India to boost 'blue-water' warfare punch with two new stealth frigates

Sources say the 6,200-tonne indigenous stealth frigate INS Satpura is likely to be commissioned in June-July , while the Russian-built 4,900-tonne INS Teg should finally be ready for induction by September-October .

By Rajat Pandit, TNN | Updated: May 25, 2011, 10.22 AM IST

NEW DELHI: The navy continues to hone its war-fighting capabilities despite being stretched in coastal security and anti-piracy operations. The force is now on course to soon induct two more deadly stealth frigates to bolster its growing “blue-water ” warfare capabilities.

Sources say the 6,200-tonne indigenous stealth frigate INS Satpura is likely to be commissioned in June-July , while the Russian-built 4,900-tonne INS Teg should finally be ready for induction by September-October . These long-awaited warships will come at a time when navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma has stressed that “maintenance of war-fighting abilities'' remains the “top-most priority” for his force despite the “large number of peacetime commitments (anti-piracy , coastal security and the like) at hand'' .

“With the security situation being fluid, we need to maintain the organizational ability to deploy warships, submarines and aircraft at immediate notice,” said Admiral Verma, at the naval commanders’ conference here on Tuesday.

INS Satpura and INS Teg will certainly boost combat capabilities, packed as they are with sensors, weapons and missile systems , coupled with their stealthy nature due to “vastly-reduced” radar, infra-red , noise, frequency and magnetic “signatures” to beat enemy detection systems.

That’s not all. INS Satpura, the second of three indigenous stealth frigates built under the Rs 8,101-crore Project-17 at Mazagon Docks, will be followed by INS Sahyadri after six months. The first, INS Shivalik, was commissioned in April last year.

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