INS MAHENDRAGIRI (F38)

About the Ship

Class: Nilgiri-class, Project 17A stealth frigate

Pennant: F38

Builder: Designed by Navy’s Warship Design Bureau, built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, Mumbai

Name: First Indian warship to carry the name, taken from the Mahendragiri range in the Eastern Ghats. It symbolizes strength and resilience

Delivered: 30 April 2026 at MDL, Mumbai. 

Capabilities & Features

Role: Multi-mission platform for anti-air, anti-surface, anti-submarine operations. Also suited for maritime security, HADR, search & rescue, and sustained presence

Stealth: Low radar cross-section, enhanced survivability, advanced stealth geometry and radar-absorbent materials

Propulsion: Combined Diesel or Gas CODOG system for high speed + endurance

Automation: Sophisticated automation + Integrated Platform Management System

Indigenous content: Over 75% indigenous, under Aatmanirbhar Bharat . 

Weapons & Sensors

Missiles: 32 Barak-8 surface-to-air missiles in 4x8-cell VLS, 8 BrahMos anti-ship/land-attack cruise missiles in 2x4-cell VLS

Guns: 1x 76mm OTO Melara naval gun, 2x AK-630 CIWS

ASW: 2x triple torpedo tubes with Varunastra, 2x RBU-6000 rocket launchers

Radar: IAI EL/M-2248 MF-STAR S-band AESA radar, Indra LTR-25 L-Band radar

EW: BEL Ajanta EW suite, 4x Kavach decoy launchers

Aircraft: Can carry 2x HAL Dhruv or Sea King Mk. 42B helicopters . 

Specs

Displacement: 6,670 tonnes

Length: 149 m

Speed: 28 knots

Range: 5,500 nmi at 16-18 knots

Crew: 226 

Why it matters

Project 17A is a 7-ship program to replace older frigates with stealthier, more capable vessels. Mahendragiri is the 6th delivered and completes one of India's most ambitious indigenous warship programs.

With 6 ships delivered in under 17 months, it shows India's growing self-reliance in warship design and construction. 

It will serve as a "formidable force multiplier" to safeguard maritime interests in the Indo-Pacific, amid rising Chinese naval activity in the Indian Ocean.