Indian Navy

The Indian Navy is completing its transition from a buyer's navy to a builder's navy, with the declared goal of becoming the primary security provider in the Indian Ocean Region. Its strategy has moved from coastal defence to a forward-postured, blue-water posture across the Indo-Pacific, driven by the need to protect sea lanes, deter Pakistan and balance a growing Chinese presence in the region. The target is a fleet of 175 to 200 warships by 2035, with almost all new hulls built in Indian yards.

The fleet is structured around two carrier battle groups, formed by the domestically built INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya, escorted by Visakhapatnam-class and Kolkata-class destroyers and a rapidly growing frigate force. Deliveries have accelerated sharply: six Nilgiri-class (Project 17A) stealth frigates were delivered and commissioned between 2024 and 2026, joined by the Russian-built Talwar-class INS Tamal, the last major warship India will import. Below them, the navy is fielding large series of small anti-submarine craft, the Arnala and Mahe classes, sixteen and eight ships respectively, purpose-built for shallow coastal waters, along with new survey vessels and the first indigenously designed diving support ship, INS Nistar.

The submarine arm carries the strategic weight. India's sea-based deterrent expanded in April 2026 with the commissioning of INS Aridhaman, the third Arihant-class ballistic missile submarine and the largest yet, while the conventional force rests on six Kalvari-class boats completed with the delivery of INS Vaghsheer. Two follow-on tracks are moving in parallel: a long-negotiated Project 75I programme with German industry for air-independent submarines, and an indigenous nuclear attack submarine project intended to deliver at least six boats, marking the first serious Indian attempt at a domestically designed SSN.

Shipbuilding is concentrated at Mazagon Dock, Garden Reach and Cochin Shipyard, and the "Make in India" framework has pushed indigenous content steadily higher across hulls, combat management systems and weapons. The pipeline includes next-generation destroyers and corvettes, mine countermeasures vessels, landing platform docks and a decision, repeatedly deferred, on a third aircraft carrier. Aviation is being renewed with Rafale M fighters for the carrier air wing, MH-60R helicopters and MQ-9B maritime drones.

Operationally, the Indian Navy sustains mission-based deployments across the Indian Ocean, from the Strait of Hormuz to the Malacca approaches, with anti-piracy patrols, counter-narcotics interdictions and repeated rescues of merchant vessels attacked in the Gulf of Aden. Large exercises such as TROPEX and Milan, and partnerships with the United States, Japan, Australia and France, extend its footprint further east, positioning the navy as the reference maritime power of the region.