The Indian Navy received the delivery of Yard 12652, Udaygiri, the second ship of Project 17A stealth frigate, being built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL), today.
Under the Project, a follow-on of the Shivalik class (Project 17) frigates active in service, Udaygiri is the second among the seven P17A frigates under construction at MDL, Mumbai and GRSE, Kolkata. These multi-mission frigates are capable of operating in a ‘Blue Water’ environment dealing with both conventional and non-conventional threats in the area of India’s Maritime Interests, a statement from the Naval spokesperson stated.
Udaygiri is being promoted as the modern avatar of its predecessor, erstwhile INS Udaygiri a Steam Ship, decommissioned in August 2007 after rendering 31 years of service.
The updated version comes with enhanced stealth features and is fitted with state-of-the-art weapons and sensors, a significant upgrade from the P17 class. The ships represent a quantum leap in the Indian Navy’s in-house design capabilities at the Warship Design Bureau. The newly designed ships are also being built employing the philosophy of ‘Integrated Construction’, which involves extensive pre-outfitting at the Block stages to reduce the overall build periods. Udaygiri has been delivered to the Indian Navy, in a record time of 37 months from the date of launching, the statement added.
The hull of P17A ships is geo-symmetrically larger by 4.54 percent as compared to its predecessor. These ships are fitted with an advanced weapon and sensors suite with enhanced ‘sleek and stealthy’ features compared to the P 17 class. The ships are configured with Combined Diesel or Gas (CODOG) main propulsion plants, comprising a Diesel Engine and Gas turbine, driving a Controllable Pitch Propeller (CPP) on each shaft and a state-of-the-art Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS). The weapon suite comprises supersonic Surface-to-Surface missile system, a Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile system, 76 mm Gun, and a combination of 30 mm and 12.7 mm rapid-fire close-in Weapon Systems.
Further, the warship is fitted with major weapons and sensors sourced from indigenous OEMs. The remaining five ships of the P 17A Class are at various stages of construction at MDL, Mumbai and GRSE, Kolkata and would be delivered progressively by the end of 2026, the statement read.