Indian Navy commissions second stealth frigate

The Indian Navy has commissioned the INS Satpura, the 140th warship of the navy.

The Shivalik Class frigate is the second of three Project 17 stealth frigates being constructed by Mazagon Dock, Mumbai, India.

The Satpura vessel is a guided-missile frigate with a range of 200km, which carries 24 Russian Klub missiles.

The 6,200t vessel is also equipped with the Israeli Barak air defence system and has torpedoes to defend against enemy submarines and an RB-6,000 multibarrelled depth charge launcher.

The first frigate of Shivalik Class, INS Shivalik, was commissioned in April 2010 while the third frigate, INS Sahyadri, is expected to be put in to service in early 2012.