Mumbai: Warship 'Taragiri' to be launched today

A Project 17A Frigate, Taragiri, will be launched in Mumbai on September 11, said the officials on Saturday. The launching event will take place at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited in Mumbai.

Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh, FOC-IN-C, Western Naval Command, will be the chief guest at the event. 'Taragiri', named after a hill range in the Himalayas located at Garhwal, is the fifth ship of Project 17A Frigates. These ships are the advanced versions of the P17 Frigates (Shivalik Class) with improved stealth features, state-of-the-art weapons and sensors and platform management systems.

"'Taragiri' is the reincarnation of erstwhile 'Taragiri', the Leander Class ASW Frigate, which saw numerous challenging operations in its illustrious service to the nation spanning over three decades from 16 May 1980 to June 27, 2013," read a statement by Ministry of Defence. Under the P17A programme, a total of seven ships, with 04 at MDL and 03 at GRSE are under construction. Four P17A Project ships (two each at MDL and GRSE) have been launched so far between 2019 and 2022.

P17A ships have been designed in-house by the Indian Navy's Warship Design Bureau which is the pioneer organization for all warship design activities of the Nation. Toeing the line of the country's unwavering efforts towards 'AatmaNirbharata', 75 per cent of the orders for equipment and system for Project 17A ships are being placed on indigenous firms including MSMEs.