President Murmu to launch advanced stealth frigate for Navy on Thursday

Murmu will launch the 'Vindhyagiri' at Defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd's (GRSE) facility on the banks of River Hooghly in Kolkata, defence official said

President Droupadi Murmu will launch an advanced stealth frigate here for the Indian Navy on Thursday, further propelling India's maritime prowess, a defence official said.

Murmu will launch the 'Vindhyagiri' at Defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd's (GRSE) facility on the banks of River Hooghly in Kolkata, he said.

This is the sixth of seven ships being built under Project 17 Alpha for the Navy.

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

This is the third and last stealth frigate that the Kolkata-based warship maker was contracted to build for the Navy under Project 17A.

The 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 state-of-the-art ship will be fitted with the latest gadgets and undergo extensive trials before being handed over to the Indian Navy for commissioning into service.

P17A ships are guided missile frigates, each of which is 149 metres long, with displacement of approximately 6,670 tonnes and a speed of 28 knots, according to a GRSE official. These are capable of neutralising threats in all three dimensions of air, surface and sub-surface.

The advanced frigates are a follow-on class of the P17 Shivalik class frigates with improved stealth features, advanced weapons, sensors and platform management systems.

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

The first P17A frigate 'Himgiri' built by the Kolkata-based warship maker was launched in December 2020 by Madhulika Rawat, wife of then Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat.

Meanwhile, Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) in a statement said on Wednesday that it has supplied the entire 4,000 tonnes of special steel for 'Vindhyagiri'.