Context: Recently, Minister of Defence along with top naval commanders was in attendance at the induction ceremony of the indigenously built Visakhapatnam, seen as another Atmanirbhar success story in the field of defence manufacturing.
Background

• The tradition of naming the navy’s destroyers after Indian cities began with Project 15 – which yielded INS Delhi in 1997, INS Mysore in 1999 and INS Mumbai in 2001.
• This was followed by Project 15A, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioning the lead warship, INS Kolkata, in MDL on 16 Aug 2014. INS Kolkata was followed by INS Kochi in 2015 and INS Chennai in 2016.
• However, even after all four destroyers of Project 15B are commissioned, the navy will have to make do with just 10 destroyers, since three old Rajput-class vessels, which were bought from Moscow in the mid-1980s, are on the verge of being decommissioned from service.

Key Points

• The Indian Navy commissioned its tenth destroyer , the 7,400-tonne Indian Naval Ship (INS) Visakhapatnam which is the first stealth guided-missile destroyer.
• This is the lead vessel in a new class of four guided missile destroyers that Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai (MDL) is building under Project 15B.
• The next ship is set to be commissioned in 2023 while the other two are planned to be inducted by 2025.
• INS Visakhapatnam has achieved a 75 per cent indigenisation level through an indigenous combat management system (CMS), rocket and torpedo launchers, and digitised control systems such as an integrated platform management system (IPMS), automated power management system (APMS), foldable hangar doors, helo traversing system, close-in weapon system and bow mounted sonar.
• The warship as one of the most technologically advanced guided missile destroyers in the world which will cater to the present and future requirements of the Armed Forces and the nation as a whole.

Strength of the Vessel

• INS Visakhapatnam will be the navy’s most potent warship.It is propelled by four gas turbines that allow it to travel in excess of 30 knots (55 kilometres per hour).
• The warship incorporates stealth features, with a reduced radar cross section (RCS) achieved through efficient shaping of hull, full beam superstructure design, plated masts and use of radar transparent materials on exposed decks.
• Visakhapatnam is packed with an array of weapons and sensors, which include supersonic surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, medium and short-range guns, anti-submarine rockets and advanced electronic warfare and communication suits.
• The ship is equipped with nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) warfare protective equipment, with its entire requirement of air being filteredthrough NBC filters.
• Amongst the largest destroyers constructed in India with an overall length of 163 metres and displacement of over 7400 tons, the warship is a potent platform capable of undertaking multifarious task and missions spanning the full spectrum of maritime warfare.

Need

• Challenges such as piracy, terrorism, illegal smuggling of arms and narcotics, human trafficking, illegal fishing and damage to the environment are equally responsible for affecting the maritime domain. 
• Upholding the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982 as the basis for good order at sea, Some irresponsible nations, for the sake of their narrow partisan interests, keep on giving new and inappropriate interpretations to these international laws from hegemonic tendencies. These arbitrary interpretations create obstacles in the path of a rule-based maritime order.
• Therefore, the role of the Indian Navy becomes very important in the entire Indo-Pacific region.

Additional Information
In contrast, China’s navy – the People’s Liberation Army (Navy), or PLA(N) – has a fleet of 42 destroyers. 

• These include four massive 13,000 tonne Renhai-class cruisers known as the Type 055; 
• 21 modern 7,500 tonne Luyang III-class destroyers known as the Type 052; 
• six older 7,000 tonne Luyang II-class destroyers known as the Type 052C; and 
• eleven older and less capable destroyers of the Type 051C, 052B, 051B, 052 and the Soviet-era Sovremenny-class.