KANWAR: The Indian Navy Ship (INS) Tillanchang, a Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC) was commissioned into the Indian Navy by Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command, on Thursday.
INS Tillanchang is the third ship of four follow-on WJFAC built by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata.
The first two ships of the class, IN ships Tarmugli and Tihayu were commissioned in 2016 and are based at Vishakhapatnam.
The ship has been indigenously designed and built and is an upgrade from the Chetlat class of Fast Attack Craft that the Indian Navy possesses.
Tillanchang is about 50 m long and powered by three water jets, which gives it speeds of over 35 knots.
The ship is armed with a 30 mm main gun and a number of light, medium and heavy machine guns to undertake operations at sea.
It is manned by 50 personnel. Tillanchang, commanded by Cdr Adit Patnaik is an ideal platform for a number of missions like Coastal and Off-shore Surveillance, EEZ Control, Law Enforcement as well as non-military missions such as Search and Rescue, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief.
INS Tillanchang will be based at Karwar under the operational control of the Flag Officer Commanding, Karnataka Naval Area.