Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday praised the Indian Navy during the commissioning of two advanced stealth frigates — INS Udaygiri and INS Himgiri — at the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam.
"Today you have launched the indigenous F-35 warship. One nation has a flying F-35 and you have built a floating F-35, that too Made in India," Rajnath Singh said, highlighting Indian Navy’s growing strength.
"These warships' weapons and sensor packages make them the unparalleled guardians of the sea. It has been told to me that these warships also include many advanced capabilities. These two warships, which can cover long distances, have advanced systems such as surface-to-surface air missiles, supersonic BrahMos missiles, torpedo launchers, combat management systems, and fire control systems," Rajnat Singh said at the launch of the two new frigates.
They were modern vessels and will prove to be a game-changer in very complex and risky operations in the sea, he added. Incidentally, Udaygiri happens to be the 100th ship designed by the Navy's Warship Design Bureau (WDB), marking a milestone in five decades of indigenous warship design.
The two are follow-on ships of the Project 17 (Shivalik) class frigates, and both the vessels incorporate significant improvements in design, stealth, weapon, and sensor systems, capable of executing a full spectrum of maritime missions in 'blue water' conditions, according to officials. "Two state-of-the-art combatant platforms join the Indian Navy fleet, fortifying India’s strength at sea..." said the Indian Navy in a post on 'X' late on Monday.
Udaygiri is the second ship from Project 17A stealth frigates and was built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai, while Himgiri is the first of the P17A ships to be constructed by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata. Both the frigates represent a generational leap over earlier designs. Udaygiri also holds the distinction of being the fastest ship of her class to be delivered post-launch, a result of the modular construction methodology adopted by Indian shipyards.
Displacing about 6,700 tons, the P17A class frigates are roughly five per cent larger than their predecessor Shivalik-class frigates, incorporating a sleeker form with a reduced radar cross section. They also feature a suite of advanced weapons and sensors developed by Indian manufacturers.
The weapons suite of these frigates includes supersonic surface-to-surface missiles, medium-range surface-to-air missiles, 76 mm MR Gun, and a combination of 30 mm and 12.7 mm close-in weapon systems.
*With Agency Inputs
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