P17A sucesser of shivalik class multirole frigates of Indian navy

P17A class frigates will be the succeeder of the Shivalik class (P17) frigate of Indian navy.P17a will have improved design in terms of stealth and weapon system.they will have better radar and offensive weapon like Brahmos in vertical launching system and most probably p17a will be equipped with Nirbhay land attack cruise missile.If anti-ship version will be developed of the Nirbhay then these ships may get installed with the Nirbhay.As the first ship will come after 2022 there may be possibility of getting hypersonic version or mini version of Brahmos.they will be equipped with Barak 8 missile which will soon go to the trail in this monsoon on the INS Kolkata.Barak8 has the very  good anti-missile capability and also very effective against the airborne already has been installed onboard the ins Kolkata.MFSTAR radar will reduce the number of radars required for  the P17A as compared to Shivalik class.MFSTAR operates in S-band and can track aircraft from a distance more than 250 km and guide many missiles simultaneously.It can also track sea-skimming missiles from a distance of 25 km. P17a will have very high automation and thus reducing the number of sailors required only 150 as there were 250 in the case of the Shivalik class.As P17a is upgraded Shivalik class ships many of the features will be the same like 6000 tonnes of displacement,x shaped hull and hanger but will be rail-less.
           P17a is designed for modular construction and will be made by the modular construction method.modular construction will allow shipyards to build the frigates  faster.GSRE and Mazagon dock has been chooses by the navy for construction.GSRE will build three and rest of four will be constructed by Mazagon dock.these shipyards have been given a time period of  24 months to equipped with the modular construction facility.Construction will start in 2017 and all the ships will be delivered by 2025.This project is costing up to 10 billion $.After this project,  India will have two shipyards with the capability to build world class frigates.

                                                     Schematics of P17A.

The Future Of Indian Navy

1.INS VIKRANT

          INS Vikrant is first ever carrier designed  and built by any Asian country.She is currently being built by the Cochin Shipyard limited and is in the third phase of construction in which she will get all those wiring, radars installation and propulsion system.It will carry a mix of Mig 29K and naval LCA Tejas MK2. Mig 29k is already in service with Indian Navy and is operational on board the INS Vikramaditya.Navy had already ordered 48 Mig 29k.On the other hand, Tejas is in development phase whose mk1 naval version is already made the maiden flight from the INS Hansa from an SBTF facility.Naval Tejas MK2 will only see the operational deployment on the INS Vikrant because mk1 has lesser combat radius than required therefore it will only be used for testing purpose only.Naval Tejas MK2 will have more range and advanced avionics than the Mig itself.INS Vikrant will carry a mix of kamov 28 and sea king for early warning and anti-submarine operations respectively.
                           INS Vikrant is STOBAR (short take-off but arrested landing) carrier which design is highly influenced by the Russian carriers ,Russians also operates SATOBAR like admiral Kuznetsov.she will be powered by four  GE LM 25000 marine gas turbine engines and providing a higher cruise speed.vikrant will have a range of about 15000 km.It is slated to carry ak 630 as close in weapon system (ciws) and a mix of possibility is that Vikrant will carry Barak 8 or Barak 1 missiles in VLS system.Her carrier battle group will consist of Kolkata class destroyer and ins kamotra class corvettes.she will be escorted by kalvari class diesel-electric subs which is also known as scorpion class designed and developed by dcns of France.Kolkata class will provide anti-air capability and kamotra as anti-sub warfare.INS Vikrant is slated to be in service with Indian navy by 2018.

