INS SATPURA F-48

INS SATPURA

The INS Satpura, which follows the INS Shivalik into service, is the second of three Project 17 stealth frigates that are being built by Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai. It will be followed by INS Sahyadri early next year. These three “state-of-the-art surface combatants” as Verma called them — trace their design ancestry to three Talwar-class frigates that Russia built for the navy a decade ago. INS Satpura is a Shivalik class frigate of the Indian Navy, built at Mazagon Dock Limited. Ship was handed over to the Indian navy on 9th July 2011.  The Shivalik class frigates or Project 17 class frigates are multi-role frigates with stealth features being built for the Indian Navy.  They are the first warships being built in India with such features. The 6200-tonne Satpura which measures 142.5 metre from bow to stern will have Israeli Barak surface-to-air missile and Russian Klub cruise missile along with the torpedoes, anti-submarine missile and two helicopters which will soon be seen public. It has “versatile” control systems with signature management and radar cross-section reduction features.

INS Satpura is also equipped with the Israeli Barak air defence system, to ward off enemy aircraft and missiles. It has torpedoes to deal with enemy submarines, as well as an RBU-6,000 multi-barrelled rocket launchers that can be set to explode underwater. Posted on board the Satpura is a tiny aviation unit, with hangars and facilities for two Sea King, or indigenous Dhruv helicopters. Driving this 142 metre-long warship through the water are two French Pielstick diesel engines. In addition, there are two General Electric LM-2500 gas turbines. This provides the advantage of fuel-efficient operation in the normal course, using the Pielstick diesels, while the gas turbines take over when bursts of speed are required, especially in battle. This is known as CODOG (combined diesel or gas) configuration.