The launch of ‘Ammunition Cum Torpedo Cum Missile Barge, LSAM 18’, the fourth barge out of 11 ACTCMs, built by small enterprise shipyard, M/s Suryadipta Projects Pvt, for Indian Navy, 28 February 2024. Credit: Indian Ministry of Defence.

The Indian Navy has launched another ‘Ammunition Cum Torpedo Cum Missile’ (ACTCM) barge on the 28 February 2024; the fourth of 11 units to be delivered to the service.

Designated ‘LSAM 18’, the barge will serve as an auxiliary vessel for the transportation, embarkation and disembarkation of ammunition articles to Indian Navy warships, alongside jetties and at outer harbours due to the nature of the ordnance.

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The model testing of the barge during its design stage was undertaken at Naval Science and Technological Laboratory, Visakhapatnam.

A framework contract was initially signed on 5 March 2021 with a domestic supplier, a small shipyard enterprise named M/s Suryadipta Projects Pvt Limited, based in Thane, a city just outside Mumbai in Western India.

Its last barge, LSAM 17, was delivered to the Navy on 30 November 2023 in Mumbai.

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This framework is yet another result of the Indian Government’s ‘Atmanirbrhar Bharat’ (Self-Reliant India) initiative. These barges were designed and built as part of the programme.

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“Atmanirbrhar Bharat calls for increasing involvement of the private sector in defence production and encourages foreign direct investment [FDI] in defence,” GlobalData Defence Analyst, Abhijit Apsingikar, explained.

“The private sector is being encouraged to enter into joint ventures and partnerships with foreign original equipment manufacturers and produce defence equipment domestically. This will eventually enhance the technology capability levels of the domestic private sector and develop competencies which would eventually allow them to undertake larger more important, high profile projects domestically.”

The Indian Government has gone all out to entice FDI to prop up its fledgling defence industry. In the past year some headway has been made under the INDUS-X initiative, in which US and Indian industry and academia are transferring critical knowledge and skills.

While the US Government’s interest in the partnership lies in cultivating bilateral defence ties with a country that had frequently dealt with Russia in the past, India looks to lessen its dependecy on expensive foreign systems.

This latest delivery announcement comes just after the Government granted 23 licensing agreements to micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) only a few days ago.