country’s most important Defence PSUs. A ship ‘class’ describes a group of vessels of similar tonnage, usage, capabilities, and weaponry.

The contract for four guided missile destroyers more advanced than the Kolkata class was signed in January 2011. This was Project 15B, and the lead ship, INS Visakhapatnam (Pennant D66) was commissioned into the Navy in November 2021.

Designed by the Warship Design Bureau, Indian Navy’s in-house warship design body, and built by MDSL in Mumbai, the four ships of Project 15B were to be named after four major cities around the country — Visakhapatnam, Mormugao, Imphal, and Surat. A ship class is identified by its lead ship, in this case, INS Visakhapatnam.