I think they take too much time to build ships at MDL. They make good and most potent ships but all of them are delayed. I guess modular shipbuilding will reduce time. All shipyards also under going extensive modernizations. It says that by the second half of next year INS Kolkata will be read for trials.
Got some updates from the BR page
As of April01, the first of class, Yard12701 (Kolkata) is about 60% complete. At the time of writing Brahmos launchers were waiting to be installed on the Kolkata. The plan is to commence sea trials in another 1.5 years time. Crucially, being the first of class and given that a brand new radar and missile system - the Elta EL/M 2248 MF-STAR and the 80km range Barak LRSAM - is being installed in these ships, it would not be unreasonable to expect integration issues. It is understood that both these systems will commence testing shortly. India DRDO is the nodal agency for the radar-missile combination. Installation of the radar missile combo onto the lead ship is expected to commence sometime this year. When these ships begin to commission they will impart new fleet air defence capabilities to the Indian Navy.
While four follow-on P-15B destroyers have been approved, details of these ships are scant other than they will be an improvement over the P-15A. It is likely that the main gun will be different. It is also likely that greater platform integration will be incorporated. Some sensors are likely to be different. As of April01, MDL was yet to receive a formal order. The plan is to utilize modular construction for these ships. This necessarily means that work can only commence in earnest after the yard modernization project is complete.
Indian Navy | Launching of P-15A Yard 12703 Chennai [www.bharat-rakshak.com]
