Dunagiri is the fifth Nilgiri-class warship built under Project 17A and delivered to the Navy in the past 16 months, while Agray is the fourth of eight Arnala-class anti-submarine warfare shallow water warships that will enhance the Navy’s anti-submarine warfare, mine warfare and coastal surveillance capabilities (ASW-SWC). Sanshodhak, on the other hand, is a large survey vessel capable of conducting comprehensive coastal and deep water hydrographic surveys of ports and port approaches and identifying channels and routes.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh launched Project Dunagiri on July 15, 2022 at GRSE in Kolkata. An official said it is a 149-meter-long, 6,670-ton missile frigate equipped with state-of-the-art weapons and sensors to enable multi-dimensional operations across air, surface and underwater domains. “Equipped with BrahMos anti-ship and land attack cruise missiles and advanced defense systems, Dunagiri represents a major leap forward in the navy’s strike and defense capabilities,” an official said.
Designed by the Battleship Design Bureau and overseen by the Battleship Supervision Group (Kolkata), the P17A frigate embodies a generational leap in indigenous ship design, stealth, survivability and combat capabilities. The construction experience of the first four P17A ships has compressed the construction period of Dunagiri to 80 months, while the construction period of the first ship (INS Nilgiri) was 93 months. The project has a localization content of 75% and involves more than 200 small, medium and micro enterprises.
Agre is one of the largest naval warships (77 m long), propelled by water jets and equipped with state-of-the-art lightweight torpedoes, indigenous rocket launchers and shallow water sonar, capable of effectively detecting and combating underwater threats. Agray is built in line with the government’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ vision and has over 80% indigenous content.
Sanshodhak has a displacement of approximately 3400 tons and a total length of 110 m. It is equipped with state-of-the-art hydrographic survey equipment such as data acquisition and processing systems, autonomous underwater vehicles, remotely operated vehicles, differential GPS remote positioning systems and digital side scan sonar.
Sanshodhak is part of a four-vessel survey vessel (large) contract signed on October 30, 2018. The previous ships of the same class, “Sanhayak”, “Nildshak” and “Ikshayk”, will enter service in February 2024, December 2024 and November 2025 respectively. In addition to coastal and deep-water hydrographic surveys, the vessel’s role includes collecting oceanographic and geophysical data for defense and civil applications. The indigenous content of Sanshodhak is over 80% on a cost basis.
GRSE is currently building a number of warships, including a Type 17A advanced stealth frigate, four anti-submarine warfare ships and four next-generation offshore patrol ships. In addition, the shipyard is building 30 other ships, 13 of which are export platforms. GRSE is also in the advanced stages of signing a prestigious contract to build five next-generation frigates.