The Indian Navy NGMV program reached a key milestone on September 18, 2026, when Cochin Shipyard Limited held the keel-laying ceremony for the first Next Generation Missile Vessel. The event follows the steel-cutting for the second NGMV earlier in the month.
Cochin Shipyard Limited signed a ₹9,804 crore, over $1 billion, contract with the Ministry of Defence in March 2023 to design and build six NGMVs. Steel cutting for the lead ship began in December 2024. The keel-laying confirms the start of physical assembly on the slipway.
The project marks a strategic step for CSL as it moves into constructing advanced, weapon-heavy surface combatants. The shipyard’s defense work includes India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, and an ongoing series of eight Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft. Additional orders are anticipated for Next Generation Survey Vessels.
Indian Navy NGMV combat capabilities
According to CSL, the NGMV’s primary mission is to deliver offensive power against hostile warships, merchant vessels, and shore targets. The ships are designed for Maritime Strike and Anti Surface Warfare operations and to impose sea denial at maritime choke points. In a defensive role, the vessels will support Local Naval Defence and the Seaward Defence of Offshore Development Areas.
The high-speed, waterjet-propelled ships will field BrahMos surface-to-surface missiles, a VLSRSAM anti-missile defense system, and Bharat Electronics’ multifunction radar for air surveillance and fire control. Each ship will carry a crew of about 80 and is expected to reach 33 knots. Imagery and scale models depict two inclined bow launchers for BrahMos with two missiles apiece, for a total of four. This is half of the missile load indicated in a 2015 request for information. Models also show a 76 mm SRGM, a stern-mounted close-in weapon system, and associated fire-control radar.
Propulsion and indigenous supply chain
Kongsberg Maritime signed a contract in April 2026 to supply 18 large Kamewa waterjets for the class. Each ship’s three waterjets will be driven by a single GE Aerospace LM2500 gas turbine under an agreement concluded in October 2024. The engines will be assembled in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
In September 2024, Bharat Electronics Limited received an order valued at ₹850 crore, around $100 million, from CSL to supply a DRDO-developed X-band multifunction radar for the program. The radar will have a range of about 200 kilometers.
Indian Navy NGMV: what comes next
With first delivery initially targeted for early 2027, the NGMVs are set to be the largest waterjet-driven vessels in naval service. They are intended to take over roles from older Indian Navy corvettes, including the Veer-class missile boats. Some Veer-class units have recently been refitted, replacing obsolete P-15 anti-ship missiles with twin-tube BrahMos launchers.
The induction continues the Navy’s long-standing use of fast missile craft, a lineage that traces back to Osa-class boats employed during Operation Trident and Operation Python against Karachi in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War.
This evolution in fast missile craft mirrors other ongoing naval modernization efforts, such as the Quantum Systems maritime domain programs. It underscores how surface and sub-surface capabilities are being reshaped for contested littoral environments.