GE Marine on February 20 announced it has been selected to deliver gas turbine auxiliary equipment for the LM2500 engines that will power the Indian Navy’s new P17A frigates.

The contract was awarded to GE by India-based Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE).

Each P17A frigate will be powered by two GE LM2500 marine gas turbines and two diesel engines in a combined diesel or gas turbine configuration.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Industrial and Marine Gas Turbine division, Bangalore, India, is assembling the LM2500 gas turbines in-country under license from GE.

The contract will see GE provide gas turbine auxiliary equipment for seven ships to support the 14 LM2500 engines previously supplied under a separate contract. Auxiliary equipment and services will include: gas turbine controller, intakes and uptakes, firefighting equipment, water wash, start skid, fuel forwarding and field service support to shipyards.

GE says that electric starters for the gas turbines are also included, adding that they weigh 6,500 pounds less and offer a >70% volume reduction over hydraulic starters.

GE’s in-country partner HAL has already delivered 11 LM2500 gas turbines to the Indian Navy, including those that power three P17 frigates Shivalik, Satpura and Sahyadri launched in April 2003, June 2004, and May 2005, respectively. Separately, four GE LM2500 gas turbines will power India’s first indigenously built P71 aircraft carrier; it was launched in August 2013.