Delayed Due To War, 2 Navy Warships Being Built In Russia Likely To Be Commissioned By Year End

Two Indian Navy warships being built in Russia are likely to be commissioned by the end of this year, after getting delayed due to the Russia-Ukraine war. The first warship would be known as INS Tushil, while the other one would be INS Tamal after commissioning. The stealth frigates are being built as part of the Tushil class warships, which are follow-ons of the six warships of the Talwar class and its follow on frigates.

A team of the Indian Navy, including personnel from the Chief of Material Directorate, had recently visited the shipyard in Russia, where the frigates are being built and inspected the project, the defence officials told ANI.

The work is now progressing at a good pace and the first warship has also been launched for sea trials, which are being carried out by the Russian Navy.

The two warships are expected to be commissioned by August and December this year, respectively, they said.

The ongoing conflict in that region created many issues for the project, including the fitment of the Ukrainian engine on the frigate being built in Russia.

Moreover, the workforce from Indian naval shipyards was sent there to fit the engines on the warship, the officials said.

The first ship is now undergoing trials in Russian waters and is expected to be ready soon for delivery to the Indian Navy for acceptance trials.

Additionally, the Indian team is expected to be there soon.

The other two warships of the series being built with Russian support at Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) in India, are also moving ahead.

The GSL is expected to launch the first warship for trials in the near future and the delivery is planned to be completed by the middle of 2026.

Furthermore, the GSL has expanded its facilities and received supplies for the warships.

The project to build the warships in the Russian and Indian shipyards was cleared during the tenure of the late Manohar Parrikar as Defence Minister.

The work on the project was also delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when almost all the military programmes were facing supply chain issues.

The two warships being built in Russia are expected to be the last Indian surface vessels to be built in foreign shipyards, as the Indian Navy’s present and future leadership is promoting self reliance in defence and giving jobs to Indian shipyards and workers.

 

[NSR]

Not so fast.
First one coming in 2025 and Second one coming in 2026.
Do not worry at all as we can't control their manufacturing.

Except for the body and few systems and CIWS and possibly AShMs, it will be equipped with Israeli MFSTAR AESA radar and Indian or Indian/Italy surveillance radar, and possibly Japanese cone radar in future.
LRSAM missiles and Brahmos are primary missiles.

India needs to learn lessons from Ukraine war and develop all kinds of drones, including sea drones to checkmate enemies.

 

[Anant]

Not so fast.
First one coming in 2025 and Second one coming in 2026.
Do not worry at all as we can't control their manufacturing.

Except for the body and few systems and CIWS and possibly AShMs, it will be equipped with Israeli MFSTAR AESA radar and Indian or Indian/Italy surveillance radar, and possibly Japanese cone radar in future.
LRSAM missiles and Brahmos are primary missiles.

India needs to learn lessons from Ukraine war and develop all kinds of drones, including sea drones to checkmate enemies.

The ships will carry the BrahMos AShM, similar to the Batch 2 Talwars. The Batch 1 Talwars are the ones which carry Russian AShMs.

As for the radar, if the images or Tushil are anything to go by, most subsystems may already have been fitted, and seem to be the same systems present on the earlier Talwars. Replacing those this soon is highly unlikely.

 

[NSR]

The ships will carry the BrahMos AShM, similar to the Batch 2 Talwars. The Batch 1 Talwars are the ones which carry Russian AShMs.

As for the radar, if the images or Tushil are anything to go by, most subsystems may already have been fitted, and seem to be the same systems present on the earlier Talwars. Replacing those this soon is highly unlikely.

Surely we will know when they join the Naval forces on patrol.

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

These are the last foreign made vessels that will ever by bought by our navy. All future vessels including carriers, subs, destroyers etc will be built in india using indigenous tech or with foreign help.

 

[Anant]

These are the last foreign made vessels that will ever by bought by our navy. All future vessels including carriers, subs, destroyers etc will be built in india using indigenous tech or with foreign help.

True, but I am very much in favour of buying a few second-hand MCMVs from the UK or France. We don't have MCMVs, and the present RfI probably won't materialise until atleast the end of this decade. The Europeans have a few old-ish MCMVs (Hunt-class and Tripartite-class) that we could procure on the cheap, refit, and use for about a decade while the new MCMVs enter service.

The Indian Navy hasn't had dedicated MCMV capability since 2019, and short of helicopters doing this job, we have nothing to go around with. The present situation might lead to potentially expensive and embarrassing losses to mines in any future conflict.

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

True, but I am very much in favour of buying a few second-hand MCMVs from the UK or France. We don't have MCMVs, and the present RfI probably won't materialise until atleast the end of this decade. The Europeans have a few old-ish MCMVs (Hunt-class and Tripartite-class) that we could procure on the cheap, refit, and use for about a decade while the new MCMVs enter service.

