The Indian Navy will commission its last warship to be built abroad on 1 July, when its 8th KRIVAK class frigate will be commissioned at Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad, Russia. Upon commissioning, TAMAL, an upgraded Project 1135.6 KRIVAK III Class frigate will join the navy’s Western Fleet, under the Western Naval Command.

The new warship is the eighth in the series of KRIVAK class frigates inducted from Russia over the past two decades and is the second ship of the TUSHIL class, an upgraded version of its predecessors, the navy’s TALWAR and TEG classes (with 3 ships each). Two similar upgraded Project 1135.6 KRIVAK III class frigates called the TRIPUT class are being built in India by Goa Shipyard Limited with Russian transfer of technology and design assistance.

Indeed, as many as 6 KRIVAK III class frigates are already in service – 3 TALWAR class ships, built at Baltiysky shipyard, St. Petersburg, and three follow-on TEG class ships, built at Yantar shipyard, Kaliningrad.

INS TUSHIL, the seventh in the series, was the first of the two upgraded additional follow-on ships, contracted for in October 2016 between JSC Rosoboronexport, Indian Navy and the Government of India. “By the conclusion of this series of ships, Indian Navy will be operating ten ships with similar capabilities and commonality in equipment, weapon and sensor fit over four different classes,” an Indian MoD spokesperson stated.

The 125m long, 3,900-ton TAMAL features a blend of Indian and Russian technologies with the collaboration of Indian naval specialists and Russia’s Severnoye Design Bureau. The number of India made systems have more than doubled to 33 as compared to the TALWAR and TEG classes, including the BrahMos supersonic missile system, a Surface Surveillance Radar complex and the HUMSA NG Mk II sonar along with an anti-submarine weapon firing complex amongst a host of cutting-edge weapon and sensors of Indian Origin.

The warship has a crew of 250 and can attain a top speed in excess of 30 knots. She features improvements in comparison to its predecessors, with addition of vertically launched surface-to-air missiles, an improved 100 mm gun, new age EO/IR systems in addition to a standard 30 mm CIWS, heavyweight torpedoes, urgent-attack anti-submarine rockets, and a host of surveillance and fire control radars and systems. The navy’s KA-31 AEW and Sikorsky MH-60R ASW helicopters can also be embarked on the warship.

As per the Indian MoD, the new frigate has an indigenous content of 26% and involves th participation of major Indian OEMs such as BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited, Bharat Electronics Limited, Keltron, Nova Integrated Systems from Tata, Elcome Marine, Johnson Controls India, etc.

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