(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — India signed contracts worth approximately US$5.7 billion recently for eight Next Generation Corvettes, giving the Indian Navy a new class of missile-armed escorts as Chinese deployments and Pakistan’s submarine expansion place competing demands on its fleet.

Signed in New Delhi in the presence of Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, the contracts assign five ships to Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers in Kolkata and three to Goa Shipyard Limited, spreading construction across India’s eastern and western coasts.

The ships are intended to succeed the ageing Khukri and Kora classes, replacing them with ships that can screen surface groups, hunt submarines and defend against air attack while protecting the trade routes that cross the Indian Ocean.

At roughly 4,950 tonnes, the proposed corvettes would outweigh some of India’s Talwar-class frigates, making the ability to carry missiles, sonar and an aviation detachment on the same deployment more consequential than the corvette designation alone suggests.

An active towed-array sonar, lightweight torpedoes and space for a helicopter or uncrewed aircraft would give Project 28A several ways to investigate contacts across patrol sectors as Pakistan’s Hangor-class submarines can remain submerged for longer periods.

The planned Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missiles and multifunction radar would let each corvette defend nearby ships, while a separate anti-ship missile battery could force an opposing surface commander to account for threats from more bearings.

China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy sustains recurring rotations in the Indian Ocean Region, so India must keep enough ships available to track movements across the basin while preserving escort capacity closer to the Arabian Sea.

Pakistan commissioned its first Hangor-class submarine in China in April 2026, opening a separate contest over undersea access in the Arabian Sea, where even uncertainty about a submarine’s location could divert Indian escorts from other surveillance or maritime protection missions.

With first launches targeted for late 2029 and deliveries projected to begin around 2031, the reported schedule gives New Delhi years to build crews and shore support, even as the existing fleet carries the operational burden through the transition.

The procurement combines an Indian Navy design with competitive selection of two state-owned shipbuilders, expanding construction capacity on two coastlines while retaining control over how the class is configured, maintained and modified across both batches.

Because the public announcement describes broad mission capabilities, several consequential details remain provisional, including the final missile load, propulsion specifications and sensor fit that will determine how much protection each ship can provide when separated from larger Indian Navy combatants.

The contracts signal India’s willingness to fund sustained escort and sea control, while its eventual influence on the regional balance will depend on how many corvettes can deploy with trained crews, serviceable systems and replenishment support.

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Project 28A Gives India a Frigate-Sized Escort

At a projected 127.4 metres long and 17.6 metres wide, Project 28A has room for a flight deck and hangar alongside its missile and sonar suites, allowing one ship to shift between escort, maritime surveillance and surface warfare during a deployment.

The planned hull incorporates features to reduce radar, infrared, acoustic and magnetic signatures, complicating detection across several sensor types while leaving the ship’s exposure dependent on its speed, operating environment and use of active radar or sonar during a mission.

Combined Diesel and Gas Turbine Cross-Connect propulsion would drive two controllable-pitch propellers, allowing the corvettes to balance economical transit with higher speed when repositioning around an escorted force or moving quickly to investigate a contact ahead of merchant traffic.

The stated maximum of 26 knots and reported sustained speed of about 20 knots describe different operating conditions, and time on station also depends on the fuel a corvette uses to reach a patrol area and reposition within it.

The reported range of about 4,000 nautical miles at roughly 14 knots and endurance of about 14 days provide planning benchmarks, while high-speed manoeuvres and extended aviation operations can increase demand for replenishment before an escort finishes its assigned patrol.

A projected complement of 11 officers and 139 sailors makes crew generation a force structure issue, since each new escort needs trained engineering, sonar, weapons and aviation support personnel alongside the watchkeepers required to sustain operations during longer Indian Ocean deployments.

A hangar and flight deck could let a corvette support either a helicopter or an uncrewed aircraft, but the embarked platform would determine whether the ship can extend an anti-submarine search beyond its own sonar coverage or primarily improve surface surveillance.

A planned seven-metre rigid-hulled inflatable boat supports boarding and interdiction, letting the corvette investigate vessels during maritime security operations, although launching a boarding team can tie down the ship when the escort group needs it elsewhere.

Project 28A could absorb some escort and surveillance assignments otherwise handled by larger warships, freeing commanders to reassign frigates and destroyers, particularly when the navy is balancing Indian Ocean station coverage with commitments farther into the Indo-Pacific.

The gain over the Khukri and Kora classes will depend on the navy’s ability to operate more complex ships regularly, since the broader mission set brings additional demands for specialist maintenance, aviation support and recurring training across the replacement fleet.

