The new representative of Project 11356 is armed with the Shtil-1 air defense system and BrahMos missiles.
The Tamal frigate of Project 11356 has been officially handed over to the Indian Navy in Kaliningrad. It has 20 Indian-made shipboard systems, including the BrahMos supersonic missile system. The general director of the manufacturing plant told Izvestia how it differs from the previous ships of the series. During the construction, the shipbuilders had to overcome the difficulties associated with the sanctions pressure.
The Tamal frigate of Project 11356 has been officially handed over to the Indian Navy in Kaliningrad. It has 20 Indian-made shipboard systems, including the BrahMos supersonic missile system. The general director of the manufacturing plant told Izvestia how it differs from the previous ships of the series. During the construction, the shipbuilders had to overcome the difficulties associated with the sanctions pressure.
How did the Tamal frigate turn out?
On July 1, the frigate project 11356 Tamal was handed over to the Indian Navy at the Yantar plant in Kaliningrad, the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) reported. This is the eighth frigate built in Russia for this country, and the fifth built at the Kaliningrad shipyard of the USC.
The ship was named Tamal, which means "Sword" in Sanskrit.
Rosoboronexport's contract with USC for the construction of Project 11356 frigates for India was signed at the end of 2018. It involves the construction of two ships in Kaliningrad and two more at the Indian shipyard Goa Shipyard Limited.
"The Tamal frigate has successfully completed acceptance and transfer tests with the participation of the Indian commission," said Andrey Puchkov, General Director of the USC. — We can say with confidence that this is a modern and multifunctional ship that has high combat capabilities to counter surface, ground, underwater and aerial targets. Despite the completion of the construction of ships of this project in Russia, the corporation's specialists will continue to provide the necessary assistance in the construction of two ships of project 11356 already at Indian shipyards.
The ship is armed with 100 and 30 mm caliber artillery systems, missile systems and torpedo armament. It is equipped with a modern air defense system based on the Shtil-1 anti-aircraft missile system with vertical launch missiles. The Ka-31 long-range radar detection helicopter can be based on board. The frigate is capable of traveling 4,850 miles without refueling and staying at sea for 30 days without resupply.
— The eighth frigate of project 11356 is a model of technological cooperation. It has more than 20 Indian—made shipboard systems, including the BrahMos supersonic missile system, an automated communications complex, a detection and targeting radar, and a sonar station," said Alexander Mikheev, CEO of Rosoboronexport. — Today, the company is actively developing partnerships with Indian public and private enterprises for the joint development and production of military products on the partner's territory. We are discussing more than 50 projects for all branches of the armed forces. We are already working on a number of them.
How does Tamal differ from the previous ships in the series
Ilya Samarin, CEO of the Baltic Shipyard Yantar, told Izvestia that Tamal differs from previous ships in the series, in particular, from the Tushil ship, which Yantar transferred to the Indian Navy in December 2024.
— The main difference is the changed composition of the equipment, including an increased share of Indian equipment. This applies to sonar equipment, an automated communications complex, radar detection and targeting, and a torpedo firing control system. A new system for detecting toxic gases has been installed on this ship," he said. — The range of Russian equipment has also been changed due to the transition from an analog form of information transmission to a digital one, which allows the use of the latest technologies for better and faster execution of processes.
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Image Source: iz.ru
According to Samarin, the 11356 project is very successful: the ships have excellent seaworthiness and have proven themselves well as full-fledged combat units.
"The ships of Project 11356 are very actively used by the Indian Navy. These are multifunctional ships that, with a relatively small displacement, have high combat capabilities to combat surface, land, underwater and aerial targets. Thus, the 11356 project fully fits into the modern trend of military shipbuilding," the official statement of the Yantar shipyard also notes.
Ilya Samarin said that the shipyard had encountered difficulties during the construction process. They were related to the sanctions restrictions imposed by European countries on the supply of equipment and materials provided for in the technical specifications of the Tushil and Tamal ships.
Initially, the ships of Project 11356 were built for the Russian Black Sea Fleet. However, after Ukraine refused to supply engines for them, Russia signed a contract with India.
"The frigate was created on the basis of the 1135 project family of ships in the 90s,— military expert Dmitry Boltenkov told Izvestia. — A pretty good multipurpose ship. Two of them are fighting in the Black Sea Fleet, one of them even became a guardsman. They are attacking military installations in Ukraine with Kalibr cruise missiles. But the Indians have their own rocket, the BrahMos. This is a good purchase for the Indian navy. We could use a ship like this ourselves.
The previous frigate built for India, the Tushil Yantar, was handed over to the Indian Navy on December 9 in the presence of Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh.
Roman Kretsul
