From afar it has the appearance of a compact boat, but one who goes near and enters it would soon realise that the compactness is deceptive as, hidden within the Car Nicobar-class offshore patrol vessel of the Indian Navy, is astounding operational capabilities and fire power.
Not surprisingly, there was a huge turnout of people to see the naval vessel berthed at the Vizhinjam harbour on Friday.
Weighing 370 tonnes, INS Kabra was commissioned in 2012, one of the 12 Car Nicobar-class vessels of the Indian Navy. Its uniqueness lies in that it is a water jet-propelled vessel.
The ship consists of small, large, and heavy guns with laser rangefinder. The navigation system includes GPS, electronic and radar system. The ship was made indigeniously by Garden Reach of Kolkata. INS Kabra, which has four captains and 40 sailors, would head to Kochi from Vizhinjam.
There was a small exhibition of four amours, 5.56 mm INSAS assault rifle, 9 mm pistol, 9 mm carbine, and 51 mm mortar. There was a sale of jerseys, T-shirts, sweat shirts, and caps with emblem of the Navy as part of the display.