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The Planned NASM-MR and Barak-8 Missile Fit

The planned Medium Range Anti-Ship Missile would let a Project 28A corvette threaten hostile surface combatants while on escort duty and complicate an adversary’s assessment of where an Indian naval group can generate missile fire.

The likely candidate, the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s turbojet-powered NASM-MR, underwent its first test in June 2026, while the corvette integration schedule will determine when the Indian Navy can translate the developing missile into an operational shipboard strike capability.

A reported range of about 350 kilometres, a high-subsonic speed and a sea-skimming profile describe a missile intended to approach surface targets at low altitude, where the defender’s radar horizon can compress reaction time if detection depends on shipboard sensors.

Earlier requirements called for at least eight anti-ship missiles, while contract-signing renders suggest up to 16 launch tubes, a distinction that matters for salvo size and the amount of offensive firepower a corvette could retain after an initial engagement at sea.

Long-range missile performance will depend on identifying targets and maintaining usable tracks beyond the ship’s radar horizon, making information from other platforms especially important when vessels are manoeuvring among commercial traffic and when radar emissions could reveal the corvette’s own position.

The expected Barak-8 family Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile fit comprises 16 rounds in two eight-cell vertical launch units, a load that could strengthen local air defence while limiting the number of engagements a corvette can sustain before it needs rearming.

The proposed Multi-Function Surveillance, Track and Guidance Radar, an active electronically scanned array or AESA known as MFSTAR, would support both surveillance and missile engagements, with detection range and engagement opportunities varying according to target altitude, geometry and the quality of the track.

The proposed electro-optical infrared search and track system could supplement radar by giving the crew a passive means to investigate contacts, particularly when emissions control matters, although weather and visibility would still affect how well it identifies threats and supports engagements.

A planned 76-millimetre Super Rapid Gun Mount, AK-630M close-in weapon system and stabilised 12.7-millimetre guns give the corvette options against approaching threats, allowing its crew to reserve guided missiles when a target can be handled by a shorter-range system.

The reported Kavach Mod II decoy fit could disrupt incoming missile guidance, while survival against a coordinated raid would still depend on early detection, cooperation among escorts and the number of threats arriving from different bearings.

Pakistan’s Hangor Submarines Challenge Arabian Sea Escorts

Pakistan’s eight-boat Hangor-class programme adds air-independent propulsion to the Arabian Sea balance, allowing conventionally powered submarines to spend longer submerged between opportunities to snorkel and making it harder for Indian surface groups to infer their movements from brief exposures near the surface.

With four submarines assigned to Chinese construction and four to Pakistani yards under technology transfer, the programme gives Islamabad a domestic production role that could strengthen long-term support, while patrol availability will depend on deliveries, crew readiness and maintenance performance.

Project 28A’s proposed hull-mounted and active towed-array sonars would give escort commanders complementary ways to search for a submerged contact, with the relative value of each system depending on water conditions, background noise, manoeuvring and the depth of the submarine.

An active towed array could help the corvette search beyond the constraints of a sensor fixed to the hull, although transmitting can disclose that a search is under way and towing the array limits how freely the ship can manoeuvre.

A helicopter configured for anti-submarine warfare could investigate an uncertain contact away from the corvette, forcing a submarine to account for a search beyond the escort’s immediate position while allowing the ship to remain near the vessels it protects.

The planned 324-millimetre torpedo tubes give the ships a way to engage a submarine directly once they develop a sufficiently precise track, making reliable classification and coordination at least as important to an escort group as the number of torpedoes carried.

Early design renders do not visibly show an RBU-6000-style rocket launcher, leaving the final close-range anti-submarine weapons fit uncertain and making it premature to assume that the corvettes will retain the same mix of engagement options as earlier Indian warships.

Reduced acoustic signatures could improve the corvettes’ ability to listen for submarines, but that advantage will vary with propulsion settings and traffic noise, particularly when escorts need to keep pace with a group or search busy approaches in the Arabian Sea.

Pakistan can impose sea-denial costs by creating doubt about where its submarines operate, while India must achieve enough local sea control to move ships safely through threatened waters, an imbalance that rewards sustained surveillance even when no engagement takes place.

The decisive measure in the western theatre will be whether India can maintain overlapping searches and hand contacts between ships and embarked aircraft, because a single well-equipped corvette still leaves gaps whenever it must refuel, reposition or return for maintenance.

