The Indian Navy’s (IN) seven-ship Project 17A stealth frigate programme achieved a significant milestone with the launch of the first hull, the future INS Nilgiri, on 28 September.
The programme, valued at INR480 billion ($6.86 billion), is being undertaken at two shipyards – lead yard Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (MDSL) with four hulls and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) with three. According to IN officials, production of five hulls is now under way.
In a first for Indian warships, the 6,670t frigates are being built using an integrated construction methodology under the technical guidance of Fincantieri, entailing assembling
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