Article Posted on : - Nov 27, 2009

Talwar class missile frigate INS Tabar. Image credit: Indian Navy

KALININGRAD (BNS): INS Teg – the first of the three new Talwar class guided missile frigates Russia is building for Indian Navy – is all set to touch ‘natural waters’ on Friday.

Russian shipyard Yantar in Kaliningrad which is building the vessel will float it out, thereby making it waterborne for the first time.

“That is an important and symbolic date. It is the birthday of the warship, as it gets into its natural waters,” the shipyard's spokesman Sergei Mikhailov was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass.

INS Teg is being built along with two other new Talwar class warships – INS Tarkash and INS Trikand, under a $1.6 billion contract signed between India and Russia in July, 2006. Russia has already built and delivered three such ships – INS Talwar, INS Trishul, and INS Tabar – to Indian Navy.

Construction on INS Teg began in 2007 and its sea trials are expected to start in 2010 following which it will be delivered to Indian Navy by 2011-12.

The new class of missile frigates is designed to accomplish a wide range of maritime missions, primarily hunting down and destroying large surface ships and submarines.

They would be fitted with BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missiles instead of the 3M-54E Klub-N anti-ship missiles installed in the previous three frigates.

Besides, each new vessel would also have a 100-mm gun, a Shtil air defense system, two Kashtan air defense gun/missile systems, two twin 533-mm torpedo tubes, and an anti-submarine warfare helicopter.