China’s Indian Ocean Presence Makes Logistics a Test of Sea Control

Chinese anti-piracy rotations have established a recurring naval presence in the Indian Ocean, requiring New Delhi to track deployments and preserve enough escort capacity to respond when Chinese warships move beyond their routine operating areas.

Indian Navy estimates have put the typical Chinese combatant presence at six to eight ships, a planning figure subject to variation as task groups rotate and survey vessels, tracking ships and submarines add different demands to the maritime surveillance effort.

China’s base in Djibouti supports deployments far from home waters, while access associated with ports such as Gwadar and Hambantota could help sustain particular missions, though the extent of wartime naval support from commercial facilities remains uncertain.

Oceanographic survey activity can have both civilian and military applications, since data on seabed conditions and the acoustic environment can inform submarine operations, although a research vessel’s presence alone leaves its mission and the eventual use of its data uncertain.

China’s carrier programme, including the catapult-equipped Fujian, expands the range of naval formations India may have to monitor, but persistent carrier operations in the Indian Ocean would demand escort ships, replenishment and maintenance well beyond the resources needed for a routine rotation.

For India, whose seaborne trade accounts for an estimated 90 to 95 percent of total trade by volume, the operational priority is protecting sea lines of communication through escort and surveillance coverage that can be sustained when several routes need attention.

A corvette able to screen an escorted group against aircraft, submarines and surface threats gives commanders more options when pressure develops in more than one area, but dispersed assignments increase the distance between ships that might otherwise reinforce each other.

Replenishment support will shape the patrol time available to Project 28A because fuel, aviation stores and weapon stocks are consumed at different rates, particularly when an escort must sustain flight operations or operate at higher speed to maintain contact with another group.

Additional surface combatants could let India patrol more areas without repeatedly drawing larger warships away from other assignments, provided fleet schedules account for transit time, upkeep and the need to keep enough crews ready for simultaneous deployments.

Project 28A therefore strengthens India’s ability to signal a sustained regional presence through routine deployments, with its credibility ultimately resting on whether New Delhi can keep escorts at sea during overlapping demands from Chinese surface activity and Pakistan’s submarine force.

Two Shipyards Face the Test of Fleet Readiness

Project 28A marks the first programme to pair an indigenous Indian Navy warship design with competitively selected state-owned builders, making the division between Kolkata and Goa a test of whether India can repeat a complex build standard across two production lines.

Parallel construction can reduce dependence on a single shipyard’s schedule, but a delayed component shared by both yards could still hold up outfitting, making common suppliers as important to the delivery timetable as progress on the individual hulls under construction.

AstraYan reportedly emerged as the lowest bidder to integrate propulsion on the five GRSE ships, a role that would bring responsibility for linking machinery and controls that must perform reliably during trials and remain diagnosable in service.

The final turbine selection and engine ratings remain unclear, and indigenous medium-speed marine diesels are still in development, leaving the fleet’s future repair and spare-parts requirements dependent on which equipment is fitted and where the navy can support it.

Under Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India, local production can give the Indian Navy more control over repairs and later upgrades, especially where domestic suppliers can maintain the equipment and the navy has the technical information needed to modify common systems.

Projected work of roughly 7.2 million person-days at shipyards and 46 million across ancillary industries and smaller suppliers over a decade indicates the breadth of the industrial effort, while its lasting value depends on whether skilled teams and suppliers secure follow-on work.

The navy’s ambition to exceed 200 ships and submarines by 2035 frames the corvette acquisition, but replacing older vessels absorbs part of the numerical gain, making the number of operational escorts available during the transition a more immediate measure of progress.

Alongside Project 17A frigates and Next Generation Missile Vessels, the new corvettes give India another way to distribute combat tasks among the surface fleet, while Project 75I and indigenous nuclear-powered attack submarine plans address a different requirement for undersea presence.

From the targeted first launches in late 2029 to projected initial deliveries around 2031, the programme’s milestones will include propulsion trials, combat system acceptance and crew workups, because each determines when a delivered hull can take on an independent assignment.

India’s wager is that building eight multirole escorts at home will generate recurring patrols and stronger protection for trade routes, with the regional balance affected only when both yards deliver ships that the navy can crew, arm, maintain and deploy reliably.

Indian Navy Project 28A Next Generation Corvettes — Technical Specifications

India contracted eight multirole corvettes on 2 November 2026, with five assigned to Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) and three to Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL). The class is designed for fleet escort, anti-submarine warfare, surface strike and local air defence.