INS Mahendragiri: Evidence of India’s Growing Shipbuilding Capability

The Indian Navy has commissioned the indigenously built advanced stealth frigate INS Mahendragiri into its Eastern Fleet at Visakhapatnam. It is the sixth Project 17A stealth frigate inducted within about one-and-a-half years.

What is INS Mahendragiri?

• It is an advanced indigenous stealth frigate developed under Project 17A.
• It contains more than 75% indigenous components and has a displacement of approximately 6,670 tonnes.
• It is equipped with BrahMos supersonic surface-to-surface missiles, multifunction radars and medium-range surface-to-air missiles.
• It is a versatile, multi-mission warship capable of operating in deep-sea conditions.
• It is named after the Mahendragiri mountain range in the Eastern Ghats.
• The frigate represents progress in indigenous ship design, stealth, survivability and combat capability.

What Has Driven the Quick Induction?

• Lessons from constructing the first four Project 17A ships helped shorten construction timelines.
• Better planning, timely approvals and faster signing of procurement contracts improved implementation.
• Common design and construction methods were adopted for projects such as Project 17A and Project 15B.
• The Navy remained involved throughout the design, construction and systems-integration stages.
• Modular construction, advanced simulation technology and public-private partnerships reduced delivery timelines from approximately 90 months to 72 months.