India’s Fifth Stealth Frigate in Sixteen Months-INS Dunagiri Explained

INS Dunagiri is a Project 17A stealth guided-missile frigate built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers in Kolkata, delivered to the Indian Navy in March 2026. She displaces 6,670 tonnes, stretches 149 metres in length, and is armed with BrahMos supersonic anti-ship missiles, Barak-8 long-range air defence systems, and torpedo tubes. Her hull is designed with angled surfaces that scatter radar signals, making detection significantly harder for any adversary.

The name is not new to the Navy. An earlier INS Dunagiri, a Leander-class frigate commissioned in May 1977, served for 33 years before being decommissioned in October 2010. She carried the motto Victory Is My Profession and the pennant number F36. The new ship inherits both — the same number, the same name, and the same motto.