Tamal, last foreign-made warship, commissioned; Udaygiri delivered

INS Tamal’s commissioning ceremony was held at Yantar shipyard in Russia’s Kaliningrad, where it was built. The ship will soon embark for her homeport of Karwar in Karnataka, the Navy said.

“INS Tamal is a formidable moving fortress at sea and is designed for blue water operations across the spectrum of naval warfare in all four dimensions — air, surface, underwater and electromagnetic,” the Navy said.

INS Tamal is the eighth multi-role stealth frigate in Project 1135.6 — a series of frigates built by Russia for the Indian Navy — and the second of the additional follow-on Tushil class of ships. The first ship of Tushil class (INS Tushil) was commissioned in December last year.

The seven Project 1135.6 ships inducted thus far are part of the Western Fleet, ‘The Sword Arm’ of the Navy under the Western Naval Command.

INS Tamal has a crew of about 250 sailors and 26 officers and is commanded by Captain Sridhar Tata, a gunnery and missile warfare specialist. The ship is equipped with dual role BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, vertically launched surface-to-air missiles with extended ranges, the standard 30 mm Close in Weapon System, the 100 MM Main gun and very potent ASW rockets and heavyweight torpedoes.
Udaygiri, meanwhile, is the second among the seven Project 17A frigates under construction at MDSL, Mumbai and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd, Kolkata. Project 17A is a follow-on to Shivalik class (Project 17) frigates active in service. As per Navy, P-17A ships have enhanced stealth features and fitted with ‘State of the Art’ weapons and sensors, including supersonic surface-to-surface, and medium-range surface-to-air missile systems.