Stealth Ship Delivered - Credible Navy need of the hour: Antony

Stressing the need for a strong and vigilant Navy to defend the mainland, island territories and offshore assets, Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Saturday announced that the Navy would get seven more frigates under the next P-17A project.

“Cost negotiations are on into the P-17A project and once that is done, the proposal will go to the Cabinet Committee on Security [CCS] for approval,” Mr. Antony told journalists at Mazagon Dock Limited [MDL] complex here. He said the Navy would continue to get five warships of different capabilities every year. He said the prevailing downturn in the economic situation would not affect defence plans.

“First, let us spend the money which we have and then we will ask the government for more,” he said.

The Defence Minister was talking to media persons after commissioning INS Sahyadri, a Shivalik class stealth frigate, equipped with an array of modern weapons and sensors to operate both in peacetime and a multithreat environment. The warship has been built by MDL over the past seven years.

Mr. Antony said a strong Navy would successfully defend India’s exclusive economic zone along the country’s vast coastline and maintain sea lanes of communication.

“The maintenance of a strong and credible Navy and strengthening cooperation and friendship with other countries to promote regional and global stability is the need of the hour. Today’s commissioning of the third stealth frigate of Shivalik class, therefore, marks yet another significant step in securing our maritime goals,” he said.

Pointing out that the Navy’s role as a key facilitator in promoting peace and stability in the Indian Ocean Region has been highly appreciated, Mr. Antony cautioned that the present operating environment of “our Navy dictates that we balance our resources with a strategy that is responsive across the full range of blue and brown water operations.”