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Machilipatnam (BY 529), the seventh of eight Mahe-class Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW SWC) being built by Cochin Shipyard Limited for the Indian Navy, was launched on 29 July 2026.
Named after the historic Andhra Pradesh port city, the ship is fitted for underwater surveillance, ASW operations, Low Intensity Maritime Operations and mine warfare, with indigenous content exceeding 80%.
It is part of a 16-ship ASW SWC programme contracted in April 2019 — 8 Mahe-class by CSL and 8 Arnala-class by GRSE — whose lead ship, INS Mahe, was commissioned in November 2025.
Public sector shipbuilder constructing the 8 Mahe-class ASW SWCs for the Indian Navy
India contracted 16 Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft in April 2019 — 8 Mahe-class from Cochin Shipyard Limited and 8 Arnala-class from Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) — to detect, track and neutralise enemy submarines in coastal and shallow waters. These indigenous corvettes strengthen coastal ASW and mine-warfare capability, with over 80% indigenous content.
Simple Analogy: Coastal 'submarine hunters' — smaller and cheaper than deep-sea frigates, purpose-built to patrol shallow waters where larger anti-submarine ships can't easily operate.
Machilipatnam is CSL's seventh Mahe-class vessel; the sister Arnala-class corvettes are being built in parallel by GRSE for the same 16-ship programme
The programme's over-80% indigenous content is cited as a flagship example of self-reliant defence shipbuilding
GS Paper 3 > Defence > Indigenous Shipbuilding
Recurring — each new ASW SWC launch/commissioning gets its own PIB release
Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft — small corvettes built for coastal, shallow-water submarine detection