Mothership, MCM, Trials Platform: Indian Navy Inducts First Multi-Purpose Vessel

A multi-purpose vessel is a naval ship designed to perform several supporting missions rather than one narrow task. INS Samarthak combines surveillance, patrol, weapon trials, mine-countermeasure support, disaster relief, firefighting, and uncrewed-system operations. This flexibility matters because one lower-cost ship can support strategically important work across different situations.

For example, Samarthak can act as a target deployment and trials platform, a mothership for uncrewed aerial, surface, and subsurface vehicles, or a limited hospital ship. It can also support MCM operations by launching and recovering mine-countermeasure USVs and UUVs. Its flight deck, stern crane, and dynamic positioning system support these varied tasks.

The Indian Navy commissioned Samarthak at Karwar on October 16, 2026. It is the first of two ordered in March 2022, with two more vessels cleared for ordering. Its over 75% indigenous content and broad mission set make it a flexible support platform.

INS Samarthak is designed as an adaptable platform for missions that normally require several specialized assets. Its listed roles include maritime surveillance and patrol, Low Intensity Maritime Operations, weapon trials, target deployment, mine-countermeasure support, HADR operations, firefighting for salvage, and conversion into a limited hospital ship.

Its mechanisms are practical. The vessel can launch and recover aerial and subsurface targets, while its flight deck and stern crane support uncrewed aerial, surface, and underwater systems. For mine countermeasures, it can act as a mothership for MCM USVs and UUVs. Different radars, sonars, weapons, and electronic systems can be fitted for testing.

Samarthak was commissioned at Karwar on October 16, 2026. The ship is not expected to serve as a combatant, and its possible weapons will not all be installed together. Equipment can change with the mission or trial requirement.

INS Samarthak is a sizable support ship, measuring 107 meters in length and displacing about 3,700 tons. Its diesel engines provide a maximum speed of 15 knots. These figures give it the size and mobility needed for patrols, trials, disaster response, and operations with uncrewed vehicles.

Its endurance exceeds 4,500 nautical miles when traveling at 10 knots. A Dynamic Positioning System provides precise control during complex manoeuvres. The ship also has a large flight deck, a stern-mounted crane, and facilities for launching and recovering aerial and subsurface targets. These features expand its usefulness beyond simple transport.

More than 75% of the vessel’s content is indigenous. Its integrated combat suite combines Indian sensors, weapons, and electronic systems. The ship was built by Larsen and Toubro, and Samarthak is the company’s first major warship inducted into the Indian Navy.

Frontline surface combatants are built and equipped for combat, but navies also need ships for testing, surveillance, patrol, rescue, mine-countermeasure support, and disaster relief. Using an expensive combatant for these auxiliary tasks can reduce the number of warships ready for combat operations. Samarthak is intended to reduce that burden.

The ship can deploy targets for weapon trials, conduct maritime surveillance, support LIMO, and serve as a mothership for uncrewed systems. It can also support HADR, firefighting for salvage, and limited hospital operations. Its dynamic positioning system helps it hold precise positions during complex manoeuvres, while its flight deck and crane support launches and recovery.

The Ministry of Defence describes the class as an ideal utility ship for strategically important operations. The MPVs are a low-cost class, and their broad capabilities should let frontline vessels focus on combat missions. Samarthak is the first of two ordered, with two more cleared for ordering.

A mothership gives smaller uncrewed platforms a base at sea. It can carry, launch, recover, support, and reposition them without requiring each vehicle to operate independently from shore. This matters because uncrewed systems can extend surveillance, mine-countermeasure, and testing activity across larger maritime areas.

Samarthak is fitted for this role with a large flight deck and a stern-mounted crane. It can launch and recover aerial and subsurface targets, and it can support uncrewed aerial, surface, and subsurface platforms. In mine countermeasures, the vessel can act as a mothership for MCM USVs and UUVs. Its Dynamic Positioning System enables precise control during complex manoeuvres.

The Indian Navy’s planned use of Samarthak as an uncrewed-systems mothership is especially important because the class can perform support work without being a frontline combatant. Its equipment can also be adapted for different trials and missions.

Mine-countermeasure vessels are needed to find and deal with sea mines, which can threaten ships and restrict access to ports, channels, and operating areas. The article does not describe specific mine types or clearance procedures, but it identifies MCM as a required naval role. Safe movement at sea depends on addressing that threat.

Samarthak helps by acting as a mothership for mine-countermeasure uncrewed surface vessels and uncrewed underwater vehicles. Its flight deck, stern crane, and launch-and-recovery capability support these systems. The mothership can therefore provide a crewed base for operating specialized vehicles without being designed as a conventional combatant.

The need is pressing because the Indian Navy currently operates no MCMVs. Efforts to acquire 12 such ships have faced delays for decades. Samarthak does not replace a full fleet of dedicated MCMVs, but it gives the Navy an available platform for MCM support and uncrewed-system operations.

A naval support vessel is a ship that sustains, enables, or conducts important operations outside a frontline combatant’s main fighting role. Samarthak illustrates this idea through patrols, weapon trials, disaster relief, firefighting, mine-countermeasure support, and uncrewed-system operations. The article describes it as an ideal utility ship for strategically important operations.

Specialized ships make these missions more efficient because they can carry the equipment, launch systems, cranes, sensors, or medical facilities needed for a particular task. Uncrewed aerial, surface, and subsurface platforms add reach without requiring every activity to be performed by a crewed warship. Samarthak’s flight deck, stern crane, and dynamic positioning system support this model.

The Navy is not expected to use the MPV as a combatant, and its possible weapons will not all be fitted simultaneously. Instead, the class is intended to free frontline surface combatants from auxiliary roles. Its over 75% indigenous content also supports India’s broader shipbuilding capability.