INS Kolkata (D63)

INS Kolkata entering Mombasa, Kenya in September 2016
History
India
Name:	INS Kolkata
Namesake:	Kolkata
Builder:	Mazagon Dock Limited
Yard number:	701
Way number:	D63
Laid down:	September 2003
Launched:	30 March 2006
Acquired:	10 July 2014
Commissioned:	16 August 2014
Homeport:	Mumbai
Identification:	Pennant number: D63
Motto:	"Yudhay Sarvasannadh"(Sanskrit)"Always Prepared for Battle"
Status:	in active service
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Kolkata-class destroyer
Displacement:	7,500 tons
Length:	163 m (535 ft)
Beam:	17.4 m (57 ft)
Speed:	In excess of 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range:	8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi)+
Complement:	250 (estd)
Sensors and processing systems:	IAI EL/M-2248 MF-STAR AESA multi-function radar Thales LW-08 D-band air search radar IAI EL/M-2238 L-band STAR surveillance radar BEL HUMSA-NG bow sonar BEL Nagin active towed array sonar BEL Electronic Modular Command & Control Applications (EMCCA Mk4) combat management system
Electronic warfare & decoys:	Elbit Systems Deseaver MK II counter-measures systems and defensive aids suite
Armament:	Anti-air missiles: 4 × 8-cell VLS, for a total of 32; Barak 8 missiles (Range: 0.5 km (0.31 mi) to 90 km (56 mi)) Anti-ship/Land-attack missiles: 2 × 8-cell UVLM for 16 BrahMos anti-ship and land-attack missiles Guns: 1 × 76 mm gun Oto Melara SRGM 4 × AK-630 CIWS Anti-submarine warfare: 4 × Mark 46 torpedo Torpedo tubes 2 × RBU-6000 anti-submarine rockets
Aviation facilities:	Flight deck Enclosed hangar

INS Kolkata is the lead ship of the Kolkata-class stealth guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy. She was constructed at Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL), and was handed over to the navy on 10 July 2014 after completing her sea trials. The ship was officially commissioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a ceremony held on 16 August 2014.

The keel of Kolkata was laid down in September 2003 and she was launched on 30 March 2006. Her commissioning was originally planned for 2010, but this was delayed to 16 August 2014 as a result of a series of project delays. During her construction at MDL, she was given the designation Yard-701.

The commissioning of Kolkata was delayed from 2010 to 2014 due to delays in her construction and technical problems which were found during her sea trials. The issue detected was generation of additional noise, which occurred when the engine, gear box and the shaft were operated together, but which worked issue-free when run independently. The issues were fixed and the sea trials were completed by February 2014, when the ship returned to MDL to undergo minor work before delivery.

On 7 March 2014, during a complete check-up of the ship's machinery to fix the problems found during sea trials, a naval officer was killed and several workers were injured when a valve on a CO₂ bottle malfunctioned during a test of the vessel's carbon dioxide fire-fighting unit at the Mazagaon dockyard. For the test, fire-retarding carbon dioxide gas was to be released into a compartment; the test was part of the destroyer's delivery trials. Kolkata's engineering officer-designate, Commander Kuntal Wadhwa, inhaled a large amount of gas and was rushed to St George's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Two dockyard officials who also inhaled the gas were also taken to hospital for treatment. MDL stated that the incident will not delay the scheduled commissioning of the ship.

As part of her pre-commissioning weapon trials at sea, Kolkata test-fired a BrahMos missile off Karwar's coast on 9 June 2014, and the test met all parameters. On 15 February 2015, BrahMos missile was on test fired from INS Kolkata during the Tropex exercise in the Arabian Sea.