Vice Admiral HS Malhi, retired from the Indian Navy, calls the Indian Navy’s new stealth frigate, the INS Shivalik, the largest stealth frigate in the world. He should know, as chairman of the shipyard that manufactured it, Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL). He says the warship, displacing 6200 tons, is larger than the Talwar class (Krivak III) or the French Lafayette class.

Vice Admiral HS Malhi, Chairman, Mazagon Dock Limited.

The Shivalik is also highly automated and allows a crew reduction of around 20 per cent.

And the second and third of this frigate class are to be delivered by the end of this year and next year, respectively.

Captain MD Suresh, INS Shivalik.

He was impressed at the Shivalik’s stability during trials held in rough seas under monsoon clouds. For Captain Suresh this means enhanced effectiveness of the weapon sensors. And he says the Shivalik is good to go, requiring just enough time to embark fuel, rations and crew and is ready to endure at sea in ‘excess of three weeks’.

But interestingly, the captain also points out the warship’s capabilities for data sharing with not only other Indian warships and aircraft, but also with the Indian Air Force, something which is, albeit, still being ironed out.

According to Captain Suresh, an IAF AWACS can share data with the Shivalik, allowing it to conduct conduct mandated operations in its area of deployment. This potential, once fully developed, could yield huge dividends in terms of operational flexibility, especially once, more of these and the follow-on Project 17A frigates, start flying the Indian ensign.

The Defense Acquisitions Council has approved the construction of seven Project 17A frigates, the stealth frigate class following on from the Shivalik. Admiral Malhi says the P17A class frigates are ‘likely to be longer and broader’ and will carry indigenous weapons systems like the Brahmos (jointly developed by India and Russia) and the Barak NG (jointly developed by India and Israel). According to him, MDL is to build four Project 17A frigates and GRSE (Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers) three such warships.

The admiral also says Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has now contracted with General Electric to build the LM 2500 diesel engines in India.

Read More about the INS Shivalik

View Images of INS Shivalik (I)

View Images of INS Shivalik (II)

The End Use Monitoring pact between the US and India agreed during the visit of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US laws governing transfer of technology will apply to any military purchase containing US components by India from a third country.

Significantly, this will also apply to the non-US contenders for the 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contest of the Indian Air Force (IAF) that carry US components.

Discussing the impact of the End Use Monitoring pact and US laws relating to transfer of technology on the F-16’s bid for the order, Vice President of Business Development at Lockheed Martin, Orville Prins launched a not-so-subtle broadside at the competition and said, “End Use Monitoring would apply to some other fighters too, for that matter, if they have US systems on board.”

Prins is in India along with the Lockheed Martin team for the IAF trials of the F-16 due to begin next month and slated to end by September 18. “I have heard the Gripen has 35 to 40 per cent US systems,” said Prins, referring to the aircraft fielded by Sweden’s Saab, adding, “Full transfer of technology must be questioned if it has US systems on board. And it is more than just the Gripen that has US systems on board.”

The engine of the Gripen is made by the US General Electric and Sweden’s Volvo. The Eurofighter Typhoon’s Direct Voice Input system which allows the pilot to control certain non-critical systems by voice command has technical participation by General Electric Aviation Systems, General Dynamics and Texas Instruments. Currently, it also carries Raytheon’s AMRAAM air-to-air missile.