India commissions INS Malvan: How this ‘submarine hunter’ will be a game-changer

India’s coastal defence architecture and sub-surface warfare capabilities received a major boost on Wednesday as the Indian Navy officially commissioned INS Malvan — the second of eight indigenously designed Mahe-class Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW-SWC).

Built by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) with over 80 per cent indigenous content, the warship was formally inducted into active service during a ceremony at the Karwar Naval Base in Karnataka.

The commissioning ceremony was presided over by Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, alongside Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, senior naval officers, veterans, and defence industry executives.

INS Malvan is the first Indian naval warship ever to be commissioned at Karwar Naval Base and marks the seventh warship inducted into the Indian Navy this year.

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Designed specifically to detect, track, and neutralise silent enemy conventional and air-independent propulsion (AIP) submarines operating in littoral, shallow-water zones, the warship addresses a critical strategic vulnerability in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) amid expanding sub-surface deployments by China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and the Pakistan Navy.

Indian Navy is playing a big role: AP Singh

Presiding over the commissioning ceremony, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh pointed out the pivotal link between maritime security, global trade, and national prosperity.

"We all understand how maritime security is important for any nation, as maritime routes decide trade and trade decides its destiny. The Indian Ocean region is vital to us, and the Indian Navy is playing a crucial role in ensuring secure sea lines of communication and unhindered trade. With 80 per cent indigenous content in this warship, we are realising the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat."

Highlighting the lessons in indigenisation, AP Singh praised the Navy’s long-standing push for domestic manufacturing, stating that "the Indian Navy, right from the beginning, adopted this mantra, even though we [the Indian Air Force] started later on this track. I hope the other services learn from how the Navy has gotten this concept right."

Image/Firspost via Indian Navy

Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan noted that the induction of INS Malvan accelerates the Indian Navy's modernisation tempo, which is currently adding a new vessel or platform approximately every 40 days.

"Today marks another significant milestone in India’s maritime journey," Vatsayan remarked. "INS Malvan becomes the first Indian naval ship to be commissioned at Karwar and the seventh warship inducted this year, with another 12 vessels set to follow."

Anatomy of a littoral hunter

INS Malvan is purpose-built to operate where larger surface combatants — such as guided-missile destroyers or frigates — face tactical limitations due to draft restrictions and acoustic reflections off shallow seafloors.

Advanced waterjet propulsion

Unlike traditional warships that rely on exposed propellers, INS Malvan is propelled by three marine diesel engines generating 6 MW of power coupled directly to a waterjet propulsion system.

This makes the Mahe-class the largest warships in the Indian Navy to utilise pump-jet/waterjet propulsion.

Waterjet technology delivers four crucial operational benefits in shallow waters:

Integrated weapons & sensor suite

Despite its compact displacement (~1,100 tonnes), INS Malvan packs a heavy anti-submarine and surface offensive punch:

Countering China & Pakistan's undersea ambitions

The induction of INS Malvan comes at a time of unprecedented sub-surface militarisation in the Indian Ocean Region. The warship was engineered to mitigate two converging sub-surface threats:

Disrupting China's shallow-water intrusion

The PLA Navy has systematically expanded its presence in the IOR, using deep-sea deployments, hydrographic survey ships to map thermoclines, and regular patrols by Type 039A/B Yuan-class AIP-equipped diesel-electric submarines and Type 093 nuclear attack submarines.

Chinese submarines frequently monitor critical chokepoints — including the Malacca, Sunda, and Lombok Straits — and track Indian fleet movements near the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and the East Coast of India.

In shallow coastal zones, thermal layers and complex seabed topography create "shadow zones" where deep-water sonar performance drops significantly.

INS Malvan and its sister ships act as dedicated, low-cost "shallow-water hunters" that scan these acoustic shadow zones, preventing enemy submarines from lurking near Indian naval bases, energy terminals, and commercial hubs.

Neutralising Pakistan’s Hangor-class submarines

Pakistan is currently inducting eight Hangor-class (Type 039B derivative) submarines from China — four built in Wuhan and four at Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW).

Fitted with Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP) and capable of launching Babur-3 submarine-launched cruise missiles (SLCMs), these submarines are tailored specifically for silent operations in the shallow littoral waters off the Makran Coast, the Gulf of Kutch, and the Arabian Sea.

INS Malvan, stationed with the Western Naval Command at Karwar, is strategically positioned to patrol the western littoral zone.

Operating alongside naval aircraft, it can form an impenetrable barrier across port approaches, naval bases (such as Karwar and Mumbai), and offshore assets like Bombay High.

India's integrated multi-tier defence

INS Malvan does not operate in isolation, it completes the inner layer of the Indian Navy’s multi-tiered Anti-Submarine Warfare architecture:

Broad-area detection (Outer tier): Long-range P-8I Neptune aircraft, MQ-9B SeaGuardian uncrewed aerial systems, and deep-sea destroyers detect acoustic contacts across deep ocean basins.

Inner patrol & interception (littoral tier): When hostile submarines attempt to slip into shallow littoral waters to lay mines, intelligence-gather, or target commercial shipping, ASW-SWCs like INS Malvan are dispatched to track, pincer, and destroy them using waterjet maneuverability, RBU-6000 rockets, and lightweight torpedoes.

Secondary missions: In addition to anti-submarine hunting, INS Malvan is built to undertake Low-Intensity Maritime Operations (LIMO), mine warfare, coastal surveillance, search-and-rescue (SAR), and defence of critical offshore infrastructure.

The ASW-SWC programme

The commissioning of INS Malvan is part of a broader 16-vessel ASW-SWC programme cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) to replace the Indian Navy’s aging Abhay-class corvettes (which entered service between 1989 and 1991).

To execute the project efficiently, the Ministry of Defence split the order between two premier public-sector shipyards:

Major domestic industrial partners involved in the programme include:

The legacy of Sindhudurg

INS Malvan carries forward a rich maritime heritage. Named after the historic coastal town of Malvan in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district, celebrated as the naval stronghold of the 17th-century Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who constructed the iconic Sindhudurg sea fort to resist foreign maritime powers.

Image/Firspost via Indian Navy

The ship inherits the name and battle honours of the former INS Malwan, a Pondicherry-class coastal minesweeper that served the Indian Navy for over two decades before being decommissioned in 2003.

The ship’s official crest features the Bagh Nakha (Tiger Claws) — the iconic weapon associated with Shivaji Maharaj — symbolising agility, precision, and courage.

The vessel operates under the motto "Silent Claws," underlining its ability to strike silently from underwater concealment.

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The commissioning of INS Malvan at Karwar is evidence of the expanding strategic footprint of the Indian Navy.

Karwar’s INS Kadamba, undergoing expansion under Project Seabird Stage II, is set to become one of the largest naval bases in the Eastern Hemisphere, capable of berthing aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, and major surface combatants away from commercial shipping traffic.

With inputs from agencies