First, 054/A all have TAS, that's confirmed.I've just read a Defense Industry Daily article about India's Project 17A stealth frigate (), and it got me thinking.
Really how... effective is the 054/054A in comparison to future frigates?
The Project 17A frigate will supposedly have a towed array sonar, which we haven't confirmed if the 054/054A has yet.
The Project 17A "ship “signature reduction” levels are expected to be up to fully modern standards, similar to Singapore’s new Formidable Class frigates from France". The 054A's RCS and signature reduction levels - are they as good as the La Fayette class?
Because while the 054A is a really good frigate, is it good enough for the future?
Or will we be seeing a 054B anytime soon with bigger signature reduction than the current 054A?
now, they are basically shelling out $10 billion for 7 ships, meaning 1.4 billion per ship. Each 054A costs slightly more than $200 million. So, for the cost of one Project 17A, you get to purchase 7 054A. Okay, so that's a little unfair, since there are other 054A costs like development of weapon systems that is not factored in here and we don't know if the Project 17A cost includes all of the subsystems although I presume it does for such a high cost. Even factor in inflation + extra program cost of 054A, each Project 17A ship will probably still cost at least as much as 5 054A.
But either way, IN is shelling out an astronomical amount for this ship. And if you looked at the proposed displacement, it's going to be bigger than 054A or even Project 17. It's more likely going to be closer to the displacement of FREMM (really depends on who is chosen). So, it should be expected that 054A is not going to be as good as Project 17A. In fact, considering the high cost of Project 17, 054A's cost to performance ratio is amazing when you consider that it's probably as good as Project 17 while built on like 1/3 of the cost.
As for stealth, who knows how stealthy Project 17A will be. If I don't see the ship, how can I judge stealth? But I would say that 054A isn't as stealthy as some of the recent lo ships like FREMM, Horizon or Formidable.