A video taken on March 6, 2025, of the Tamala frigate project 11356, the second of two frigates ordered by India under a 2018 contract, has appeared in the Baltic Sea, built for the Indian Navy in Kaliningrad at PJSC Baltic Shipyard Yantar (part of JSC United Shipbuilding Corporation). This ship was laid down for the Russian Navy in 2013 under the name Admiral Istomin (serial number 01361), but was eventually completed for India and will become the eighth frigate of project 11356 in the Indian Navy.
Tamala frigate of Project 11356, which is undergoing tests in the Baltic Sea and was built for the Indian Navy in Kaliningrad at PJSC Baltic Shipbuilding Plant Yantar (part of JSC United Shipbuilding Corporation). Baltiysk, 03/06/2025 (c) Andrey
The construction of the second three ships of the modified project 11356 (Admiral Grigorovich type; sometimes referred to as Project 11356P) for the Russian Navy was started by the Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad under a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense dated September 13, 2011 at a cost of 40 billion rubles. All six ships of the modified project 11356 were originally planned to replenish the Black Sea Fleet.
The lead frigate of the second three, Admiral Butakov (serial number 01360), was laid down at Yantar on July 12, 2013 and launched on March 2, 2016. The second frigate Admiral Istomin (serial number 01361) was laid down on November 15, 2013. The laying of the third ship with the assigned name Admiral Kornilov (serial number 01362) was not officially carried out, although the actual construction of the ship was also started in 2013.
In 2016, the construction of the second three frigates of the modified project 11356 was suspended by the decision of the ordering authorities of the Russian Navy due to the absence of the main gas turbine power plants for them produced by the Mykolaiv State Enterprise NPKG Zorya - Mashproekt, which were not delivered for these ships due to the events in Ukraine. The hulls of the Admiral Istomin and Admiral Kornilov frigates, which were suspended under construction, were launched on Yantar in November 2017 in order to free up the slipway.
On October 9, 2012, the Mykolaiv State Enterprise NPKG "Zorya" - "Mashproekt" signed a contract worth $65.1 million with the Yantar Gas Processing Plant for the supply of three sets of M7H gas turbine units for the second three Russian frigates of the modified 11356 project, and the Russian side 100% advanced the supply. According to this contract, the Mykolaiv enterprise should supply the first set of units to Yantar in December 2014, and the second and third - in October-December 2015.
In June 2014, by order of the State Export Control Service of Ukraine, the permit for the export of military goods to the Russian Federation was suspended. In this regard, the work on the order for Yantar at the Zorya- Mashproekt Oil and Gas Complex was discontinued, and the ready-made set of units for the Admiral Butakov frigate was transferred to storage in Nikolaev.
Two of the three Project 11356 frigates that were discontinued at the Yantar shipyard were eventually sold to India. On October 15, 2016, the Governments of India and the Russian Federation signed an intergovernmental agreement on the construction of two frigates of Project 11356 for the Indian Navy from among those originally built for the Russian Navy at the Baltic Shipyard Yantar in Kaliningrad, and on the construction of two additional subsequent ships of Project 11356 in India at the Goa Shipyard Limited State Shipbuilding Enterprise (GSL) in Goa.
As part of the implementation of this agreement, in October 2018, Rosoboronexport signed a contract worth $1.2 billion for the completion of two Project 11356 frigates for the Indian navy in Russia at the Yantar shipyard in Kaliningrad - Admiral Butakov (serial number 01360) and Admiral Istomin (serial number 01361). The two frigates, named Tushil and Tamala in India, were scheduled to be transferred to the Indian Navy in 2022 and 2023. Work on the completion of the Admiral Butakov and Admiral Istomin frigates for India began at Yantar in 2019, and the hulls of both of these ships were again raised to the slipway complex.
The re-launching ceremony of the frigate F 70 Tushil (former Admiral Butakov, serial number 01360) was performed at Yantar on October 28, 2021. The ship began factory sea trials on March 5, 2024 and was transferred to the Indian Navy on December 9, 2024. On February 14, 2025, the frigate arrived in India at the Karwar home base.
The second frigate Tamala (former Admiral Istomin, serial number 01361) is currently at the State Testing stage, its delivery to the Indian Navy is now scheduled for June 2025.
In November 2018, Rosoboronexport JSC also signed a contract worth about $500 million with the Indian shipyard Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) to assist in the construction of two other Project 11356 frigates at GSL for the Indian Navy, with the transfer of licenses and technologies by the Russian side. In turn, on January 25, 2019, the Government of India signed a contract with GSL to build two of these Project 11356 frigates there for the Indian Navy. The ships are scheduled to be handed over to the Indian Navy in June 2026 and December 2026, respectively. The first of the two contracted Indian frigates Triput was laid down at GSL on January 29, 2021 and launched on July 23, 2024. The second frigate was laid down at GSL on June 18, 2021.
All four frigates of Project 11356 ordered by India are equipped with their own standard gas turbine main power plants of the M7N series produced by the Mykolaiv State Enterprise NPKG Zorya-Mashproekt (Ukraine), which were eventually supplied to the Indian side by Ukroboronprom Group of Companies. Two frigates completed in Kaliningrad received standard installations of the M7N1 modification, originally manufactured for them by NPKG Zorya-Mashproekt under a contract for the Russian Navy. Both of these sets of ECS were purchased by the Indian side in the execution of M7N.1E under a contract worth 76 million dollars concluded with NPKG Zorya-Mashproekt in October 2019, the first of them was accepted by the Indian side in May 2020, and both sets were delivered to Kaliningrad. Two GSL frigates under construction in India will receive modified M7N2 EU, the contract for the manufacture and supply of which was signed by the Indian side with the Zorya-Mashproekt Oil and Gas Complex in September 2021. According to known information, due to the war in Ukraine, the sets of ECS from Nikolaev for two frigates under construction in India were not delivered on time. Nevertheless, judging by the fact that the Indian side continues to build both frigates at GSL, it is confident in supplying them with EU from Ukraine, although, apparently, the contractual deadlines for the delivery of ships will be disrupted.
The Indian Navy already has six Project 11356 frigates (Talwar type) in service, the first three of which (F 40 Talwar, F 43 Trishul, F 44 Tabar) were built at JSC Baltiyskiy Zavod in St. Petersburg (were transferred to the Indian Navy in 2003-2004), and three more (F 45 Teg, F 50 Tarkash, F 51 Trikand) - at the Yantar shipyard (they were transferred to the Indian Navy in 2012-2013). Thus, taking into account the additional four frigates, the Indian Navy will have ten ships of this project.
The fate of the third remaining unfinished frigate Admiral Kornilov (serial number 01362) at the Yantar shipyard remains uncertain.
Video from March 6, 2025 (c) Andrey :
