The Indian Government has sanctioned $6.5bn of funding to build four stealth destroyers for the navy under Project-15B, a senior Defence Ministry official has said.
The four new 6,800t destroyers will be built at the Indian Navy’s Mumbai Mazagon Docks with greater stealth, advanced sensors and weapon packages, according to defensenews.com.
The destroyers will be fitted with a 1,000km range nuclear-capable cruise missile and an extended-range surface-to-air missile system being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation with Israel.
Construction of the destroyers will begin only after the three stealth warships under Project 15-A are completed.
The navy currently has 140 vessels and ordered 39 additional warships and six conventional submarines worth over $10bn in July 2010.
