In a historic milestone for the country's Aatmanirbharata journey, two warships, a Destroyer Surat and a Frigate Nilgiri were delivered to Indian Navy on 20 December 2024. The ships have been designed and constructed indigenously by the Warship Design Bureau WDB of Indian Navy and Mazagaon Dock Ltd, MDL. This is in keeping with the thrust, given by Government of India GOI and the Indian Navy, on nation building through self-reliance. Simultaneous induction of two state-of-the-art warships will significantly enhance the operational capability and combat readiness of the Indian Navy. Yard 12707 (Surat), the fourth and final Project 15B stealth guided missile destroyer, follows in the wake of her predecessors IN Ships Visakhapatnam, Mormugao andImphal commissioned in the past three years. Delivery of Surat culminates the iconic indigenous destroyer building project of Indian Navy, which began with the Project 15 (three Delhi class, 1997-2001), followed by Project 15A (three Kolkata class, 2014-2016) and Project 15B (four Visakhapatnam class, 2021-2024). Being a guided missile destroyer with a displacement of 7,400 tons and an overall length of 164 meters, Surat is a potent and versatile platform equipped with state-of-the-art weapons and sensors, including surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles and torpedoes. It is also poised to be IN’s first Al enabled warship utilising indigenously developed Al solutions which would enhance its operational efficiency manifolds. Yard 12651 (Nilgiri), the first Project 17A stealth frigate is a follow-on of Shivalik class (Project 17) frigates active in service. Nilgiri is first among the seven P17A frigates under construction at MDL, Mumbai and GRSE, Kolkata. These multi-mission frigates are capable of operating in a ‘blue water’ environment dealing with both conventional and non-conventional threats in the area of India’s Maritime Interests. The ships are fitted with advanced weapons and sensors. The delivery reinforces IN’s unrelenting focus on Aatmanirbharta in both ship design and shipbuilding. Warships are fitted with equipment from indigenous OEMs, viz M/s BAPL, L&T, MTPF, BEL, BHEL, Mahindra etc.
