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Further Reading

Project 17A Frigate

India has embarked on one of the most ambitious naval building and procurement plans in the world. Among the projects is the Project 17A Shivalik-class frigate, the follow on the Project 17 (Shivalik class) frigates for the Indian Navy. Project 17A could either extend Indian modifications of the Krivak IIIs once again, or adopt an entirely different base platform. A total of seven ships will be built, though in 2007 it was reported that 12 more of improved Project 17A model may be built. As of 2000 India was looking to purchase one Stealthy Frigate from a foreign yard and several more to be constructed domestically.

To augment its surface combatant fleet with a new class of multi-role, fast stealth frigates, the Indian Navy floated a global request for information (RFI) in December 2006 to a number of Russian, European and American shipyards for building one vessel in an international shipyard and six in India, most probably at the Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai, or the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata. The deal was expected to be worth around Rs. 30,000 crore. Three American companies (Lockheed Martin, NorthropGrumman, and General Dynamics) have been sent the initial requests for information.

As of late 2007 the Navy reportedly planned to order four more frigates under Project-17A. As of December 2008 the Russian shipbuilding industry was in line for for the co-design and joint fabrication of seven guided-missile frigates under Project 17A, for which Moscow was said to be offering the "Project 1167" FFG. But no one has ever heard of a "Project 1167" FFG from Russia, and if a Russian frigate were on offer to India it is far more likely to be the the 4,500 ton Project 22350 Gorshkov DDG was implausibly said to be offered for the Indian Project 15B destroyer program. Project 17A would be a "one plus six" program, with the first built abroad and the remaining six built in India.

In the FORCE November 2008 issue the Controller of Warship Production and Acquisition has stated "a total of 7 destroyers, 13 frigates..." as the major warship construction that would have been accomplished by 2022. That would indicate (3 P15A + 4 P15B} destroyers and {3 Krivaks + 3 P17 + 7 P17A} frigates. Interviews of senior Indian navy officials in the December 2008 issue of FORCE talk of future warship construction projects, with the seven Project 15B DDGs and seven Project 17A FFGs clealy identified. The Improved Krivaks are of imported origin and do not form part of the domestic warship construction package. That still leaves a shortfall of six yet-to-be-built FFGs and this void is to be filled by an additional 3 Project 1135.6 FFGs to add to the six, plus ordering an additional three more Project 17 FFGs as a Batch 2 package.

In November 2008 Vice Admiral Dilip Deshpande, Controller of Warship Production and Acquisition, said that with three frigates (Project 17) were under construction at MDL and three more frigates (Talwar Class follow-on) under construction at Yantar Shipyard in Russia. "We have plans to order seven more frigates under Project 17A where we plan to adopt a new build technology or integrated construction. We are looking at transfer of technology for this type of construction where modules are completed and fitted together as a whole. At present, we are in discussion with advanced shipyards for this technology (like DCNS, Fincantieri, shipyards in South Korea, Bath Iron Works, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Gruman and Rosboronexport). Whoever emerges as the best option in terms of technology transfers and costs would be given the contract. Where these frigates will be constructed has not been decided as yet."

India has never done modular shipbuilding, which involves constructing a multi-thousand-ton warship in 300-ton modules, which are brought together and assembled. both GRSE and Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai (MDL) are spending hundreds of crores on creating modular construction facilities by mid-2011, by when assembly of the Project 17-A frigates is due to start. The project may be split between two shipyards. Vice Admiral HS Malhi, chairman and managing director (CMD) of MDL explains, "We have to ensure that the navy gets all these seven warships by 2021. That means GRSE and MDL might both work concurrently on Project 17 A; you might have four built in MDL and three in GRSE. There is enough work for both shipyards." GRSE and MDL insist that Project 17-A be built entirely in India. Business Standard has reported that the Indian Navy wanted the first two frigates to be built abroad by the design partner.

By early 2009 there appeared to be three contenders - the French FM400, German MEKO frigate and Russian Admiral Sergai Gorshkov class frigates. The French FM400 and German MEKO class frigates are quite different from what India currently operated. As the La fayette is out of production, DCNS offered the FM400, a smaller cheaper version of FREMM. As the Sachsen is not on offer, the Germans offered the MEKO D500, a 5000 ton frigate similar to the Project 17A requirement, or an enlarged version MEKO D600, which is of 6000 tons. There was also some suggestion that the P17A tender for 7 frigates had been split into two parts, with possible purchase of 3 additional Modified Krivak class frigates, and 4 additional Shivalik class frigates, to fulfill the 7 frigates wanted by the Navy.