Indian Navy
India's naval force, patrolling the Indian Ocean as Iranian warships fall in its waters.
The Indian Navy is converting six of its patrol boats into crewless craft under a 2022 contract. On 14 September 2026 the Indian Register of Shipping certified the software behind the conversion, Accurate Industrial Controls' ISACA collision-avoidance program, to International Maritime Organization standards.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026 · Appears in 2 active topics
Can India host global fleet exercises while staying silent on warships sunk in its waters?
Timeline for Indian Navy
Contracted the patrol-boat conversions in 2022
Autonomous Systems: Land & Sea: Indian Register clears navy USV softwareForward-deployed two mine countermeasures vessels to the Strait of Hormuz coalition
Iran Conflict 2026: Italy deploys minesweepers to Hormuz coalitionParticipated as Sri Lanka formally interned IRIS Bushehr and 208 crew
Iran Conflict 2026: Sri Lanka interns IRIS Bushehr, 208 crewBroke four days of silence signing condolence book at Iranian embassy
Iran Conflict 2026: India breaks four-day silence on IranMentioned in: 80 dead on IRIS Dena; 100 missing at sea
Iran Conflict 2026Background
The Indian Navy is the SEA service of India's armed forces, with about 67,000 personnel, two aircraft carriers (INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant) and roughly 150 ships. It is run from New Delhi through Western, Eastern and Southern naval commands at Mumbai, Visakhapatnam and Kochi. Its roots go back to the East India Company's Marine of 1612, and it took its present name in 1950.
The navy presents itself as the Indian Ocean's host and partner, running multinational gatherings such as Exercise MILAN at Visakhapatnam. The 2026 Iran war tested that role. IRIS Dena was sunk by a US submarine south of Sri Lanka on 3 March after leaving MILAN, with at least 80 dead. Sri Lanka, not India, then interned her sister ship IRIS Bushehr and its 208 CREW at Trincomalee under the 1907 Hague Convention.
Uncrewed surface craft come next for the Indian Navy. A 2022 contract with Accurate Industrial Controls converts six existing patrol boats, starting with a 13m interceptor and two 23m support vessels.
Six patrol boats are losing their crews
The navy's first uncrewed surface craft will be conversions, not new builds. Under a contract signed in 2022, Accurate Industrial Controls is refitting six existing patrol boats to run without crews. A 13m interceptor leads the work, followed by a pair of 23m support boats.
ISACA, The Firm's collision-avoidance software, was certified as meeting IMO rules by India's own class society, the Indian Register of Shipping; Marine Technology News carried the news on 14 September 2026. The certificate came only after 2,500 hours of trials at SEA and on rivers, in five audited stages. For the navy, that is a third-party record of how the software behaves at SEA, not the supplier's own account, before any converted boat enters service.
Its exercise guest sank within days
The Iranian frigate IRIS Dena had just left Exercise MILAN, the multinational gathering the Indian Navy hosts at Visakhapatnam, when a US submarine torpedoed her about 40 nautical miles south of Galle, Sri Lanka, on 3 March 2026. Sri Lanka's deputy foreign minister said at least 80 CREW died and about 100 were unaccounted for.
Sri Lankan vessels, not Indian ones, rescued the 32 critically wounded survivors. New Delhi made no protest over the sinking. Its first gesture came four days later, on 6 March, when Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri signed a condolence book for Ayatollah Khamenei at the Iranian embassy and made no statement. A navy that presents itself as the region's host was left with no stated government position on the loss of its guest.
What is the Indian Navy?
What happened to Iranian warships in Indian Ocean waters in 2026?
Why did India not protest the sinking of IRIS Dena?
How does the Indian Navy compare to the Iranian Navy in the Indian Ocean?
What is Exercise MILAN?
