Indian Military

[IANS] The Indian Navy is to get 16 stealth frigates in the next 10 years, with 10 being built indigenously, three imported from Russia and another Three on order, an officer said on Wednesday. The first indigenously-built stealth ship, {ln:project-17-shivalik-class-frigate 'INS Shivalik}, will be commissioned on April 29. The 6,000-tonne ship was built at Mumbai’s Mazagaon Docks Limited under Project 17. Two more such vessels – INS Satpura and Sahyadri – are under construction and are likely to be commissioned in the next one year.

[THE HINDU] The Indian Navy will commission the first {ln:project-17-shivalik-class-frigate 'Shivalik class frigate} later this month. The project took over a decade to complete, highlighting the problems of time overruns being faced in domestic ship-building, a point stressed by Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma. The keel-laying for the first of the three {ln:project-17-shivalik-class-frigate 'Shivalik class ships} was done in 2001, but its completion was delayed on account of a series of issues, including steel being sourced from outside and weapons systems. Defence Minister A.K. Antony is scheduled to commission the ship at Mumbai on April 29.