India to build stealth frigates

India is looking to acquire up to seven stealth frigates, along with some level of joint development and technology transfer. The Request for Information (RFI) has reportedly been issued to about 12 European and Russian firms.

These ships are reportedly part of India’s long-delayed Project 17, and could be worth up to $7 billion. This P-17A project is the next generation of ships of the ongoing Project 17 Shivalik class multi-role stealth frigates. Ship “signature reduction” levels are expected to be similar to Singapore’s new Formidable Class frigates from France.

Although Project 17 was approved in 1997, the first Shivalik class ship is only expected in early 2007 due to construction delays and other hold-ups. The overall program envisages a total of 12 ships, and the 7 ships for which the RFI has now been issued would form a part of the project. The proposed P-17A acquisition would be worth more than $6.71 billion with expected costs of $892 million per ship.

Typical Indian requirements involve some number of ships built by the manufacturer and others built local yards including Mazagon Docks in Mumbai and Garden Reach Shipyard in Kolkata.