Union Defence Minister A K Antony on Saturday commissioned the indigenously-built stealth frigate INS Sahyadri at an impressive function held at the Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) complex here.
Sahyadri is the third stealth frigate to roll out of the MDL’s production line, after INS Shivalik and INS Satpura which have already joined the Navy. And the trio, which was built as part of a project codenamed ‘Project17’,would remain the mainstay of the Navy’s Eastern seaboard in the first half of this century.
According to a Naval official, “INS Sahyadri will be deployed in the (Navy’s) Eastern Fleet”. Meanwhile, the commissioning of the third and final frigate in the stealth class assumes significance in the wake of China’s increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea and also in the Indian Ocean region.
The frigate whose conception, design and manufacture took place indigenously would considerably boost the capabilities of the Navy in the Eastern theatre. A stealth warship is designed to have ‘low signatures’ so that it remains undetected by electronic sensors of other Navies.