Indian Navy’s Russian-built guided missile frigate INS Tushil was commissioned into the force in the Russian coastal city of Kaliningrad on Monday.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi and several other senior Indian officials were present at the commissioning ceremony.
INS Tushil is expected to significantly enhance the Indian Navy’s operational capability in the Indian Ocean, a region that has seen increased attacks by China’s PLA Navy over the past few years.
The warship is being built in Russia as part of a more than US$2.5 billion deal that New Delhi signed with Moscow in 2016 for four stealth frigates for the Indian Navy.
Under the deal, two ships were to be built in Russia, while the other two were to be built in India.
In his remarks at the ceremony, Mr Singh described the commissioning of the warship as a proud testament to India’s growing maritime power and an important milestone in long-term relations with Russia.
He said, “The ship is a great testament to the collaborative strength of Russian and Indian industries. It exemplifies India’s journey towards technological excellence through combined skills.”
Singh said India and Russia will enter a “new era” of cooperation by leveraging each other’s expertise in the areas of artificial intelligence, cyber security, space exploration and counter-terrorism.
The construction of the ship was supervised by an Indian team of experts from the ‘Warship Overseeing Team’ stationed in Kaliningrad.
The 3,900 tonne ship with a length of 125 meters possesses lethal firepower and is an impressive blend of Russian and Indian cutting-edge technologies and best practices in warship building.
Officials said the ship’s new design gives it advanced stealth features and improved stability characteristics.
Officials said that in collaboration with Indian Naval experts and the Severnoye Design Bureau, the indigenous content of the ship has been increased to an impressive 26 per cent.
Major Indian defense companies involved in the project were BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Keltron, Tata’s Nova Integrated Systems, Elkam Marine, Johnson Controls India and others.
INS Tushil is an upgraded Krivak III class frigate of Project 1135.6.
The warship is the result of sustained hard work by several Russian and Indian original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) as well as hundreds of shipyard workers, said one of the officials quoted above.
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