Article Posted on : - Aug 18, 2023

KOLKATA (PTI): The seventh and last of the stealth frigates being built by MDL under Project 17 Alpha will be launched on September 1, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar said here on Thursday.

The Navy had placed orders for seven stealth frigates, four of which went to Mazagon Dock Ltd (MDL) and three to GRSE.

"The fourth stealth frigate being built by MDL under P17A will be launched on September 1," the CNS told reporters here following the launch of the third and last stealth frigate built by GRSE under P17A by President Droupadi Murmu.

He said that various ships of the Indian Navy are under construction in 19 shipyards.

"Sixty-three ships are under construction out of which 61 are being built in India... We are giving thurst to self-reliance as per the directives of the government," Kumar said.

Noting that patrol boat INS Ajay, the first naval ship to be built in India, was by GRSE, he said that the country has come a long way from there to build various ships like landing crafts, landing ships, corvettes, frigates, destroyers and aircraft carrier.

The CNS said that the Navy wants to be fully self-reliant by 2047, just as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a goal for India to be 'atmanirbhar' (self-reliant) by the same year.

"All effort is being put in to ensure that we make all the warships, submarines and aircraft required for the Navy to be built in India," he said.

Describing the launch of the state-of-the-art stealth frigate 'Vindhyagiri' as a landmark event, Kumar said that the addition of the combat platform adds to the potential of the Navy and the nation.

He said that the ship is much more potent than its previous avatar - a Leander class anti-submarine warfare frigate, which was decommissioned in 2012.

"She has got all capabilities desirable of a frigate of its size," he said.

Stating that there are three components of a ship - to float, to move and to fight, the CNS said that in the first category, the country has achieved around 95 per cent indigenisation, while in the move component, which are the engines, around 65 to 70 per cent indigenisation has been achieved.

"We have taken up a case to make all these things in India - gas turbine generators, gas turbines, diesel engines of 12 megawatt and above and electric propulsion," he said.

Kumar said that India is likely to achieve a very high level of indigenisation in the move component within five to seven years.

The CNS said that 55 per cent indigenisation has been achieved in the fight component and so more weapons, radars, etc are required to be made here.

A Defence official said that 75 per cent of orders for equipment and systems of P17A ships are from indigenous firms, including micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The first five ships of the project were launched between 2019 and 2022.