10.7.12

Frigate plan gathers speed

India’s mammoth Rs 50,000 crore plan to construct seven advanced stealth frigates, with all weapon and missile systems under the hull for a lower radar “signature”, is finally gathering some momentum with the overall strategy to build a futuristic bluewater Navy indigenously. 
This major plan, codenamed ‘Project-17A’, will be a strong booster dose for defence shipyards since it will be shared between Mazagon Docks (MDL) at Mumbai and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) at Kolkata. 
“The CNC (contract negotiation committee) is currently underway for P-17A, which has already been approved by the defence ministry. The contract will be awarded af
ter the final nod from the Cabinet Committee on Security. While MDL will build four, GRSE will construct the other three,” said a source. 
This comes even as the third and final stealth frigate INS Sahyadri built by MDL, under the longdelayed ‘P-17’ at a cost of Rs 8,101 crore, is now all set to be commissioned on July 21. Defence minister A K Antony will travel to Mumbai to commission the frigate, commanded by Captain S Vatsayan, like he did for INS Shivalik and INS Satpura.

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