guided-missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers which have a pr ...

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 ...

Mazagon Dock Limited Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) (IAST: ''Majhagānv Dawk Shipbuilders Limiṭeḍ''), formerly called Mazagon Dock Limited, is a company with shipyards situated in Mazagaon, Mumbai. It manufactures warships and submarines for the Indian ...

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 ...

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 ...

Eastern Naval Command The Eastern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The command is responsible for the all naval forces in the Bay of Bengal and parts of the Indian Ocea ...

Rajput-class destroyer The ''Rajput''-class guided-missile destroyers built for the Indian Navy are modified versions of Soviet s. They are also known as the Kashin-II class. The ships were built in the former Soviet Union after considerable Indian design modificatio ...

INS Vikrant Two ships operated by the Indian Navy have had the name INS ''Vikrant''. * , a British-built aircraft carrier which was in service from 1961 to 1997, operated as a museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been p ...

Brahmos The BrahMos (also designated as PJ-10)Kh 35E. ''Delhi'' is the second vessel of the Indian Navy to bear the name. She inherits the mantle from the of the

same name ''Same Name'' is an American reality television series in which an average person swaps lives with a celebrity of the same first and last name. It premiered on July 24, 2011 on CBS. The series received low ratings, and CBS pulled it after four-ep ...

, previously HMS ''Achilles'' of Battle of the River Plate fame.

Service history

During May–July 2009, INS ''Delhi'' led 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 ...

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

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 ...

, 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

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 ...

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 ...

. As of 2020, ''Delhi'' was undergoing a mid-life refit that includes upgrades for several weapons and sensors. The

Kh-35E The Zvezda Kh-35 (, NATO reporting name AS-20 'Kayak') is a Soviet turbojet subsonic cruise anti-ship missile. The missile can be launched from helicopters, surface ships and coastal defence batteries with the help of a rocket booster, in which ...

''Uran'' missiles has been replaced by

BrahMos The BrahMos (also designated as PJ-10)Shtil-1 air defence system will replace the 9K-90 ''Uragan'', with Fregat M2EM radar replacing the Fregat-MAE. The Kite Screech fire control system of the AK-100 is being replaced by

BEL Bel can mean: Mythology * Belenus or Bel, a Celtic deity * Bel (mythology), a title (meaning "lord" or "master") for various gods in Babylonian religion People * Bel (name) * Annabel Linquist, known as Bel, American artist, musician, and entrepr ...

Lynx U2. The electronics warfare system will be upgraded to Ellora Mk II, with

Kavach Kavach may refer to: * Kavach (anti-missile system), an Indian anti-missile naval decoy system * Kavach (train protection system), Indian Railways train protection system * Kavach (TV series), an Indian supernatural horror drama television series ...

decoy launchers. Atlas Elektronik ACTAS towed-array sonar will also be installed. The BrahMos integration was validated with a test firing on 19 April 2022. In May 2024, INS ''Delhi'' along with and was a part of the three-ship

flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same cla ...

led by

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 ...

Rajesh Dhankar, the FOCEF. On 6 May 2024, the flotilla reached

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

for a three day visit as a part of operational deployment of the Navy's

Eastern Fleet Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

to the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

. The flotilla will then proceed to

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, respectively. On 12 May, INS ''Delhi'' and INS ''Shakti'' reached

Kota Kinabalu Kota Kinabalu (; formerly known as Jesselton), colloquially referred to as KK, is the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia. It is also the capital of the Kota Kinabalu District as well as the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the ...

in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and will later participate in the

Maritime Partnership Exercise Maritime Partnership Exercise (MPX) is a multilateral event conducted by Indian Navy in which naval forces of foreign countries participate. This exercise is conducted as part of the Indian Navy's ongoing efforts to enhance its operational capabil ...

with the

Royal Malaysian Navy The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN, ; Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is the naval arm of the Malaysian Armed Forces. RMN is the main agency responsible for the country's maritime surveillance and defence operations. RMN's area of operation consists of 603,2 ...

. On 20 May, INS ''Delhi'', INS ''Kiltan'' and INS ''Shakti'' arrived at

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, Philippines under the command of Rear Admiral Rajesh Dhankar. During the visit, the navies will take part in an exercise and other activities like "subject expert matter exchange, cross deck visits, cultural visits, collaborative community outreach programmes." On 23 May, the flotilla completed its visit to Philippines which was a part of the Operational Deployment of the Eastern fleet to the South China Sea. The ship participated in

Exercise Malabar Exercise Malabar is a naval exercise involving the United States, Japan and India as permanent partners. Australia re-joined the exercise in 2020. The annual Malabar exercises includes diverse activities, ranging from fighter combat operations f ...

2024 which was held from 8 to 18 October. INS ''Delhi'' took part in the

Maritime Partnership Exercise Maritime Partnership Exercise (MPX) is a multilateral event conducted by Indian Navy in which naval forces of foreign countries participate. This exercise is conducted as part of the Indian Navy's ongoing efforts to enhance its operational capabil ...

(MPX) with the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

's Frigate

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

and Tanker

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

from 21 to 23 October 2024 in the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

and the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

. In July 2025, INS ''Delhi'' was again deployed in the

South East Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

as part of the four-ship

flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same cla ...

under the command of

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 ...

Susheel Menon Rear Admiral Susheel Menon, VSM is a serving Flag officer in the Indian Navy. He currently serves as the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet. He earlier served as the Flag Officer Sea Training and commanded the aircraft carrier from 2021 t ...

, the FOCEF. The flotilla included , and . The flotilla called on

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

from 16 to 19 July. On 24 July, ''Delhi'', ''Shakti'' and ''Kiltan'' called on

Da Nang Port Đà Nẵng Port () is a major port system located in Central Vietnam at the mouth of the Han River on the East Viet Nam Sea, in the city of Đà Nẵng. It is the third largest port system in Vietnam (after Saigon Port in Hồ Chí Minh City a ...

,

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. The fleet was welcomed by the

Vietnam People's Navy The Vietnam People's Navy (VPN; ), internally the Naval Service (), also known as the Vietnamese People's Navy or simply Vietnam/Vietnamese Navy (), is the naval branch of the Vietnam People's Army and is responsible for the protection of the ...

.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delhi (D61) Delhi-class destroyers Destroyers of the Indian Navy Ships built in India 1995 ships