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By Vineet Dikshit

India’s latest stealth warship INS Himgiri was handed over to Indian Navy raising its firepower exponentially.

The formal ceremony took place in Kolkata’s Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) facility on Thursday the 31st of July 2025.

INS Himgiri is first of three Advanced Guided-Missile Frigates being built under the Indian Navy’s Project 17A, on Thursday. The ship marks the 801st vessel and the 112th warship built and delivered by the GRSE to the Indian Navy.

The 149-metre-long ship, with a displacement of 6,670 tonnes, is one of the largest and most technologically advanced warships constructed by GRSE in its 65-year journey as a Defence Public Sector Undertaking.

The total project is being undertaken at a massive cost of about Rs 22,000 crores. A large number of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), start-ups and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) took part in the construction of INS Himgiri.

The Himgiri is armed with BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles for anti-ship and land-attack roles, as well as Barak 8 surface-to-air missiles for aerial defence.

The frigate is powered by a combined diesel and gas turbine propulsion system and features an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, advanced combat systems, and full-spectrum warfare capabilities—spanning anti-air, anti-surface, and anti-submarine operations.

Himgiri is a reincarnation of the erstwhile INS Himgiri, a Leander-class frigate, that was decommissioned on 06 May 2005 after 30 years of glorious service to the nation.

This state-of-the-art frigate reflects a quantum leap in naval design, stealth, firepower, automation and survivability and is an admirable symbol of Aatmanirbharta in warship building.

Designed by the Warship Design Bureau (WDB) and overseen by the Warship Overseeing Team (Kolkata), P17A frigates reflect a generational leap in indigenous ship design, stealth, survivability, and combat capability. Driven by the philosophy of ‘Integrated Construction’, the ship is modular and ergonomic and has been built within the built timelines envisaged.

P17A ships are fitted with an advanced weapon and sensor suite compared to the P17 (Shivalik) class.

These ships are configured with Combined Diesel or Gas (CODOG) propulsion plants, comprising a diesel engine and gas turbine, that drives a Controllable Pitch Propeller (CPP) on each shaft, and a state-of-the-art Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS).

The weapon suite comprises supersonic Surface-to-Surface missile system, Medium-Range Surface to Air Missile system, 76 mm Gun, and a combination of 30 mm and 12.7 mm rapid-fire Close-in Weapon Systems.

Delivery of Himgiri showcases the design, ship construction and engineering prowess of the nation, and reflects Indian Navy’s unrelenting focus o made-in-India in both ship design and shipbuilding.

With an indigenous content of 75%, the project has involved over 200 MSMEs at GRSE and has enabled generation of employment for approx. 4,000 personnel directly and more than 10,000 personnel indirectly.

Various media reports indicate that GRSE is working on 15 warships across four classes for the Indian Navy. Of these, Androth (the second Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft) and Ikshak (the third Survey Vessel Large) have completed sea trials and are preparing for delivery. The remaining 13 vessels are in various stages of construction.