Indian defence chief to commission Russian-built frigate next month – media

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will soon visit the Kaliningrad shipyard where the INS Tushil has been built, officials have said

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Russia next month to commission a stealth frigate at a shipyard in Kaliningrad, media in both nations reported on Tuesday, citing government sources.

The three-day visit will start on 8 December, and include talks with Singh’s Russian counterpart, Andrey Belousov, TASS news agency said. The Indian official will then travel to Yantar Shipyard located in the Russian Baltic exclave, where the INS Tushil has been built.

The Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates were designed in the 2010s, with six warships intended to bolster the Russian Navy. However, the project encountered delays due to a break-up of cooperation with Ukraine, which pulled out after the 2014 US-backed coup in Kiev.

Russia had to develop substitute power plants to complete three vessels, while considering foreign buyers for the other three ships, which were mothballed. India signed a contract to buy two of them in 2018, with two more to be built using Russian technology at India’s Goa Shipyard Limited as an option.

The Yantar Shipyard previously built three of the six Russia-made Talwar-class frigates currently in service with the Indian Navy, which are similar in design to Russia’s Krivak-class frigates.

READ MORE: Russian and Indian Navy chiefs hold talks on strengthening cooperation  

The INS Tushil and the INS Tamala, made in Kaliningrad and being prepared for handover to India, are considered to be members of the same class by the Indian military. They use India-specific communication equipment and weapons systems. The second warship is expected to be commissioned in early 2025.

India and Russia have been cooperating in defense for decades. They are engaged in a number of joint production projects, as New Delhi seeks greater reliance on domestic manufacturing to supply its armed forces.