Next Generation Missile Vessels (NGMVs) are a planned class of anti-surface warfare corvettes for the Indian Navy. Under this programme the Indian Navy intends to acquire six advanced missile vessels. Ships in this class will be armed with anti-ship missile or land-attack missile like BrahMos. Ships under this class will feature advanced stealth features like a low radar cross section (RCS), infrared, acoustic and magnetic signatures.

Development

On 2 January 2015 the Ministry of Defence (MOD) issued a request for information (RFI) under Buy Indian and Make Indian category for six new missile corvettes by initiating the Next Generation Missile Vessels (NGMVs) programme. Vendors who chose to respond to the RFI must meet "minimum qualifying criteria" mainly, shipyard should have already built "vessel(s) of similar specifications". A request for proposal (RfP) worth $2.2 billion was filed by the Government of India to various Indian shipyards seeking for various warships including six missile boats.

On 23 February 2021, Cochin Shipyard (CSL) won the bid to construct 6 Next Generation Missile Vessels (NGMV) for a cost 10,000 crores.

On 11 January 2023, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for procurement of BrahMos launchers and fire control systems for Next Generation Missile Vessels and Shivalik-class frigates.

On 30 March 2023, MoD signed the contract for acquisition of six NGMV with CSL at a cost of 9,805 crore (US$1.2 billion). The delivery of ships is scheduled to commence from March 2027. According to MoD, the construction of these ships will generate an employment of 45 lakh man-days over a period of nine years.

On 15 September 2023, Bharat Electronics announced that they have received an order worth 2,118.57 crore (US$250 million) from CSL to supply "state-of-the-art technology" including sensors and weapons equipment for the NGMV project.

On 14 February 2024, CSL signed a ₹274.76 crore (US$32 million) contract with Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited to acquire 12 AK-630 naval guns. The guns will be manufactured by the Gun & Shell Factory, Cossipore in Kolkata.

On 29 March 2024, CSL signed another deal with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited worth ₹1,173 crore (US$140 million) for in-house manufacturing six units of LM2500 for NGMV, which are scheduled to be delivered between 2026 and 2029.

On 16 December 2024, the steel cutting ceremony for the first ship of NGMV held at the Cochin Shipyard. Induction of the vessels is to start from 2027.

On 8 April 2026, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace received a contract to supply 18 sets of large Kamewa waterjets from the CSL. This was the former's single largest waterjet contract.

Design and description

The RFI suggests that ships will be about 2,200-2,800 tonnes each. The new ships will have a complement of 11 officers, 2 trainee officers and 80 sailors. The range will be at least 2,800 nautical miles (5,200 km; 3,200 mi) (1,000 nmi; 1,900 km; 1,200 mi at full speed) and speed performance will be 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) (max speed of 35 knots; 65 km/h; 40 mph), being propelled by three Kongsberg Kamewa waterjets each. The ships will carry eight surface-to-surface missiles, a full-fledged surface-to-air missile (SAM) system with point defence capabilities and a 15 km (9.3 mi) range MR gun system. The ships will also have radar and electro-optically (EO) guided close-in weapon systems (CIWS) with 360-degree anti-missile defence.

The ships are being equipped with eight slant launchers for BrahMos and 24 VLS cells for VL-SRSAM along with an advanced sensor suite.

Ships of the class

NamePennantYard NoBuilderKeel laidLaunchedCommissionedHome-portStatus
Indian Navy
TBD531Cochin ShipyardUnder Construction
532Ordered
533
534
535
536

See also