Launch of INS Surat & INS Udaygiri

India witnessed a landmark event in the history of indigenous warship building when two frontline warships of Indian Navy, Surat a Destroyer and Udaygiri, a Frigate was launched concurrently at Mazgaon Docks, Mumbai. On 17 May 22 by Shri Rajnath Singh, Hon’ble Raksha Mantri.

INS Surat is Project 15B ship, the next generation stealth guided missile destroyers with a significant makeover of the P15A (Kolkata Class) Destroyers. The ship Surat has been built using the Block construction methodology which involved hull construction at two different geographical locations joined together at MDL, Mumbai. The first ship of this class was commissioned in 2021. The second and third ships have been launched. Surat is the fourth ship.

‘Udaygiri’ is the third ship of Project 17A Frigates. It is the reincarnation of erstwhile Leander Class ASW Frigate. Under the P17A program, a total of seven ships (04 at MDL and 03 at GRSE) are under constructions. Various novel technologies like Integrated Construction Concepts, Project Data Management/ Project Lifecycle Management (PDM/PLM) etc have been adopted for the first time in these indigenous Warship Design and Construction. The first two ships of P17A Project, were launched in 2019 and 2020 at MDL and GRSE respectively.

Both 15B and P17A ships have been designed in-house by the Directorate of Naval Design (DND). Approx 75% of the equipment and systems have been placed on indigenous firms including MSMEs which is a true testament of ‘Atmanirbharta’ in the country. The Govt effort in the indigenous capability is laudable that will make India a force to reckon with.