Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders has launched the fifth Nilgiri-class stealth frigate Taragiri (YD 12653), the Indian Ministry of Defence announced.
The ceremony was led by Indian Navy Wives Welfare Association Western Region President Charu Singh and attended by command officials and the ministry.
Singh named the frigate after a hill range in the Garhwal region of the Himalayas. The navy’s Warship Design Bureau designed the Nilgiri class.
YD 12653 will join two sister vessels at Mazagon for outfitting before their deployment.
The frigate is expected to “add to the Indian Navy’s forte as and when it makes its way into the blue waters,” according to Western Naval Command Chief Flag Officer Vice Admr. Ajendra Bahadur Singh.
Nilgiri-Class Frigates
The Nilgiri-class frigate is an upgraded variant of the P17 Shivalik-class frigate. It has a length of 149 meters (488 feet) and a beam of 17.8 meters (58 feet).
The vessel features a displacement of 6,670 tons and a maximum speed of 32 knots (59 kilometers/37 miles per hour).
The class can accommodate up to 150 personnel and carry two HAL Dhruv or Westland WS-61 Sea King helicopters.
It is armed with surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, lightweight torpedo launchers, anti-submarine rocket launchers, machine guns, and rotary cannons.
The Indian Navy’s Project 17A
YD 12653 is one of four Nilgiri-class stealth ships being developed by Mazagon as part of the Indian Navy’s Project 17A. Three other frigates of the class will be provided by the Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers.
Around 75 percent of system and equipment orders for Project 17A have been contracted with indigenous firms.
Mazagon held a keel laying ceremony earlier this year to begin the construction of the seventh frigate, the Y 12654.