Defense Minister Rajnath Singh launched indigenously built naval ships Surat and Udaygiri in Mumbai. The warships are a “true testament of Atmanirbhar Bharat” as approximately 75% of the orders for equipment and systems for the warships were given to indigenous firms including micro, small and medium enterprises.
INS Surat is the fourth destroyer in Project 15B which is named after the second-largest commercial hub of western India. While INS Udaygiri is the third ship under Project 17A Frigates, named after the mountain ranges in Andhra Pradesh.
The warships, designed at the Directorate of Naval Design (DND) and built entirely at MDL as part of Atmanirbhar Bharat mission, are the Project 15B destroyer Indian Naval Ship (INS) Surat and the Project 17A frigate INS Udaygiri.
Both 15B and P17A ships have been designed in-house by the Directorate of Naval Design (DND).
INS SURAT
15B class of ships are the next generation stealth guided missile destroyers of the Indian Navy being built at the Mazgaon Docks Ltd, Mumbai.
‘Surat’ is the fourth ship of Project 15B Destroyers, which heralds a makeover of the P15A (Kolkata Class) Destroyers, and is named after the commercial capital of the state of Gujarat and also the second largest commercial hub of western India after Mumbai.
Surat city has a rich maritime and ship building history and vessels built at the city in the 16th and 18th centuries were known for their longevity (of more than 100 years).
The ship Surat has been built using the Block construction methodology, which involved hull construction at two different geographical locations and has been assembled at MDL, Mumbai.
The first ship of this class was commissioned in 2021. The second and third ships have been launched and are at different stages of outfitting/ trials.
INS UDAYGIRI
‘Udaygiri’, named after a mountain range in the state of Andhra Pradesh, is the third ship of Project 17A Frigates.
These are follow-on of the P17 Frigates (Shivalik Class) with improved stealth features, advanced weapons and sensors and platform management systems.
‘Udaygiri’ is the reincarnation of erstwhile ‘Udaygiri’, the Leander Class ASW Frigate, which saw numerous challenging operations in its service spanning over three decades from February 18, 1976 to August 24, 2007.