Talwar frigate trials begin

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, NOV. 20. The first of three hi-tech frigates built in Russia for the Indian Navy began sea trials on Monday, defence sources said here.

The 4,000-tonne Talwar frigate, built at the Baltiysky Zavod shipyard in St. Petersburg, will ply the Finnish Bay for three weeks to test its engine before undergoing comprehensive running and firing trials at the main base of the Russian Baltic Fleet near Kaliningrad in the presence of Indian Navy officers, the sources said.

Demonstrating confidence in the quality of their ships, shipyard officials hope to cut the trial period by about a third to handover the Talwar to the Indian Navy in May 2002. Under a 1997 contract, Russia is building three Talwar-class frigates at a total cost of about $1 billion. The other two frigates, Trishul and Tabar, are to be commissioned at six-month intervals. India also has an option to order three more frigates of the same class.

The Talwar-class stealth-technology frigates are an improved version of the Russian Krivak class ships redesigned to meet Indian Navy requirements. They have the most formidable array of weapons for their class of men-of-war, which includes the nuclear-capable 300-km Klab-N supersonic cruise missiles, the air-defence Kashtan rocket-cum-artillery guns, the Shtil-1 multiple-barrel rocket system, and the 100-mm A-190 automatic guns firing 80 rounds per minute and effective against aerial, sea-borne and land-based targets. Each frigate will accommodate a KA-28 anti-submarine warfare helicopter.

Navy is the most dynamic area of Indo-Russian defence cooperation. Apart from the frigates, Russia is currently building a fourth-generation Amur-class submarine for India and upgrading the Indian Navy fleet of 10 kilo-class submarines to give them a missile-firing capability. Russia is also to supply a Shchuka-B class nuclear-power submarine to Indian Navy for a three-year lease and to refit the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier.

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Section  : International
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