MUMBAI, October 11 — The Indian Navy on Sunday commenced comprehensive basin and open-ocean sea trials for 'Taragiri', the fourth Nilgiri-class stealth guided-missile frigate constructed under Project 17A by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai.
Designed in-house by the Indian Navy’s Warship Design Bureau (WDB), the 6,670-tonne displacement surface combatant incorporates advanced radar cross-section reduction shaping, infrared suppression systems, and an Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS). The warship is armed with vertically launched supersonic BrahMos surface-to-surface cruise missiles, Barak-8 Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missiles (MRSAM) paired with EL/M-2248 MF-STAR multifunctional active phased-array radar, and indigenous Varunastra anti-submarine heavy torpedo launchers.
Naval headquarters highlighted that over 75 percent of Project 17A orders—comprising 2,000+ high-grade specialty steel plates developed by SAIL alongside weapon and sensor suites—were sourced from indigenous defense firms and domestic MSMEs. Named after a peak in the Garhwal Himalayas and perpetuating the legacy of the erstwhile Leander-class frigate INS Taragiri, the vessel is scheduled for formal commissioning in early 2027.
Indigenous naval shipbuilding programs—specifically Project 17A stealth frigates (Nilgiri, Himgiri, Udaygiri, Dunagiri, Taragiri, Vindhyagiri, and Mahendragiri built across MDL Mumbai and GRSE Kolkata), Project 15B guided-missile destroyers (Visakhapatnam, Mormugao, Imphal, and Surat), and Project 75 Kalvari-class submarines—are core syllabus pillars across UPSC Civil Services (GS-III: Defense Indigenization) and CDS/NDA examinations.