Vindhyagiri frigate:
President of India will launch Vindhyagiri frigate at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited, Kolkata, on August 17.
- Vindhyagiri frigate is named after a mountain range in Karnataka.
- It is the sixth ship of the Project 17A frigates.
- These warships are follow-ons of the Project 17 Class Frigates (Shivalik Class), with improved stealth features, advanced weapons and sensors and platform management systems.
- Under the Project 17A programme, four ships by Mumbai-based Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) and three by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE) are under construction.
- The project’s first five ships were launched by MDL and GRSE, between 2019-2022.
- These ships have been designed in-house by the Indian Navy’s Warship Design Bureau.
- As much as 75% of the orders for equipment and systems of Project 17A ships are from indigenous firms, including MSMEs.
Old INS Vindhyagiri:
- It was the sixth and last of the Nilgiri class frigates—in its nearly 31 years of service from 8 July 1981 to 11 June 2012, had seen many multinational exercises and performed maritime surveillance, coastal patrol and anti-piracy operations.
