The Indian Navy’s two warships being built in Russia are expected to be ready for commissioning by the end of this year after being delayed by over two years due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
An Indian Navy team from the Chief of Materiel Directorate was recently in Russia to oversee the project and visited the Russian shipyard where the frigates are being built to review the programme, defence officials informed India Today.
“The work on the Tushil class warships is progressing at a good pace and the first warship has also been launched for sea trials being carried out by the Russian Navy. The two warships are likely to be commissioned by August and December this year respectively”, Indian Navy officials said.
The first warship is going to be named INS Tushil while the other will be called INS Tamal after commissioning, they said.
As per the Navy officials, the ongoing conflict (Russia-Ukraine war) in the region has created many issues for the project like the fitment of the Ukrainian engine on the frigate being built in Russia as the workforce from Indian naval shipyards had to be sent there for fitting the engine on the warship.
The first ship, off late, is now undergoing trials in Russian waters and is expected to be ready soon for delivery to the Indian Navy for acceptance trials and Indian warship team is expected to be there soon.
The other two warships of the series being built with Russian support at the Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) in India are also moving ahead at a good pace.
The GSL is expected to launch the first warship for trials in the near future and the delivery is expected to be completed by the middle of 2026.
