The Tushil commissioning ceremony took place on December 9 in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, on the edge of the Baltic Sea, announced the Indian Ministry of Defense. This is where the building was built, just like the last three frigates of project 1135.6, the Tarkash, Trikand and Teg, constituting Batch 2 of the program and which were commissioned in 2012 and 2013. The first three ( Batch 1) were built in Saint Petersburg and delivered in 2003 for the Talwar and Trishul, then in 2004 for the Tabar (photo illustrating this article).
These buildings, 124.8 meters long and 15.2 meters wide, have a fully loaded displacement of 3,900 tonnes. Armed by a crew of 180 sailors, they can exceed 30 knots and cover more than 4,000 nautical miles at 20 knots. The armament includes 8 Klub anti-ship missiles or Brahmos cruise missiles housed in vertical launch cells, a Shtil/SA-N-7 surface-to-air system (a ramp at the front, 24 missiles in the hold), a turret of 100 mm, two 30 mm multi-tube cannons, machine guns and four torpedo tubes. The buildings can also carry a helicopter, such as the Ka-31 Helix.
First unit of Batch 3, the Tushil, which was launched in October 2021, is presented as an improved version of its six elders, with greater participation from Indian industry. According to New Delhi, Indian content has reached 26% and the number of national systems on board (33 in total) has more than doubled compared to previous Talwars. The main Indian equipment manufacturers involved are BrahMos Aerospace, Bharat Electronics, Keltron, Nova Integrated Systems (Tata group), Elcome Marine and Johnson Controls India.
This frigate is therefore launching Batch 3, which will include four new frigates resulting from a contract concluded in 2016 between India and Russia. The Tushil is the first of two buildings whose construction was entrusted to Yantar, the other two being built in the Indian shipyards of Goa, which launched their first frigate of this type, the Triput, in July latest with a view to commissioning hoped for at the end of 2026.
© An article from the editorial staff of Mer et Marine. Reproduction prohibited without consent of the author(s).
