Project 18-class destroyer

The Next Generation Destroyers (NGD), also referred to as Project-18 destroyer (P-18), are a class of planned stealth guided-missile destroyers to be built for the Indian Navy (IN). The class will be a follow-on for Visakhapatnam-class destroyer which is in service. The class is a part of Next Generation series of future frontline surface combatants of the Indian Navy which includes the Project 17B-class frigate or Next Generation Frigates (NGF) and the Next Generation Corvettes (NGC).^[4][5][6]

A concept representation of Project-18 class destroyer
Class overview
Name	Project-18 class
Operators	Indian Navy
Preceded by	Visakhapatnam class
Planned	8-10
General characteristics
Type	Stealth guided-missile destroyer
Displacement	13,000 tonnes (13,000 long tons; 14,000 short tons)[1]
Length	180 meters (590 ft 7 in)
Propulsion	Integrated Electric Propulsion (expected)
Armament	Total 144 VLS cells and 8 slant launchers[2][3] Surface-to-air missile Kusha system Barak 8 Cruise missiles Nirbhay (Subsonic) BrahMos (Supersonic) BrahMos-II (Hypersonic) Anti-submarine missile SMART missile

History

Background

In December 2023, the Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh revealed that a class of advanced Next Generation Destroyers (NGD) or Project 18 destroyers is being designed by the Warship Design Bureau (WDB).^{[citation needed]} As of then, the design and contract signing for construction was expected to be completed by 5 years. The delivery was to be completed within 5-10 years of contract signing. The ships will have a standard displacement of 10000^[4]-13000 tonnes.^[2] The leading contenders for the deal were Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (MDL) and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE).^[4][7][8] The project, worth over $10 billion, includes a total of around 8 ships are to be built in two phases. MDL has also floated a tender to construct a floating dry dock near Nhava Sheva port for ₹3,000 crore (equivalent to ₹32 billion or US$380 million in 2023) in 2022. This will assist them for the construction of these warships. Reports also suggested that the ships will feature an indigenous S-band primary fire control radar developed by DRDO. This will replace EL/M-2248 MF-STAR radars used on previous ships like Kolkata-class and Visakhapatnam-class destroyer. They will also feature advanced indigenous weapon systems and an integrated electric propulsion (IEP).^[3][9]

The Request for Proposal (RfP) for the destroyers are expected to be released in 2025–26.^[10]

As of 15 January 2025, the project is in the planning stage and implementation is expected to begin in few years.^[11]

As of September 2025, the first phase of the NGD project including four 10,000 tonne destroyers are pending to be cleared by the Defence Ministry.^[1]

Design

Armament

The class of warship will be equipped with 72-cell Vertical launching systems (three 6×4 configuration) at the bow, a similar 72-48 cell VLS in the aft along with 8 slant launchers (2×quad launchers) in the midship region. This implies a total of 120-144 VLS and 8 slant launchers for each ship. As per several reports, the ship will be operating surface-to-air missiles and anti-ballistic missiles (under Project Kusha) as well as surface-to-surface missiles and anti-ship missiles including VL-SRSAM, MR-SAM, PGLRSAM system, BrahMos-ER, BrahMos 2 hypersonic cruise missile, SMART and LR-LACM. These weapon systems will be equipped in Universal Vertical Launcher Modules (UVLMs). Other defence mechanisms like directed-energy weapon (DEW) and Maareech ATDS may be included.^[3][2][12]

The Universal Vertical Launcher Module (UVLM) originally developed by BrahMos Aerospace-L&T for delivering BrahMos missile from Indian Naval Ships. However, the launcher system is now being integrated with other under-development missile systems like LR-LACM and SMART.^[13][14][15]

See also

Other references to the Indian Navy

• Future of the Indian Navy
• List of destroyers of India
• List of active Indian Navy ships

Other destroyers of comparable configurations and capabilities

• Ticonderoga-class cruiser – a class of guided-missile cruisers being currently operated by the United States Navy.
• DDG(X) – a class of guided-missile destroyers being currently under development by the United States Navy.
• Type 83 destroyer - a class of guided-missile destroyers being currently under development by the Royal Navy.
• Type 055 destroyer – is a class of stealth guided-missile destroyers (guided-missile cruisers per NATO/OSD standard) being constructed for the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy.
• Sejong the Great-class destroyer – a class of guided-missile destroyers operated by the Republic of Korea Navy.
• Zumwalt-class destroyer - a class of stealth guided-missile destroyers operated by the United States Navy.
• KDDX-class destroyer - a class of stealth guided-missile destroyers being currently under development for Republic of Korea Navy.