Project 15A modifications amid fleet shortfalls

Ajai Shukla's 2012 Rediff article cites a 2010 CAG report on warship building: the Navy would have just 44 percent of its required destroyers, 61 percent of its frigates, and 20 percent of its corvettes. The yard had already built Delhi, Mysore, and Mumbai under Project 15, so a quick repeat using substantially the same design and technology offered a way to add hulls. The Navy instead requested 2,363 modifications affecting weapons, sensors, and helicopter systems as Indian requirements developed. Shukla blamed the Navy for the resulting delays. Customization is defensible as a way to obtain more suitable ships, although that judgment leaves the criticism of delayed delivery intact. The shortage gives the choice between faster construction and a more capable design immediate consequences.