India to build 7 stealth frigates worth $9 billion
09:17 GMT, June 24, 2009 India will pump in $9 billion to manufacture seven advanced stealth frigates for the Indian Navy at shipyards in Kolkata and Mumbai. Being one of the landmark indigenous defence deals, this ambitious project called the P17 A warship project will give India its most advanced stealth frigates. The project has been cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC).
Interestingly, the Indian Navy had issued a Request for Information (RFI) in 2007 to international ship manufacturers including French DCNS, Italian Fincantieri, American firms Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman besides shipyards in Russia and Korea to manufacture the frigates. However, the two Indian shipyards, namely Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai (MDL) and the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata, insisted that t all the frigates could be manufactured indigenously and there was no need to outsource the warships.
DAC has clearly ruled out the possibility of any foreign manufacturer and the indigenously designed P-17 A frigates will be manufactured in Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai (MDL) and the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata. The P17A frigates will be even more advanced than the P17 Shivalik class warships that are currently being inducted by the Indian Navy.
It may be noted that the P-17 A warship project will apply modular manufacturing. The frigates will be put together using 300-ton blocks that will be fitted together, similar to the construction style used to manufacture the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) in Kochi.
According to the Defence Ministry, the frigates are expected to be inducted by 2021. The project is expected to be complete by 2011 when both GRSE and MDL complete an upgrade which will enable them to start modular construction and the first frigate will roll out approximately four years after the project work is initiated.
09:17 GMT, June 24, 2009 India will pump in $9 billion to manufacture seven advanced stealth frigates for the Indian Navy at shipyards in Kolkata and Mumbai. Being one of the landmark indigenous defence deals, this ambitious project called the P17 A warship project will give India its most advanced stealth frigates. The project has been cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC).
Interestingly, the Indian Navy had issued a Request for Information (RFI) in 2007 to international ship manufacturers including French DCNS, Italian Fincantieri, American firms Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman besides shipyards in Russia and Korea to manufacture the frigates. However, the two Indian shipyards, namely Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai (MDL) and the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata, insisted that t all the frigates could be manufactured indigenously and there was no need to outsource the warships.
DAC has clearly ruled out the possibility of any foreign manufacturer and the indigenously designed P-17 A frigates will be manufactured in Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai (MDL) and the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata. The P17A frigates will be even more advanced than the P17 Shivalik class warships that are currently being inducted by the Indian Navy.
It may be noted that the P-17 A warship project will apply modular manufacturing. The frigates will be put together using 300-ton blocks that will be fitted together, similar to the construction style used to manufacture the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) in Kochi.
According to the Defence Ministry, the frigates are expected to be inducted by 2021. The project is expected to be complete by 2011 when both GRSE and MDL complete an upgrade which will enable them to start modular construction and the first frigate will roll out approximately four years after the project work is initiated.
