Dunagiri, a Project 17A Frigate

In News: Defence Minister launched Y- 3023 Dunagiri, Project 17A frigate built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders Limited (GRSE) in Kolkata

• Christened after a mountain range in the state of Uttarakhand, ‘Dunagiri’ is the fourth ship of P17A Frigates.
• These are follow-on of the P17 Frigates (Shivalik Class) with improved stealth features, advanced weapons and sensors and platform management systems.
• The first two ships of P17A Project, were launched in 2019 and 2020 at MDL and GRSE respectively.
• The third ship (Udaygiri) was launched at MDL on 17 May 2022 earlier this year.
• Seven P17A Frigates are under various stages of construction at Mazagaon Dock Limited (MDL) and GRSE.

P17A Frigates

• The Nilgiri-class frigate or Project 17A is follow-on of the Project 17 Shivalik-class frigate for the Indian Navy.
• The frigates are built with extensive use of low-observability technologies, including new radar-absorbing coatings, composite materials and “faceted” shape superstructures.
• P17A ships have been designed in-house by Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design (DND), which has successfully spear-headed design of numerous class of indigenous warships in the past.

Source: Pib.Gov

Previous Year Question

Q.1) Which one of the following is the best description of ‘INS Astradharini’, that was in the news recently? (2016)

1. Amphibious warfare ship
2. Nuclear-powered submarine
3. Torpedo launch and recovery vessel
4. Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier