The Indian Navy has invested in several new equipment and capabilities including stealth, new aircraft carriers, ship lift system, and refueling capabilities and says that most of these projects are on target.

Indian Naval engineers claim to have designed “very low” radar, infra-red, noise frequency, and magnetic signatures to outsmart enemy detection systems thereby giving the ships an element of surprise advantage.

Commodore K.N. Vaidyanathan, principal director naval design says that the Navy is applying these features to “three Shivalik-Class frigates.” The Shivalik Class frigates will be inducted between 2008 and 2009 and armed with the Israeli Barak I anti-missile defense system already fitted on 11 frontline warships including aircraft carrier INS Viraat, INS Delhi, and INS Mysore. Between 2003 and 2004, India inducted 3 Talwar class frigates from Russia and the Shivalik is an upgraded version of the Talwar frigates with a displacement of 4,900 tons. India has already placed an order for 3 more stealth frigates from Russia for Rs. 5,5,14 crore (USD 1.19 billion).

Additionally, the Navy says that it has 30 ships “on order” and contracted to various public sector shipyards including the 37,500 ton indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) at a cost of Rs. 3,261 core (USD 708 million) and Scorpene submarines to maintain an overall force level of 140 warships. Vaidyanathan says that the objective is to transform India from a “buyer to a maker of warships.” With the good progress of the IAC project, the navy is planning to make 2 more such carriers making it a “three-carrier navy.” India currently has two aircraft carriers—INS Vikrant inducted in early 1960s is a recycled UK aircraft carrier which is now a museum, the INS Viraat is also an old UK aircraft carrier inducted in 1987 and may be retired in about 6 years. A Russian aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (Admiral Gorshkov) will join the Navy in 2008.