Keel Laid for the 3rd Stealth Grigate of Project 17A

Keel laid for the third ship (Yard- 12653) of the prestigious P17A class stealth frigates at Mazagon Dock Shipbuiders by Vice Admiral S R Sarma – COM & CWP&A of the Indian Navy and V L Kantha Rao Additional Secretary (Defence Production). The keel laying ceremony was conducted through an e-platform in the presence of Vice Admiral R B Pandit, Chief of Staff, HQWNC and Vice Admiral Narayan Prasad (IN Retd.) – CMD MDL.

Seven frigates under P17A series will be constructed of which four are being constructed in MDL and three in GRSE with MDL as the lead yard. The P17A class frigates are being built using indigenously developed steel and fitted with weapons and sensors along with Integrated Platform Management System. These ships are having stealth features.

Construction of P17A ships differ in the very concept of warship building by way of adoption of the modern technology ‘Integrated Construction (IC)’ where the blocks are pre-outfitted before joining to reduce the build period of warships. When commissioned the platforms will enhance the combat capability of the Indian Naval fleet.

The function was attended by Rear Admiral G K Harish, DGND, Commodore T V Thomas (IN Retd.), Director (CP&P), MDL, Rear Admiral A K Saxena (IN Retd.), Director (Shipbuilding), Commander Jasbir Singh (IN Retd.), Director (S&HE), MDL, Sanjeev Singhal, Director (Finance), MDL , Mahesh Chandra, CVO, MDL along with senior executives from MDL & Navy through an e-ceremony including the Warship Overseeing Team.

Raytheon and Rafael Team for Iron Dome Weapon Production Facility in U.S.

Systems Ltd., an Israeli-based defense technology company, have signed a joint venture to establish an Iron DomeTM Weapon System production facility in the United States. The new partnership, called Raytheon RAFAEL Area Protection Systems, anticipates finalizing a site location before the end of the year. “This will be the first Iron Dome all-up-round facility outside Israel, and it will help the U.S. Department of Defense and allies across the globe obtain the system for defense of their service members and critical infrastructure,” said Sam Deneke, vice president of Land Warfare & Air Defense business execution, Raytheon Missiles & Defense Systems’.

The new facility will produce both the Iron Dome Weapon System, which consists of the Tamir interceptor and a U.S. derivative of Tamir. Both Tamir and SkyHunter intercept incoming cruise missiles, unmanned aerial systems and short-range targets such as rockets, artillery, mortars and other aerial threats.

“We are excited about this new stage in our partnership with Raytheon and proud of our U.S. production,” said Brig. Gen. (res.) Pini Yungman, executive vice president for Air and Missile Defense of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. “We have long partnered on U.S. production of Iron Dome and are pleased to increase manufacturing and bring SkyHunter to the U.S.”

Raytheon Missiles & Defense and Rafael have teamed for over a decade on Iron Dome, the world’s most-used system with more than 2,500 operational intercepts and a

Raytheon Missiles & Defense, a Raytheon Technologies business, and Rafael Advanced Defense

launcher, and the SkyHunter® missile,

success rate exceeding 90 percent.