Fifteen years after the Union cabinet cleared Project 17 for stealth frigates, defence minister A.K. Antony on Saturday commissioned the last warship of the project — INS Sahyadri.
“With the commissioning of INS Sahyadri, Project 17 has come to an end. Sea trials for the warship was completed before commissioning. Usually sea trials get over post commissioning,” chairman and
managing director of Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) Rear Admiral (Retd) R.K. Shrawat said.
The Union cabinet had approved the project in 1997, and it was only in March 2003 that the keel of INS Sahyadri was laid; it was launched in May
2005. Ideally, a vessel should be constructed within a period of five years, but it took nine-long years for the stealth frigate. “There is a sense of satisfaction with the culmination of the prestigious project that was envisaged in 1990s,” chief of naval staff Admiral Nirmal Verma said.
Defence minister A.K. Antony said, “I am hopeful and confident that the next project — Project 17A — of Kolkata class of ships, will be more potent.”