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INS Kattabomman is the designation of the VLF-transmission facility of the Indian Navy situated at Vijayanarayanam near Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu.[1] The facility spread over 3,000 acres has 13 masts, which are arranged in two rings around the central mast. The centre mast has a height of 301 metres, the masts on the inner ring measure 276.4 metres, that on the outer ring measure 227.4 metres. The facility broadcasts at frequencies of 16.3 kHz, 17.0 kHz, 18.2 kHz, and 19.2 kHz.[2]
| INS Kattabomman | |
|---|---|
| Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu | |
 INS Kattabomman, VLF transmitting station of Indian Navy | |
| Type | Naval station |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | Indian Navy |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1990 |
| In use | 1990–present |
| Garrison information | |
| Occupants | Southern Naval Command |
Two further masts of the station carrying an umbrella antenna, the INS Kattabomman is 471 metres tall and the tallest structure in India. They are also the tallest military structure in the world. The facility opened an ELF transmission facility in 2014.[3][4]
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Development and construction of INS Kattabomman started in 1984 as Project Skylark and costed ₹122 crore (equivalent to ₹11 billion or US$120 million in 2023).[5] It was commissioned into service by Indian President Ramaswamy Venkataraman on 20 October 1990. It is named after king Veera Pandya Kattabomman, who died during the Indian independence movement.[1]
After operationalising the base, India became the seventh country in the world to have developed the Very low frequency communication capability.[6]
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VLF upgrades
On 31 July 2014, a new Very low frequency facility was inaugurated at INS Kattabomman. The upgrade was contracted to Larsen & Toubro.[7] The upgrade included digitising the control interface.[6]
Extremely low frequency facility
An Extremely low frequency communication facility is also present near the VLF facility, construction of which commenced in March 2012.[4] The facility is used by the Nuclear Command Authority to communicate with the Arihant-class submarines.[8]
India is the second country after Russia to actively operate an Extremely low frequency facility; the United States had discontinued using it in 2004. Another such facility is proposed in Damagundam Reserve Forest (approximately at 17°16'N 77°56'E ).[9] This 2nd facility had the foundation stone laid in Oct 15 2024 with a plan to be operational by 2027 [10]
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- Indian navy
- Integrated commands and units
- Armed Forces Special Operations Division
- Defence Cyber Agency
- Integrated Defence Staff
- Integrated Space Cell
- Indian Nuclear Command Authority
- Indian Armed Forces
- Special Forces of India
- Other topics
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