Godavari-class frigate

INS Godavari
Class overview
Name	Godavari class
Builders	Mazagon Dock Limited
Operators	Indian Navy
Preceded by	Nilgiri class
Succeeded by	Brahmaputra class
Built	1978 – 1988
In commission	1983 – 2022
Planned	3
Completed	3
Retired	3[1][2]
General characteristics
Type	Guided-missile frigate
Displacement	3,600 tonnes (standard) 3,850 tonnes (full load)
Length	126.5 m (415 ft 0 in)[3]
Beam	14.5 m (47 ft 7 in)[3]
Draught	4.5 m (14 ft 9 in)[3]
Propulsion	2 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 38.7 kg/cm2 (550 psi) 2 × steam turbines 30,000 hp (22,400 kW) 2 shafts[3]
Speed	28 knots (52 km/h)[3]
Range	4,500 nmi (8,300 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)[3]
Complement	313 (incl. 40 officers, 13 air crew)[3]
Sensors and processing systems	Radar Signaal LW08 D-band air search radar MR-310U Angara (NATO:Head Net C) E/F-band 3D air/surface radar 2 × Signaal ZW06 or Don Kay I-band navigation radars MR-103 GFCS Fire Control radar EL/M-2221 STGR Fire control radar (Barak SAM) (replaced MPZ-310 radar (SA-N-4 SAM)) Sonar BEL HUMSA (Hull Mounted Sonar Array)[4]
Electronic warfare & decoys	Selenia INS-3 (Bharat Ajanta and Elettronica TQN-2) used for ESM/ECM Decoys 2 × chaff/flare launchers 1 × Graesby G738 towed torpedo decoy
Armament	4 × SS-N-2D Styx AShM 24 × Barak 1 SAM (3 × 8 cell VLS units) (replaced SA-N-4 SAM) 1 × OTO Melara 76 mm gun (replaced AK-725 twin-barreled 57 mm gun) 4 × AK-630 30 mm CIWS 2 × triple 324 mm (12.8 in) tubes (Whitehead A 244S or Indian NST 58 torpedoes)
Aircraft carried	2 × Sea King, HAL Dhruv or HAL Chetak helicopters

The Godavari-class frigates (formerly Type 16 or Project 16 frigates) were guided-missile frigates of the Indian Navy. The Godavari class was the first significant indigenous warship design and development initiative of the Indian Navy. Its design is a modification of the Nilgiri class with a focus on indigenous content of 72%, a larger hull and updated armaments. The class and the lead ship, INS Godavari were named after the Godavari River. Subsequent ships in the class, INS Ganga and INS Gomati also took their names from Indian rivers.

INS Gomati was the first Indian Navy vessel to have digital electronics in her combat data system. The ships combined Indian, Russian and Western weapons systems.^[5]

The concept for the Godavari class originated from the lessons learnt in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. There was a need for a ship unique to Indian requirements, for deploying a hybrid of indigenously-designed, as well as Russian and European weapons systems. The keel of the lead ship INS Godavari was laid in 1978 at Mazagon Dock Limited in Bombay. She was commissioned in December 1983.

One of the requirements was to deploy two Sea King helicopters from the ship. The Nilgiri-class vessels were too small for this requirement. The final design incorporated a larger hull in order to accommodate this.^[6] INS Godavari was decommissioned on 23 December 2015, and her Barak 1 surface-to-air missile will be installed on the flagship INS Vikramaditya.^[7][8] INS Ganga was retired from active service on 28 May 2017,^[1] and was decommissioned on 22 March 2018.^[9] The last ship of its class, INS Gomati, was decommissioned on 15 May 2022 after 34 years of service.^[2]

Although the Directorate of Marine Engineering suggested replacing steam propulsion with gas turbines, it was decided not to do so, since Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited had made heavy investments in facilities and tooling for design of steam turbines and auxiliary systems.^[6]

For armaments, the missile and gun package of the Soviet Nanuchka-class corvette was installed on the frigate. Later on, when the frigates underwent their mid-life overhauls, some of the Soviet systems were replaced by Israeli and Italian systems.

All three ships later underwent an extensive upgrade of weapons and sensors. These include the fitment of the Israeli Barak SAM system with a new fire control system based on the EL/M-2221 STGR in place of the original Soviet SA-N-4 SAM system. The P-20 missiles were retained. The Soviet AK-725 main gun was also replaced by an Italian OTO Melara 76 mm gun.

• 
  INS Godavari with INS Brahmaputra and INS Beas trailing during exercises with the US Navy.
• 
  INS Ganga (F22) during sea operations.
• 
  INS Gomati with Seaking helicopter operations.

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