11 more ships to be build indigenously

New Delhi, Nov 14 (UNI) With the Indian Navy relying more on indigenous design and construction, eleven more ships are being build within the country including the indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) that will have a mix of 30 helicopters and fixed winged planes such as MiG 29 (MK).

The 37,500 tonne aircraft carrier, which is the largest design project, is being build at Cochin Shipyard, Commander K N Vaidyanathan, Principal Director in the Directorate of Naval Design (DND), told reporters today on the eve of the 50 years of the Corps of Naval Constructors.

The Corps of Naval Constructors, which form the bulk of the talent pool of the DND, is celebrating its Golden Jubilee on Friday.

Vaidyanathan said the indigenous aircraft carrier was a technical challenge, hitherto not faced by the Navy, involving complexities in structural design, aviation facilities along with safety, propulsion system and their integration.

Under construction are also three Shivalik class 'stealth frigates'. The 5,000 tonne frigates, incorporating advanced signature suppression and signature management features, are to be delivered in 2008-09.

Also being build are three Kolkata class destroyers, which are to be delivered by 2010-12. These state-of-the-art destroyers are a follow-on of the Delhi class destroyers.

Four ASW Corvette, whose design was also approved by the DND, are being constructed at Kolkata shipyard.

Four special groups have been set up for these projects. These groups are the hydrodynamic group, structural design group, propulsion system integration group (for keeping fuel consumption low) and the stealth group (for checking underwater noise from propellers and machinery).

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