Schematics Diagram:

full schematics of ins Vikrant

top view of ins Vikrant

specifications :

             length   262 m
             drought 8.4 m
             beam    60 m
             speed  28 knots
             aviation facility 10000 m2
Armament :
                    32 cell Barak 8
                    AK 630 CIWS
Aircraft:      Mig 29K
                     NLCA Tejas MK2
                     Kamov ka 28
                     Seaking anti sub helicopter

                                                                                                                                   

Indigenous Missiles (Air Defence) At A Glance

Indigenous air defence missiles  include Akash, AAD, PAD, PDV, Maitri and Barak 8.Surface to air missile is also called as SAM.We are  still behind many countries like US, UK, Russia,France and also from china in the development of sophisticated  SAMs, but the success of Akash missile program gave DRDO the confidence to build the sophisticated SAMs.
                there are some images of Indian sams
  
                       Akash Missile
 
                          Advance Air Defence (AAD)


     
          PDV Missile                                       Barak 8


               SR sam (MAITRI)

Akash Missile

Design:

                                          
                         Akash missile has four clipped triangular wings are attached to the mid body of the missile.these four wings control its yaw and pitch of the missile.It has four ducts for its engine in the mid-body as you can see in the above image.It has four clipped delta wing to control the roll of the missile.
Propulsion: Akash uses indigenous integrated solid state ramjet engine for its propulsion.Ramjet engine allows Akash missile to goes up to 2.5 Mach speed, it also provides acceleration whole path until the interception.The whole way thrust ensures higher manoeuvrable compared to rocket-propelled SAMs like S 300, Patriot etc.

 Guidance: Akash missile uses command guidance provided by its fire control radar.

     Its fire control radar is Rajendra. Rajendra is  a phased array radar which has a range of 60 km. It can track 64 targets and engage 4 simultaneously in ripple mode.This radar provided tracking to interception information through a data link to the missile.It has also a good ECCM feature which allow to work in highest jamming environment .this is being produced by the BEL.
Accuracy: Akash missile has very high single shot kill probability around 88%.If two missile are fired in ripple mode then its kill probability will be around 98.5%.
                   Akash is a very decent sam and it costs half of the comparable systems around the globe, it is being produced by BDL for IAF and for IA will start soon.its mk2 version is also being developed by DRDO and thus making this missile a complete success.
  Video link for Akash missile test

BMD phase 1:

                Our  ballistic missile defence system (BMD) is a two-tier system, which include an

exo-atmospheric interceptor missile and an endo-atmospheric.this program started in 1999 due to the

Pakistani nukes carrying ballistic missiles and also due to our no first use of its nuke policy.

 Advanced Air Defence (AAD): 

                       AAD is the endo-atmospheric missile of the BMD system.It is a very manoeuvrable compare to exo-atmospheric version.it can intercept ballistic missile of 2000 km range at an altitude of 30km. Its  fire control radar is provided by the Thales of France. the radar is aesa and DRDO program to fit into its BMD program.
                           AAD missile use drdo developed inertial navigation system and midcourse guidance by the fire control radar.It use an active radar seeker for terminal navigation or end game.it use single stage solid state rocket propulsion.It is very reliable because it had intercepted the target without any failure in the past tests.

Prithvi Air Defence(PAD):

PAD is a two stage exo-atmospheric anti-ballistic missile.It uses solid state propellant  in fist stage and in second it uses liquid propellant. It is capable of intercepting the ballistic missile of the class of 2000 km range at an altitude of 80 km. 

                Its fire control radar is long-range tracking radar( LRTR) used in the green pine system of Israel, its software is developed by drdo and named as Swordfish .the radar act as tracking and fire control system.it can track up to 600 km.PAD uses same navigation and seeker that is used in 

AAD.

           Let's talk about the whole of the BMD system, the interception of the ballistic missile require network-centric control centre connected to spy satellite and an autonomous interception.All the required technology is developed by DRDO.

Barak 8: 

 Barak 8 is a joint development venture between DRDO and IAI.It is a light weight medium range surface to air missile of range 70 km.It can destroy enemy missile, low altitude flying cruise missiles,
aircraft at long ranges.It uses dual pulse solid state motor developed by drdo.Its fire control radar is
MFstar radar developed by Elta of Israel.It has the two-way data link for mid-course update. At terminal
stage it uses another motor and also activates its own seeker.It is highly manoeuvrable in the terminal phase.
            Navy calls the Barak 8 as lr-sam .navy is planning to install it to Kolkata class destroyer,P15b (Visakhapatnam class),P17a and also on Ins Vikrant .this missile will act as backbone of Indian navy air defence warships.Indian air force also wants to order some barak 8 sam launchers to protect its assets.