RAS question
Visakhapatnam-class destroyers (Project 15B) are equipped with:
Correct answer: (B) BrahMos missiles, Barak-8 SAM, and torpedo tubes.
Visakhapatnam-class Project 15B destroyers are equipped with BrahMos surface-to-surface missiles, Barak-8 surface-to-air missiles, and torpedo tube launchers.
Explanation
Visakhapatnam-class, or Project 15B, destroyers are not single-role ships; they are guided-missile destroyers built around a full maritime-warfare weapons fit. The PIB release on INS Imphal, the third Project 15B destroyer delivered by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited to the Indian Navy, says the ship is armed with supersonic surface-to-surface BrahMos missiles and Barak-8 medium-range surface-to-air missiles. For undersea warfare, it is fitted with indigenously developed anti-submarine weapons and sensors, including heavy-weight torpedo tube launchers and ASW rocket launchers. The class also carries a 76 mm gun, AK-630 CIWS and can operate two helicopters, so option B captures the core missile and torpedo suite.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) The ships can operate two helicopters, but helicopters are only one part of a much wider combat fit.
- (C) The destroyers do carry guns, including a 76 mm Super Rapid Gun Mount and AK-630 CIWS, but their defining fit also includes BrahMos missiles, Barak-8 SAMs and torpedo launchers.
- (D) The PIB release does not list nuclear weapons; the stated armament is conventional missiles, air-defence weapons, guns and anti-submarine systems.
Concept
This tests defence technology under Science and Technology, especially the platform-weapon matching that often appears in RAS current-affairs-linked questions. Project 15B recurs because it connects indigenous shipbuilding, naval modernisation and named missile systems in one factual frame.