In what comes as a significant milestone for the Indian Navy's capabilities in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), the Russian-manufactured guided missile frigate INS Tushil was commissioned into the Navy on Monday in Russia's coastal city of Kaliningrad in presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
INS Tushil, which is expected to significantly bolster the Indian Navy's operational capability in the IOR, has been constructed as part of an over $2.5-billion deal that India had inked with Russia in 2016 for four stealth frigates. Two of these, INS Tushil and the second frigate of project 11356, INS Tamal, are to be built in Russia while the other two are being constructed in India.
Chief executive of Yantar shipyard, Ilya Samarin , on Monday, said the Project 11356 Tamal frigate of the Indian Navy under construction at the shipyard is planned to be delivered in spring 2025.
"Construction of warships is the core business of the Yantar shipyard. Irrespective of whether it is a foreign or a domestic customer, we do our job similarly in good faith and responsibly. It is not accidental that this is already the fourth frigate built at our shipyard. We plan to deliver the fifth one next spring," news agency Tass quoted Samarin as saying.
He observed that the specific feature of ship construction is the installation of foreign customer’s equipment onboard, its integration with Russian systems, and the joint effort of Russian and foreign counter-parties during trials and at the closing stages of construction.
"Further to our construction of frigates, we also educate the Indian crew and specialists, transfer the experience and knowledge to them for the forthcoming service on this frigate and for further construction of ships in India," Samarin said.
