INS Rajput (D51)

INS Rajput was a guided-missile destroyer and the lead ship of the Rajput class of the Indian Navy. It was commissioned on 4 May 1980. It was the first destroyer of the Indian Navy. It was built for India by the erstwhile USSR, and had the shipyard name Nadezhny (lit. Reliable). Captain (later Vice Admiral) Gulab Mohanlal Hiranandani was her first commanding officer.

The Rajput served as the trial platform for the BrahMos cruise missile, and was the first warship to be equipped with the missile. The 4 P-20M inclined single launchers on the ship (2 port and 2 starboard) were replaced by 8 boxed launchers (4 port and 4 starboard) with each having the ability to carry one BrahMos cruise missile. The BrahMos missile was test fired from the ship twice in 2003 and once in 2004, 2005 and 2008 (land-attack variant). A new variant of the Prithvi-III missile, named Dhanush, was test fired from the Rajput in March 2007 and successfully hit a land-based target. The missile had an enhanced range of 350 km. She is capable of attacking land targets, as well as fulfilling anti-aircraft and anti-submarine roles as a taskforce or carrier escort. Rajput tracked the Dhanush ballistic missile during a successful test in 2005.

The ship was decommissioned on 21 May 2021 at the Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam. She has participated in several important missions over the years, including Operation Aman off the coast of Sri Lanka to assist the Indian Peace Keeping Force during the Sri Lankan Civil War, Operation Pawan for patrolling duties off the coast of Sri Lanka, Operation Cactus to resolve the hostage situation off the Maldives, and Operation Crowsnest off Lakshadweep.