- India Navy has commissioned INS Tillanchang at Karwar, Karnataka. It is a Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC)
- It is the third ship of four follow-on WJFAC built by the Kolkata based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE).
- The first two ships INS Tarmugli and INS Tihayu which were commissioned in 2016.
- These ships will play a vital role in light of India’s security environment.
- They are designed to take on both conventional and asymmetric threats.
- INS Tillanchang has been indigenously designed and built and is an upgrade from the Chetlat class of Fast Attack Craft (FCA).
- The Indian Navy has recently commissioned a new Car Nicobar-class high-speed offshore patrol vessel, the INS Tillanchang.
- The class and its vessels are named after an island in the Andaman.
- They are the first water jet propelled vessels of the Indian Navy.
- They can reach top speeds of over 35 knots (65 km/h).
- Production of the class was fast-tracked after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
- The vessels are designed as a cost-effective platform for patrol, anti-piracy and rescue operations in India’s Exclusive Economic Zone, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief.
- The vessels can also be used for the interception of fast moving surface craft, anti-smuggling and fisheries protection.