INS Malwan: India has now received ‘Malwan’, the second anti-submarine warfare shallow water craft made by Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi. The vessel was handed over to the Indian Navy on March 31, 2026. This is part of a bigger plan to build eight such ships for the Navy. The project is important because these warships are being built in India and are meant to make the country stronger at sea with less dependence on foreign suppliers. Official information says the ship was designed and built in India to Navy needs and under DNV classification rules. It also has over 80% indigenous content.
‘Malwan’ is a small warship compared with bigger destroyers and frigates, but it is built for a very important job. It is made to find and fight enemy submarines in waters close to India’s coast, where bigger warships are not always the best fit. These shallow water craft are meant to become a strong first shield near the shoreline and help the Navy watch the sea better in places where underwater threats can be hard to catch.
Malwan: Features adn Importance
The ship’s name comes from Malwan, a famous coastal town in Maharashtra that is linked to the sea legacy of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The name also keeps alive the memory of the older INS Malwan, a minesweeper that stayed in service until 2003. So this new ship is not just about modern defence. It also carries an old naval name forward into a new generation.
This vessel is the second one in the Navy’s eight-ship ASW SWC programme. It comes after INS Mahe, which was delivered earlier as the first ship in the class. The full series is expected to include Mahe, Malwan, Mangrol, Malpe, Mulki, Munroe, Makkah and Mandavi. This fleet is being brought in to replace older Abhay-class corvettes and improve India’s coastal defence network with newer ships built for present-day naval needs.
Built for submarine hunting near the coast
Malwan is around 80 metres long and has a displacement of about 1,100 tonnes. It uses a waterjet propulsion system, which gives it better movement and control in shallow waters. That helps the ship move fast and turn well in coastal zones, where space and depth can be limited. The ship carries lightweight torpedoes and anti-submarine rockets, and it also has advanced sonar systems and radars to help spot and track underwater threats.
The ship is not only for anti-submarine work. It can also support mine warfare, low-intensity maritime operations and coastal patrol tasks. That makes it useful in different kinds of missions, not just one. As sea conflicts become more complex, ships like Malwan give the Indian Navy more flexibility close to shore. Its arrival is expected to improve underwater surveillance, tracking of enemy submarines and coastal security in a meaningful way.
Malwan also shows how strongly India is pushing local defence production. With more than 80% indigenous content, the ship reflects the country’s self-reliance drive in military manufacturing.
