Himgiri, the first of the three stealth frigates being built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata, under Project 17A for the Navy, was launched into the water.

Try this question:

Q“To be secure on Land, we must be Supreme at Sea”. In this context, discuss why India is primarily a Maritime Nation?

Project 17A

• The coveted ‘Project 17A’ was cleared by the govt back in 2015.
• It involves the building of seven stealth frigates at an estimated cost of Rs 50,000 crore.
• Of these seven, the contract for three frigates was awarded to GRSE while the contract for another four frigates was awarded to Government-owned Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) which is based in Mumbai.
• These frigates will come armed with advanced state-of-the-art sensors and boast of top-notch stealth features.
• They will represent the most advanced class of major surface warships for the Indian Navy in a decade, also featuring BrahMos supersonic surface-to-surface missiles.
• These will also have torpedoes and rockets to hit submarines and rapid-fire guns to destroy anti-ship missiles as well as a heavy main gun to engage ships and coastal target.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now