PANAJI/MUMBAI, MARCH 14: The Indian Navy formally placed orders for three Project 17 class of `stealth' frigates with the Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks Ltd (MDL) on Thursday. These are the first orders for a Principal Surface Combatant (PSC) placed with any Indian yard in over a decade.Stating this at Panaji on Saturday, outgoing Flag Officer commanding-in-chief Western Naval Command, Vice Admiral A R Tandon said that the frigates, with abilities to remain undetected by enemy radar, would significantly enhance the Navy's capabilities.Sources told The Indian Express in Mumbai that the construction of the first of the three 4,500-tonne `Standard Frigates' would commence at the MDL by the year-end and be ready for commissioning by around 2004.The Project 17 ships will be the first Indian warships to include stealth features in their design. Stealth involves the use of smooth-angles and hybrid materials to reduce a warship's Radar Cross Section (RCS, or the image of an object on radar). In an era ofincreased radar ranges, stealth features enable a warship to evade detection by enemy radars and increase its survivability in case of a missile attack.Originally called Project 15A, the Project 17 frigates are a follow-on to the three powerful Project 15 Delhi class missile destroyers. They have been awaiting government sanction for at least five years now. Modelled on the European Project Horizon Common New Generation Frigate Programme, naval officials have indicated that this will be `the' ship of the Indian Navy for the 21st century. ``They are multi-purpose ships incorporating features of other classes of ships like frigates and destroyers and will narrow down the number of different types of ships the Navy has at present,'' said a senior naval official.The ship is in its final stages of design formalisation, and will be built with an indigenous component of up to 80 per cent. It will be powered by a Combination Of Diesel and Gas turbines (CODAG).The Project 17 frigates, which will be deliveredto the Navy in one year intervals, are a replacement for the five ageing Leander class frigates.However, Vice Admiral Tandon expressed concern over the unavailability of funds for the Navy's modernisation programmes. He cautioned that this would affect the preparedness of the service in ten year's time. ``The orders which are being delivered now have been in the pipeline for a long time. Now there is a vacuum at the end of the pipeline,'' Admiral Tandon said. According to him, the Indian Navy will have to make do with fewer ships in the future if the government does not provide it with adequate budgetary support.Explaining the delay in funding, Admiral Tandon said that the ninth-five year plan scheduled for 1997 has not been approved yet. When the official nod comes for the proposal ``we will be half way through the plan,'' he noted.
