INS ''Brahmaputra'' (F31) is the lead ship of her class of

guided missile frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

s of the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

. She was built at the

Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd, abbreviated as GRSE, is one of India's leading Defense industry, defence shipyards, located in Kolkata. It builds and repairs merchant shipping, commercial and warship, naval vessels. GRSE also expor ...

(GRSE),

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. On 21 July 2024, the ship listed on one side during maintenance in Mumbai dockyard after a major fire onboard. The Navy had immediately initiated an investigation for the incident. As of May 2025, the ship is being repaired and is expected to regain its seaworthiness by early 2026 and will be combat-ready by mid-2026.

Design and Construction

The design and construction of the ship is entirely Indian, and is a modification of the of frigates. It is fitted with an array of modern sensor suites and matching weapon systems. INS Brahmaputra was commissioned on 14 April 2000 by Captain Pradeep 'Billoo' Chauhan, VSM. This 3,600-tonne ship is long and can reach speeds of up to . She operates the

Westland Sea King The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome eng ...

helicopter and the MATCH (Multi-Role Anti-Submarine Torpedo Carrying Helicopter) helicopter, which is an

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...

variant of the

Chetak Chetak or Cetak is the name given in traditional literature to the horse ridden by Maharana Pratap at the Battle of Haldighati, fought on 18 June 1576 at Haldighati, in the Aravalli Mountains of Rajasthan, in western India. The story Hi ...

helicopter. ''Brahmaputra'' is the second ship of the Indian Navy named for the

River Brahmaputra The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Southwestern China, Northeastern India, and Bangladesh. It is known as Brahmaputra or Luit in Assamese, Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, and Jamu ...

. The first vessel of the name was a Type 41 that was commissioned in 1958. The symbol of ''Brahmaputra'' is 'The Raging Rhino', for the one-horned rhino native to the Brahmaputra valley.

Operations

Operation Sukoon

In July 2006,''INS Brahmaputra'', under the command of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Kapil Gupta, was a part of Task Force 54 on its return to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

from the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, when it was turned back to assist in

Operation Sukoon Operation Sukoon (Hindi, lit ''relief'') was an operation launched by the Indian Navy to evacuate Indian, Sri Lankan and Nepalese nationals, as well as Lebanese nationals with Indian spouses, from the conflict zone during the 2006 Lebanon War. The ...

. The task force consisted of three warships and a fleet tanker which were returning from a goodwill visit and were just about to cross the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

. After the evacuation, the task force remained on station in international waters off

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, monitoring the conflict and ensuring the safety of remaining Indian nationals in Lebanon. The vessels left for their home ports on 10 August 2006. during the 2006 Israeli-Lebanese conflict.

Task Force Europe 2009

During May–July 2009, ''Brahmaputra'' was a part of the Indian Navy task force on deployment to Europe. During this deployment, the task force participated in joint-exercises with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

and the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

. Exercise ''Konkan-09'' with the

, was conducted off the coast of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Exercise ''Varuna 2009'' with the

was off the coast of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Fire and listing

The ship met a major fire accident in the evening of 21 July 2024 while going through a major retrofit in

Naval Dockyard A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usu ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

.The fire was brought under control with the help of firefighting units of the ship and that of the dockyard. The fire was doused by morning of 22 July. However, in late afternoon of 22 July, the ship had listed towards its

port side Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and spacecraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which ar ...

and one junior sailor was reported missing for whom search operations had been initiated. The Navy carried out an investigation on the incident. The Chief of Naval Staff

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Dinesh K. Tripathi visited the accident site on 23 July and was briefed on the incident as well as the steps taken to make the necessary repairs. The Navy chief directed that all necessary steps be taken to ensure that the vessel returns to operational status as soon as possible. A Special Task Force, headed by a

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

-ranked officer, led the probe to determine the exact cause of the incident and those accountable for the incident. The body of the missing sailor was recovered on 24 July after extensive diving operations. He had been identified as

leading seaman Leading seaman is a junior non-commissioned rank or rate in navies, particularly those of the Commonwealth. When it is used by NATO nations, leading seaman has the rank code of OR-4. It is often equivalent to the army and air force rank of ...

Sitendra Singh. The ship had listed on its port side at an angle of about 40 to 45°. The listing was most likely due to imbalance during firefighting operations. There had not been much ingress of salt water. The damage is not as severe as in the case of INS Betwa accident and the damage will be assessed soon. The Navy reportedly sought a foreign specialist group for the salvage operation. While the process to make the ship upright and assessing the damage would take 3 months, it would take from 6 months to a year to bring the vessel back to service after the damage assessment. As of 19 November 2024, the ship was upright with the help of balloon-like structures and foreign agencies. This was done after the ship had been moved to a dry dock. Few additional months would be required to make it seaworthy. Later, a thorough assessment was also conducted on the damage and the repairs needed to operationalise the ship. According to a report of 25 May 2025, which categorised the capability of a naval ship into the standard operational components of "float", "move" and "fight", the first two elements of ''Brahmaputra'' will be restored by early-2026 while the "fight" element will be restored by mid-2026 making it fully combat-ready.

Gallery

File:INS Brahmaputra Malabar 07.jpg, ''Brahmaputra'' during Exercise Malabar 2007. File:INS Brahmaputra-2.JPG, ''Brahmaputra'' departing Portsmouth Naval Base, UK, 20 June 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brahmaputra (1994) Brahmaputra-class frigates Frigates of the Indian Navy 1994 ships Ships built in India Ships built in Kolkata