The Indian Navy hasn't had dedicated MCMV capability since 2019, and short of helicopters doing this job, we have nothing to go around with. The present situation might lead to potentially expensive and embarrassing losses to mines in any future conflict.

Well, we have the domestic capacity to build them now, since all our shipyards have underwent capacity improvement and upgrades. We can get a foreign partner and build them here, like P75I.

Regarding getting older vessels from europeans, I believe navy will go for leasing option, for training purpose. Navy already has much experience going this route.

Since buying puts you on the hook for decades, if you need to meet short term needs, leasing is best.

 

[Man-ju]

This is a part of blackmail deal signed in 2018 with S400 sale contract where Russia decided to make money using frigates(total 6 meant for themselves but three were given to India) that were lying junk due to non supply of Ukranian Engines after Crimea. Search Project 11356

 

[Man-ju]

These are the last foreign made vessels that will ever by bought by our navy. All future vessels including carriers, subs, destroyers etc will be built in india using indigenous tech or with foreign help.

Even these were not wanted by Navy but Putin made it an condition during his 2018 visit for Indian desire to buy S400.

 

[Anant]

Well, we have the domestic capacity to build them now, since all our shipyards have underwent capacity improvement and upgrades. We can get a foreign partner and build them here, like P75I.

Regarding getting older vessels from europeans, I believe navy will go for leasing option, for training purpose. Navy already has much experience going this route.

Since buying puts you on the hook for decades, if you need to meet short term needs, leasing is best.

Boss, we tried getting a foreign partner in the form of South Korea, with GSL planned to build the ships. That entire venture flat-lined over ToT disagreements.

Now, the Navy has released an RfI that essentially seeks the City-class minesweepers being built by France, Belgium, and the Netherlands (the replacement of the Tripartite-class), but any such offer, negotiations, and subsequent construction would take atleast 7-10 years after governmental approval, which is still nowhere to be seen, as even the DPB hasn't tabled the proposal yet.

In the meantime, we don't have any shipborne-MCM assets, and we are approaching the point where the entire existing MCM capability and expertise will simply atrophy away to nothing.

As for leasing, who exactly would lease these ships? The aforementioned European nations are decommissioning their MCMVs in a state where they would need a refit for continued service, which is unlikely to be done for a lease.

Regardless, the requirement is still present. We do need those ships, be it through sale or lease.

 

[Apocalypse gupta]

Even these were not wanted by Navy but Putin made it an condition during his 2018 visit for Indian desire to buy S400.

I dont think so, these plans are made at least a decade in advance.

 

[Anant]

Even these were not wanted by Navy but Putin made it an condition during his 2018 visit for Indian desire to buy S400.

Not quite. Plans for a class of medium frigates to replace the Godavari-class had already been afoot as early as 2014, since the Shivalik-class (which had initially been planned as the replacements of the Godavari-class) were now being counted as an expansion to the frigate fleet. As such, with seven Nilgiri-class frigates planned, it was decided to take overall frigate numbers for the Navy up to 20, with the idea being that the Brahmaputra-class would start leaving service around 2033-35.

When the opportunity opened to buy two mid-sized frigates, the Navy decided to go forward with it, since this would provide eleven mid-sized frigates (including the Brahmaptura-class). It was also decided to build two additional ships in India to keep overall numbers of mid-sized frigates at 10 (once the Brahmaputra-class left service).

Of course, as of today, the current frigate numbers once the current construction ends will be 23 (3 Brahmaputra, 10 Talwar, 3 Shivalik, and 7 Nilgiri). If the current proposal for 8 Nilgiri Batch 2 frigates (Project 17B) is accepted, that will take our frigate numbers up to 25, comprising 7 Talwar, 3 Shivalik, 7 Nilgiri, and 8 Nilgiri mod., with the Talwar Batch 1 and Brahmaputra-class leaving service.

 

[Anant]

This is a part of blackmail deal signed in 2018 with S400 sale contract where Russia decided to make money using frigates(total 6 meant for themselves but three were given to India) that were lying junk due to non supply of Ukranian Engines after Crimea. Search Project 11356

Not quite. If anything, Russia had plans to complete the frigates with locally designed gas turbines once their development was concluded. The engines then under development were also planned to be scaled down a bit for the three Grigorovich-class frigates. However, once the Indian Navy purchased two of them (the reason is highlighted in my reply to one your other comments in this article), the Russians lost interest in modifying the engine specifically for one frigate.

The current engine developed for the Gorshkov-class frigates is a tad too large, and you would have to either reconstruct parts of the smaller frigate, or downscale the engine, to make it fit. The current plans are for Russia to sell the unfinished hulk to anyone who might be interested who can then procure the engine separately from Ukraine and finish the ship. It is quite possible Vietnam may be that customer, but we shall see.