INS Rajput (D51)
INS Rajput is a guided-missile destroyer and the lead ship of the of the Indian Navy. She was commissioned on 4 May 1980. Commodore Gulab Mohanlal Hiranandani was her first commanding officer.
Rajput served as a trial platform for the BrahMos cruise missile. The two P-20M inclined single launchers were replaced by two boxed launchers, each with two Brahmos cells. A new variant of the Prithvi-III missile was test fired from Rajput on March 2007. 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.
