The small hunters India ordered to guard its ports are years late. INS Mangrol is the third to arrive

The danger close to the beach

India's coastline runs 7,516.6 km, with 12 major ports, 184 minor ports and 1,197 islands, the Navy said in 2019.²

Near those ports the sea is shallow and crowded. Big warships struggle there, and that is exactly where a hostile submarine could threaten harbours. The Navy called watching for submarines along the coast critical.²⁴

Its answer was a fleet of small, nimble submarine hunters built for shallow water.

The plan: sixteen hunters, two a year

In April 2019 the Ministry of Defence signed for sixteen of them, eight from Cochin Shipyard in Kochi and eight from Garden Reach Shipbuilders in Kolkata. Deliveries were to start in October 2022, with each yard then handing over two a year.²

Mint reported each contract was worth about Rs 6,311 crore, with the whole series due within 84 months. That is around April 2026.⁶

Then the calendar slipped

The first Cochin built craft, INS Mahe, was commissioned on 24 November 2025, three years after deliveries were meant to begin. The second, INS Malvan, followed on 22 July 2026.⁴

From the Kolkata yard, INS Arnala and INS Androth are also in service, the Times of India noted. But the class as a whole is well behind the timetable its contracts set.⁷⁴

12 October: the third from Cochin

At the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai on 12 October 2026, INS Mangrol was commissioned. It takes its name from a fishing harbour in Gujarat. The last ship to carry the name was a minesweeper that served until April 2004.¹³

It is built to hunt submarines, keep watch under water, carry out low intensity maritime operations and take on mine warfare tasks. Three diesel engines drive waterjets, which push the ship like a jet ski does and let it turn sharply in tight, shallow water.¹

Reports citing the Navy list a hull mounted sonar, which works like underwater ears, lightweight torpedoes, an Indian anti-submarine rocket launcher and a decoy to fool incoming torpedoes. The ship has more than 80% Indian content.⁴⁵¹

What could still go wrong?

Late does not mean useless. Each craft adds a hunter where big ships are least comfortable, and it can work with patrol aircraft, helicopters and other ships.⁷

But every year of delay is a year with fewer hunters near the ports. We found no revised delivery schedule for the rest of the sixteen in official releases.¹