INS Himgiri, the second of seven Project 17A frigate, launched at Garden Reach shipyard in 2020
By Vikas Gupta
Defence News of India, 15 Jul 22
Indian Navy Ship (INS) DunagiriOne of seven stealth frigates India is building under Project 17A, will be launched Friday in the Hooghly River near Kolkata.
Launching is a crucial step in building a warship. This means that the ship can float, while the rest of the construction, especially the superstructure, is done.
Like all Project 17A frigates, INS Dunagiri is named after a mountain range in the country. It started with Project 17, which gave three frigates: INS Shivalik in 2010, INS Satpura in 2011 and INS Sahyadri in 2012.
‘Dunagiri’ is the fourth warship of Project 17A. These very advanced, 6,600 tons, Guided Missile Frigates are follow-on ships to the three-frigate Project 17, known as the Shivalik class. However, the Project 17A frigates have improved stealth features, advanced weapons and sensors, and platform management systems.
‘INS Dunagiri’ is the reincarnation of an old frigate of the same name, which was part of the six-man frigate Leander to classify. The first two Project 17A warships – INS Nilgiri and INS Himgiri – were launched in 2019 and 2020 respectively at MDL and GRSE. The third ship, NSI Oudaygiriwas launched at MDL in May this year.
As soon as possible NSI by Dunagiri In 33 years of operational service from May 1977 to October 2010, he had witnessed various harsh operations and multinational exercises, the navy said Thursday.
“Launching the fourth ship in such a short time is a testament to the boost given to autonomous shipbuilding with a focused approach,” the Department of Defense said.
All of the Project 17A guided missile frigates have been designed in-house by the Indian Navy’s Naval Design Directorate (DND). DND has successfully led the design of many classes of indigenous warships over the years.
“It is a testament to the nation’s unwavering efforts towards ‘Aatmanirbharta’ as 75% of warship equipment and systems orders are also placed with local businesses including MSMEs (Medium, Small and Micro -companies).
The Nilgiri class, as the Leander class frigates are called after the first class ship, were the first Indian warships which saw the navy achieve significant levels of design and indigenization.
The seven Project 17A frigates are the first Indian warships to incorporate modular shipbuilding technologies, for which the MDL and GRSE shipyards have been retrofitted at significant cost.
