The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu graced the launch ceremony of Vindhyagiri – the sixth ship of project 17A of Indian Navy at Garden Reach Shipbuilders Engineers Limited, Kolkata, West Bengal today (August 17, 2023).
“During the event, the President of India conveyed her profound satisfaction and heartfelt appreciation for the remarkable achievements of the Warship Design Bureau and other Naval Teams, for fulfilling the nation’s aspiration of self-reliance in warship building. She also lauded GRSE for its unwavering commitment and steadfast support to warship production. The shipyard effort, has significantly enabled the Indian Navy to successfully execute its ship induction plan and emerge as a formidable force in the Indian Ocean Region.”
Indian Navy press release
Vindhyagiri is the third and final Project 17A frigate built by GRSE. For the record, the first-in-class ship, Nilgiri , was launched in September 2019 by Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL). The first Project 17A frigate built by GRSE, Himgiri, was launched in December 2020. Seven vessels of the class are planned. Four are being built by MDL and three by GRSE. Six of the seven ships of the class have now been launched. MDL has yet to launch the hull of the final ship of the class: Mahendragiri.
The first two ships in the class, Nilgiri and Udaygiri are set to be commissioned with the Indian Navy in 2024.
According to official data, 80 percent of the Nilgiri-class frigates construction is done with Indian-made materials and equipment. More than 2000 local firms are involved in the supply chain.
Project 17A is the largest surface combatant ever built by GRSE. It is also the first combat platform GRSE builds equipped with a gas turbine. For this reason, the company had to expand the infrastructure of the Kolkata shipyard and modernize production.
About Project 17A / Nilgiri-class frigate
The Nilgiri-class frigate or Project 17A is a follow-on of the Project 17 Shivalik-class frigate for the Indian Navy. The frigates are built with extensive use of low-observability technologies, including new radar-absorbing coatings, composite materials and “faceted” shape superstructures.
The ship will be fitted with a 76mm main gun, two 30 mm AK-630M anti-aircraft artillery systems, two torpedo tubes, launchers for eight BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and 32 Barak-8 surface to air missiles. Its main radar will be the MF-STAR by IAI.
Project 17A frigates main characteristics
- Displacement: 6,670 tons
- Length: 149 meters
- Width: 17,8 meters
- Draft: 5,22 meters
- Speed: 28 knots
- Range: 5,500 nautical miles
- Crew: 226 sailors
