According to reports, Defence Minister A.K Antony on July 2012 commissioned INS Sahyadri, a Shivalik class stealth frigate in the Indian navy, equipped with an array of modern weapons and sensors to operate both in peacetime and a multi-threat environment. The warship has been built by MDL over the past seven years. Stressing the need for a strong and vigilant Navy to defend the mainland, island territories and offshore assets, Defence Minister A.K. Antony announced that the Navy would get seven more frigates under the next P-17A project. “Cost negotiations are on into the P-17A project and once that is done, the proposal will go to the Cabinet Committee on Security [CCS] for approval,” Antony told. He said the Navy would continue to get five warships of different capabilities every year. He said the prevailing downturn in the economic situation would not affect defence plans. With the commissioning of this indigenous stealth frigate, the third and last in the Shivalik class series, the Navy has added teeth to its surface combatants’ fleet. The first two stealth frigates in the class are INS Shivalik and INS Satpura, which are now on active naval duty, including anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. The three stealth frigates in the P-17 project have cost about Rs. 10,000 crore. INS Sahyadri is equipped with some of the most advanced surface and air-to-air missiles of Russian, European and Israeli origin and can carry two helicopters — a mix of Dhrun, Sea King or Kamov — on board. A crew of 300 officers and men from the Navy will man the frigate.1

• 1. “Credible Navy need of the hour: Antony,” The Hindu, July 21, 2012, at http://www.thehindu.com/news/article3665741.ece