New Delhi (PTI): India's plan to induct newly built Shivalik stealth frigate in the Navy this year may be hit with the US Administration halting the warship's gas turbine engines supplier from operationalising the contract.
Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) built the warship fitted with two LM 2500 gas turbine engines and was readying it for sea trials in a couple of months when the bad news from General Electric (GE) came as a shocker for the Indian Public Sector Undertaking shipyard, Navy sources said here on Monday.
Interestingly, LM 2500 is the engine Navy chose for its Indigenous Aircraft Carrier currently under construction in Cochin Shipyard and for which the keel laying was done by Defence Minister A K Antony in the last week of February this year.
The GE communication, sources said, indicated that it could take up to three months for the matter to be resolved with the new Obama dispensation, which was currently reviewing its military relations with several countries.
Not just with India, GE was instructed to halt work with even US allies such as United Kingdom and Australia, sources said.
However, the Navy's top brass, putting up a brave face, claimed the US ban would not impact its Shivalik project, codenamed P-17, under which a series of three guided missile frigates are to be built, with the other two being named Sahayadri and Satpura.
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