INS Aditya

INS Aditya (A59) is an Aditya-class replenishment and repair ship in service with the Indian Navy. The ship was launched on 15 November 1993^[2] and commissioned on 3 April 2000.

INS Aditya near Goa, India
History
India
Name	Aditya
Namesake	Surya, a Solar deity in Hinduism
Builder	Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers
Launched	15 November 1993
Commissioned	3 April 2000[1]
Identification	IMO number: 8609656 MMSI number: 419049600 Hull number: A59
Motto	"Sustenance for Victory and Beyond"
Status	in active service
General characteristics
Class and type	Aditya-class replenishment and repair ship
Displacement	24,612 tons full load
Length	172.0 m (564 ft 4 in)
Beam	23.0 m (75 ft 6 in)
Draft	7.5 m (24 ft 7 in)
Propulsion	2 × ECR MAN B&W 16V 40/45 diesel engines with 23,972 hp (17,876 kW) and 1 shaft, 3 × 500 kW generators and 2 x 1,500 kW power take-off shaft generators
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range	10,000 mi (16,000 km) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement	191 and 6 aircrew
Armament	1 × SA-N-10 SAM launcher with 24 missiles 3 × 2A42 30 mm (1.2 in) Medak guns
Aircraft carried	1 HAL Chetak

Aditya is a fully air-conditioned and lengthened version of the original Deepak class, but with a multipurpose workshop and with four replenishment at sea (RAS) stations alongside. The ship was built at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE). Building progress was very slow and the ship was plagued by propulsion problems, during her sea trials in September 1999.

Description

The ship has a cargo capacity of 2,250 m³ (79,000 cu ft) water, 2,170 m³ (77,000 cu ft) ammunition and stores and 14,200 m³ (500,000 cu ft) diesel and aviation kerosene. The ship can carry 12,000 tons of liquid cargo, comprising LSHSD, aviation kerosene, distilled and fresh water and 5,000 tons of solid cargo. The ship features a Hallapa deck and Canadian Hepburn RAS equipment. Aditya is also equipped with a 2-ton heavy jackstay and a 20-ton crane. It can replenish four warships and one rotor aircraft simultaneously and was designed to be able to serve as command and control platform. It can refuel at the maximum rate of 600 tonnes per hour.^[3][4]

Aditya was initially armed with light and medium machine guns. The self-defence capability was added by installing new close-in weapons like anti-aircraft and anti-missile guns and missiles. Even though it is smaller than INS Jyoti, it has more advanced capabilities. It carries a helicopter as compared to only a helicopter deck of Jyoti.^[4]

Service history

In 2010, Aditya, along with three other warships of the navy - INS Mysore, INS Tabar and INS Ganga, were deployed to South Africa and took part in the 2nd IBSAMAR, the joint military exercise of the navies of India, Brazil, and South Africa. A total of 11 warships took part in the exercise, which was conducted off the coast of Durban from 13 to 27 September.^[5]

In mid-July 2024, Aditya and INS Visakhapatnam conducted an exercise with United States Navy's Carrier Strike Group 9 centred on USS Theodore Roosevelt along with Carrier Air Wing 11 and USS Daniel Inouye in the Indian Ocean.^[6][7][8]

Gallery

INS Aditya

• 
  Aditya refueling the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya
• 
  Aditya at sea
• 
  Top view of Aditya
• 
  Aditya during a berthing operation.
• 
  Aditya arriving at Toulon, France
• 
  Aditya departing Portsmouth Naval Base, United Kingdom, 20 June 2009.

See also

• INS Deepak
• INS Shakti