INS Mangrol Joins the Navy: A Home-Built Submarine Hunter for India's Shallow Coastal Waters
The Indian Navy commissioned INS Mangrol at the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai, on 12 October 2026. Commissioning is the formal ceremony where a ship joins the fleet and gets the prefix "INS" (Indian Naval Ship).
Mangrol is the third Mahe-class Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW-SWC) built by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), Kochi. It follows INS Mahe (November 2025) and INS Malvan (July 2026). Malvan was the sixth of the 16 ASW-SWCs to join the Navy, counting the GRSE-built Arnala-class ships.
The ceremony was led by the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (the top commander) of the Western Naval Command, which is headquartered in Mumbai.
The ship has over 80% indigenous content (parts and systems made in India). Its Indian-made systems include the Abhay hull-mounted sonar, an indigenous anti-submarine rocket launcher and the Maareech advanced torpedo decoy system (a system that fools an incoming enemy torpedo).
Its job is to find and attack enemy submarines in shallow waters near the coast, guard ports and harbours, carry out underwater surveillance and lay mines when needed. Three diesel engines drive waterjets, which let it turn sharply in shallow water.
CSL had delivered the ship to the Navy on 21 August 2026. It is named after Mangrol, a coastal town in Junagadh district, Gujarat, and carries forward the name of an earlier minesweeper, INS Mangrol, which served until April 2004.
Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW-SWC) Programme
The ASW-SWC programme is the Indian Navy's project to build 16 small warships that hunt submarines close to the coast. Eight are built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata, and are called the Arnala class. The other eight are built by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), Kochi, and are called the Mahe class. Together they replace the old Abhay-class corvettes and form the coastal "first line" of India's defence against submarines.
Mangrol is the third CSL-built ship of this 16-ship programme. Its commissioning in Mumbai adds one more coastal submarine hunter to the Western Naval Command, which guards the Arabian Sea coast.
Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW): How Navies Hunt Submarines
Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) is the set of ships, aircraft, sensors and weapons a navy uses to find, track and destroy enemy submarines. A submarine hides under water, where radar and eyesight do not work. So ASW is mainly a contest of sound: the hunter listens for the submarine or sends out sound pulses and listens for the echo. This is done with sonar (Sound Navigation and Ranging).
Mangrol is built for the hardest layer of ASW, the shallow, noisy waters close to India's ports. Its Abhay sonar, variable depth sonar and short-range weapons are matched to this coastal job.
Defence Indigenisation: The Positive Indigenisation Lists
Defence indigenisation means making weapons, platforms and their parts inside India instead of importing them. The Ministry of Defence pushes this mainly through Positive Indigenisation Lists (PILs): lists of items that the armed forces must buy only from Indian sources after a fixed date. There are lists for whole weapon systems (issued by the Department of Military Affairs) and lists for sub-systems and spare parts used by Defence Public Sector Undertakings (issued by the Department of Defence Production).
With over 80% Indian content and Indian sonars, rockets and decoys, Mangrol is an example of how home-built warships are cutting India's dependence on imported naval platforms.
- INS Mangrol commissioned on 12 October 2026 at the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai
- Third Mahe-class ASW-SWC built by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), Kochi; follows INS Mahe (24 November 2025) and INS Malvan (22 July 2026)
- Delivered by CSL on 21 August 2026; launched on 30 November 2023
- Indigenous content: over 80%
- Sensors and weapons: Abhay hull-mounted sonar (DRDO-NPOL, built by BEL), low-frequency variable depth sonar, lightweight torpedoes, indigenous anti-submarine rocket launcher, Maareech torpedo decoy system
- Propulsion: three diesel engines driving waterjets; top speed about 25 knots
- Named after Mangrol town, Junagadh district, Gujarat; earlier INS Mangrol (minesweeper) served until April 2004
- ASW-SWC programme: 16 ships (8 Arnala class by GRSE, 8 Mahe class by CSL); DAC approval December 2013; contracts April 2019