Rajnath Singh commissions indigenous stealth frigate INS Mahendragiri

Future wars may be fought with Artificial Intelligence, but they will still be won by national resolve, trained soldiers and robust military power, Defence Minister Rajanth Singh said on Saturday. Speaking at the commissioning ceremony of INA Mahendragiri in Vishakhapatnam, Singh also said Andhra Pradesh has emerged as a new powerhouse of India's defence and aerospace manufacturing. “I would say that new technologies and conventional platforms are not opposed to each other, but supplement each other, complete each other. Without conventional platforms, new technologies are incomplete in themselves,” he said. Singh said,Andhra Pradesh is contributing to India's defence capabilities across every sphere- air, water, land, and the unmanned domain. 

#WATCH | Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh | At the commissioning ceremony of INS Mahendragiri at Visakhapatnam Naval Dockyard, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh says, "... I had also spoken earlier about the establishment of a 'Drone City' in Kurnool by a consortium of eight drone… pic.twitter.com/LN7PgJNZqp

— ANI (@ANI) July 11, 2026

INS Mahendragiri, an indigenously designed stealth frigate and the sixth Project 17A Nilgiri-class warship.Named after the Mahendragiri mountain range in the Eastern Ghats, the frigate symbolises resilience, strength and unwavering resolve. As the first Indian Naval warship to bear this name, Mahendragiri is truly sui generis. The warship is expected to build a distinguished legacy and add another chapter to India's maritime history.
Designed in-house by the Indian Navy's Warship Design Bureau (WDB) and built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Mumbai, Mahendragiri is the sixth ship of the Project 17A class of stealth frigates. The vessel reflects India's growing expertise in indigenous warship design and construction. The construction of the ship has involved a large number of Indian industries, including Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), thereby strengthening the nation's defence industrial base and generating significant employment, as stated in the official release. 
Mahendragiri is equipped with an advanced suite of indigenous and state-of-the-art weapons, sensors, and electronic warfare systems, enabling her to effectively undertake anti-air, anti-surface, and anti-submarine operations. The ship is also capable of maritime security operations, Search and Rescue missions, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), and sustained deployments across the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and beyond.