Prachi Mishra, Pune
A contract of Rs. 70,000 crores is proposed by the Ministry of Defense in order to initiate Project 17-B. The project aims at building advanced frigates and warships for the Indian Navy. The project is supposed to be India’s most-advanced warship in terms of Technology, which will be headed under the Nilgiri Class, which is still under construction.
Project 17-B is being bid by two major companies: Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) and the Mazagon Dockyard Ltd (MDL). Both the companies have begun working on constructions of frigates. While the Mazagon Dockyard Ltd is building two yards frigates, the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers is building three yards frigates.
The frigates will have modern components like anti- submarine armaments, electronic warfare technologies, Brahmos cruise missiles and an in-built fire control system. The Project will not only be technically-advanced but will also generate employment opportunities by giving orders to vendors and sub-suppliers.
The Mazagon Dockyard Ltd (MDL) is already working on large orders and this deal will hugely benefit them. The MDL has been working on the Kalavari Project, Project 17-A and Project 15-B which was recently completed. On the other hand, the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) has been working on the anti-submarines corvettes and next-generation offshore vessels.
If the budget for Project 17-B is approved by the Ministry of Defense there are chances that the two-yard will be split just like the project 17-A which will help the delivery schedules of the Navy.
In the year 2022 reports started coming into the market regarding follow up on Project-17 A. Although, the number of the warships that would be manufactured under this project is still unclear, the number being speculated to be about 7 or 8, but they are collectively being called ‘Bravo’ because they are progressive frigates but derived from the same ‘Alpha’ Frigates.
Reports have highlighted the fact that Project-17 ‘Bravo’ should not have major changes from their ‘Alpha’ counterparts and the details could be compared easily. The frigates have not been delivered to the Indian Navy until now, but the chances of the same to happen is high by the end of this year.