India to induct indigenous advanced stealth frigate next week

INS Shivalik will be the first of the three-ship Project-17 being executed by MDL to boost the Navy’s surface combatant fleet. The warship has a mix of imported and indigenous weapons and sensors and the total indigenous effort accounts for 60 per cent of the ship cost.

“The design incorporates several stealth features. The radar cross-section of the ships have been considerably reduced through many design iterations of the hull and superstructure using extensive 3-D modeling and RCS signature evaluation using a specialist software,” a senior Naval officer said.

The two other ships in the Shivalik class,INS Sayahdri and INS Satpura,will be ready for commissioning by November this year and middle of next year. Naval Design Director General Rear Admiral K N Vaidyanathan said the cost of building each of the 143-metre-long warships with 6,000-tonne displacement will be around Rs 2,300 crore.