India Gifts Missile Corvette INS Kirpan to the Vietnam People’s Navy
India has decided to gift the INS Kirpan, a domestically built in-service missile corvette, to Vietnam, its strategic partner in the Asia-Pacific and the South China Sea. The development was announced after Vietnam’s defense minister, General Phan Van Giang, met with Indian defense minister Rajnath Singh during a two-day visit to New Delhi. According to the Indian government’s Press Information Bureau (PIB), the meeting’s main purpose was to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the defense industry and maritime security. The Ministers reviewed the status of various bilateral defense cooperation initiatives during the meeting, and both sides expressed satisfaction with the ongoing engagement.
Following the meeting, Vietnam Defense Minister General Phan Van Giang went to the DRDO (Defense Research and Development Organization) headquarters and discussed ways to develop defense industry capabilities through collaboration in defense research and co-production. The Minister of Defense then paid a visit to India’s President, Droupadi Murmu. Murmu, who welcomed General Giang and his delegation at the official Presidential Residence of India, Rashtrapati Bhavan, stated that Vietnam is an important pillar of India’s Act East Policy and an important partner in their Indo-Pacific Vision. The President also stated that the India-Vietnam ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ has widened the scope of bilateral collaboration, including in defense and security, and that she is pleased to note that India-Vietnam defense engagement spans a broad range of activities, including capacity building, industry cooperation, peacekeeping, and joint exercises.
The possibility of India gifting a Khukri-class corvette to Vietnam was first revealed last June during a visit by Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh to his Vietnamese counterpart. According to an article from India’s News18 channel, which cited unnamed defense sources. During the visit, the two countries signed the Joint Vision Statement on the India-Vietnam Defense Partnership for 2030, which will “significantly increase” the scope and scale of bilateral defense cooperation between the two countries, and the two countries agreed on the early finalization of the $500 million Defense Line of Credit (LoC) to be provided by India to Vietnam.
INS Kirpan, which will assist the Vietnam People’s Navy in developing its capabilities, is a Khukri-class missile corvette that has been serving the Indian Navy since 1991. The Khukri class corvettes weigh 1350 tons and are 91.1 meters long and 10.5 meters wide. The ships have a maximum speed of 25 knots and a range of 4,000 knots (16 knots) thanks to two 14,400 hp diesel engines installed in India under license from Kirloskar Group. There is also a helipad at the stern of the corvette, which has a crew capacity of 79 people. The ship’s weapon systems include a medium-range gun, 30mm close-range guns, chaff launchers, and surface-to-surface missiles.