First of Three Frigates Built for Indian Navy Successfully Passes Last Trials

First of three frigates built for Indian Navy has successfully passed the last trials before delivery, reported RIA Novosti on Dec 7 referring to Sergei Mikhailov, press secretary of JSC Yantar Shipyard (Kaliningrad, Russia).

“Project 11356 frigate INS Teg has almost completed closing stage of trials. What comes next is acceptance process of the first of three frigates built for Indian Navy”, Mikhailov said.

According to him, the ship has to be handed over to India in Apr 2012.

The $1.6-bln contract for construction of the second 3-ship batch for Indian Navy was signed on July 14, 2007 in Delhi. Under contract tied in 1997, frigates INS Tabar, INS Trishul, and INS Talwar were built and handed over to Indian Navy.

Technically, frigates currently built at Yantar will have minor differences with their predecessors operated by Indian Navy. The changes are related to arms and shipborne equipment. In particular, they will be armed with supersonic cruise missiles BrahMos with flight range up to 300 km.

According to RIA Novosti referred to a source in Baltic Fleet, frigate INS Teg and Russian Black Sea Fleet (BSF) submarine Alrosa held a joint exercise this week. The sub launched a torpedo, and the frigate’s crew detected it and sidestepped.

Alrosa is a Project 877 diesel electric submarine. Displacement is 2,325/3,076 tons; length is 76.2 meters; beam is 9.9 meters; draft is 6.2 meters; speed (surface/submerged) is 10/17 knots; operating range is 400 miles under water and 6,000 miles with snorkel; test depth is 300 meters; operating depth is 240 meters; crew is 53 including 14 officers. Subs of this project are armed with six 533-mm torpedo tubes (combat load 12 torpedoes) and Igla self-defense antiaircraft missile system.

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Naval Today Staff, December 09, 2011; Image: pacificsentinel