The second of the three-ship Project-17 Shivalik Class frigate, INS Satpura was commissioned by Naval Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma.Defence Minister AK Antony was scheduled to commission the ship but could not do so as he is indisposed, the Navy chief said.
Built by the state-owned Mazagon Dockyards Limited, INS Satpura is a 143-metre-long warship with 6,200-tonne displacement.
The lead ship of this category, INS Shivalik, was commissioned into the Navy in April last year and is presemtly integarting into the Eastern Fleet based at Visakhapatnam.Shivalik class warships can deal with multiple threat environment and are fitted with weapon suite comprising both area and point defence systems.
It has sensors for air, surface and sub-surface surveillance, electronic support and counter equipment and decoys for soft kill measures.The third Shivalik class vessel, INS Sahyadri, is expected to be ready for commissioning by next year.
Being inducted six to seven months behind schedule, the warship is equipped with a mix of imported and indigenous weapon systems and sensors.
Officially termed a guided-missile frigate, the Satpura weighs in at a muscular 6,200 tonnes. Frigates typically weigh 4,500-6,500 tonnes; the next-higher class of warships, called destroyers, begin at about 7,000 tonnes. The Satpura carries 24 Russian Klub missiles, which can hit ground targets more than two hundred kilometres away with pinpoint precision. The Indian Navy would have liked the Satpura to carry the more capable and lethal Brahmos missile, but that is too heavy for the frigate. Only the Indian Navy’s destroyers are currently armed with the Brahmos. The lead ship of this category, INS Shivalik, was commissioned into the Navy in April last year and is presemtly integarting into the Eastern Fleet based at Visakhapatnam.Shivalik class warships can deal with multiple threat environment and are fitted with weapon suite comprising both area and point defence systems.
It has sensors for air, surface and sub-surface surveillance, electronic support and counter equipment and decoys for soft kill measures.The third Shivalik class vessel, INS Sahyadri, is expected to be ready for commissioning by next year.
Being inducted six to seven months behind schedule, the warship is equipped with a mix of imported and indigenous weapon systems and sensors.
The Satpura is also equipped with the Israeli Barak air defence system, to ward off enemy aircraft and missiles. It has torpedoes to deal with enemy submarines, as well as an RB-6,000 multi-barrelled depth charge launcher. Posted on board the Satpura is a tiny aviation unit, with hangars and facilities for two Sea King, or indigenous Dhruv helicopters.
Driving this 142 metre-long warship through the water are two French Pielstick diesel engines. In addition, there are two General Electric LM-2500 gas turbines. This provides the advantage of fuel-efficient operation in the normal course, using the Pielstick diesels, while the gas turbines take over when bursts of speed are required, especially in battle. This is known as CODOG (combined diesel or gas) configuration.
But the Satpura’s key advantage is stealth. Its design reduces the vessel’s radar, infrared, electronic, acoustic and visual signatures, making it difficult for the enemy to detect it. The design skills needed for building stealth vessels like the Satpura have been honed by Indian shipyards over time, and are reaching their finest in Project 28, a line-up for ultra-stealthy, anti-submarine corvettes that are being built at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata. Stealth will also form an important component of the seven Project 17A frigates that will start being built next year as the the navy’s next line of frigates.
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