India's second Project P17A Nilgiri-class guided missile frigate launched

 

The frigate Himgiri (F 41) during launch on 14 December 2020. Photo c/o The Tribune India.



Indian naval shipbuilder Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) launched the second ship of the class of the Project P17A Nilgiri-class guided-missile frigate for the Indian Navy, during ceremonies held on GRSE's shipyard in Kolkata on 14 December 2020.

While the ship, named Himgiri (F 41), was the second ship of the class, it is actually the first ship of the class that has been launched by GRSE. The lead ship of the class, the Nilgiri (F 40) together with 3 other sisterships are being built by another shipbuilder, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd. (MDSL) based in Mumbai.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic affecting supply and production of the frigate, GRSE's Chairman Retired Rear Adm. VK Saxena announced that the ship was launched two months ahead of schedule. 

GRSE was awarded an INR192.94 billion (US$2.64 billion) contract to GRSE to build three (3) Project P17A Nilgiri-class frigates. The frigate project is GRSE's largest project in terms of complexity, cost, and warship size. It also is the first gas turbine-powered warship built by GRSE.

The frigate will undergo dockside fitout works, testing and sea trials for the next 2 years. The Indian Navy is expecting to take delivery of the Himgiri by 202.

The Nilgiri-class will become the Indian Navy's most modern and largest frigates, and are built using up to 80% local content, involving 2,000 Indian companies and firms and generating thousands of direct and indirect jobs.

The ships are designed with extensive use of low-observability technologies, including the use of composite materials and radar-absorbing coatings.

It will have a displacement of around 6,670 tons, a length of 149 meters, a maximum speed of 28 knots and a maximum range of 5,500 nautical miles.

The frigates are to be armed with a BAE Systems 127mm Mk.45 naval gun, two 30mm AK-630M close-in weapon system (CIWS), two triple torpedo tubes, eight Brahmos supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles, and 32 Barak-8 surface to air missiles in Vertical Launching System (VLS) launchers.



[1] Naval News
[2] The Tribune India
[3] Economic Times India



India's second Project P17A Nilgiri-class guided missile frigate launched India's second Project P17A Nilgiri-class guided missile frigate launched Reviewed by Asia Pacific Defense Journal on December 31, 2020 Rating: 5

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