New Delhi: India's indigenous naval warships INS Udaygiri and INS Surat, which were launched today in Mumbai by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, have received 4300 tons of special steel from the Maharatna public sector undertaking Steel Authority of India (SAIL), the steel Maharatna said in an official statement released Tuesday evening.

According to the statement, the entire quantity of steel has been supplied from SAIL's Bokaro, Bhilai and Rourkela Steel Plants. The company said in a statement, that this is in continuation with SAIL's sustained efforts to contribute substantially to India's AatmaNirbhar Bharat mission and to strengthen the country's efforts toward import substitution.

Earlier, Defence Minister launched two frontline naval warships of the Indian Navy – 'Surat' and 'Udaygiri' – at Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL), Mumbai. 'Surat' is the fourth Guided Missile Destroyer of the P15B class, while 'Udaygiri' is the second Stealth Frigate of P17A class. Both warships have been designed in-house by the Directorate of Naval Design (DND) and built at MDL, Mumbai.

'Udaygiri', named after a mountain range in Andhra Pradesh, is the third ship of Project 17A Frigates. It is a follow to the P17 Frigates (Shivalik Class) with improved stealth features, advanced weapons and sensors and platform management systems.

The new warship is the reincarnation of the erstwhile 'Udaygiri', the Leander Class ASW Frigate, which saw numerous challenging operations in its outstanding service to the country, spanning over three decades from February 1976 to August 2007.

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