The Talwar-class () frigates or Project 11356 are a class of stealth guided missile frigates designed and built by Russia for the Indian Navy. The Talwar-class guided missile frigates are the improved versions of the Krivak III-class (Project 1135) frigates used by the Russian Coast Guard. The design has been further developed as the for the Russian Navy.
Designed by Severnoye Design Bureau, the first batch of ships were built by Baltic Shipyard and the second and third batch by Yantar Shipyard. Preceded by the Brahmaputra-class frigates, the Talwar-class frigates are said to have semi-stealth features and better armament. The Indian Navy currently operates eight of these ships and two more are under construction at the Goa Shipyard in India.
History
Batch-I On 17 November 1997, Russia and India signed a $1 billion contract, for three Krivak III-class multi-purpose frigates. The Indian Navy wanted to fill the gap created by the decommissioning of the s until the Project 17-class frigates entered service.
After the signing of the contract, Severnoye Design Bureau began a detail design layout and the shipbuilder, Baltisky Zavod of St. Petersburg, began preparations for their construction. The project involved around 130 suppliers from Russia, India, Britain, Germany, Denmark, Belarus, Ukraine and other countries including over 30 St. Petersburg-based naval design organizations and institutes.
The first frigate, INS Talwar was delivered in May 2002. The second, INS Trishul, was delivered in November 2002 and the third, INS Tabar, in May 2003. The Russian firm delayed the delivery of three frigates by 13 months, 7 months and 11 months respectively. The contract stipulated the levy of liquidated damages for the delays and the same worked out to the equivalent of 38.5 million. This was yet to be recovered as of December 2005.
Batch-II The Government of India signed a follow-on contract for the purchase of three additional frigates on 14 July 2006. These ships will be built at Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad. The first frigate was scheduled for delivery in April 2011. These ships will feature BrahMos supersonic anti-ship cruise missile instead of the Klub-N/3M54TE missile system which was provided to the Talwar, Trishul and Tabar frigates.
Batch-III In July 2012, India Today reported the start of talks about purchasing three additional Talwar-class frigates (No.7 to No.9). In March 2016, it was reported that India and Russia are still negotiating the purchase of the additional ships.
In September 2016, it was reported that India would acquire two s from Russia and remaining two will be built in India. These frigates are based on the Talwar class and were to be commissioned into the Russian Navy, but after the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war, Ukraine refused to supply any more engines for the Russian ships. As of then, only two of the six have been commissioned by Russia. In August 2017, the Indian Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) cleared a proposal of to buy two gas turbines from Zorya-Mashproekt in Ukraine for the s being built in Russia. Each M7N1 system includes two DT59 top speed (boost) gas turbines, two DS71 cruise turbines, two R063, one R1063 reduction gears and its control system. It can provide a total power output of . The powerplants were delivered to Kaliningrad Shipyard in late 2020 to early 2021.
In October 2018, Indian Ministry of Defence signed a deal for for procuring two s, Admiral Butakov (renamed INS Tushil) and Admiral Istomin (renamed INS Tamala). The two frigates was scheduled to be delivered to Indian Navy by 2022. The last frigate, the former Admiral Kornilov, is to be sold abroad. (Total: 3 ships built for the Russian Navy, 3 ships under construction for sale abroad).
On 11 March 2024, reports emerged that INS Tushil, being built by Yantar Shipyard has started sea trials. The initial Pennant number is 435. In April 2024, a report suggested that INS Tushil will be delivered to India in September 2024 whereas INS Tamala will be handed over in February 2025. The timeline is on track as of July 2024. As of July 2024, to conduct acceptance trials for the two frigates being built in Yantar shipyard, a team of around 200 personnel of the Indian Navy are in Russia. It was reported in September 2024 that INS Tushil is to be commissioned by 2024-end. INS Tushil was commissioned by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on 9 December 2024 during a formal visit to Russia. The frigate was handed over to the Indian crew of over 200 officers and sailors at Kaliningrad Shipyard.
The latter INS Tamal is to be delivered in early 2025. As of February 2025, INS Tamal is to be commissioned in early June 2025 following delivery acceptance trials.
The Indian Navy commissioned INS Tamal in Russia on 1 July 2025. The commissioning ceremony was presided over by Vice Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command of the Indian Navy, in the presence of many high-ranking Indian and Russian government and defence officials.
On 3 March 2026, the defence ministry signed a contract worth with JSC Rosoboronexport for the acquisition of Vertical Launch – Shtil-1 (VL-Shtil) missiles for the upgraded Talwar-class frigates. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the procurement on 20 March 2025.
Batch-IV A contract, worth , was signed between Rosoboronexport and Goa Shipyard for the construction of 2 frigates under license on 20 November 2018. The two frigates will be armed with BrahMos missile system and will include a host of Indian equipment and will be delivered by 2027. The contract for the two ships was awarded to Goa Shipyard Limited by the Government of India on 30 January 2019. The two frigates being built at Goa Shipyard will boast much higher indigenous content and will be named Triput class frigate. The new class of ship will feature BHEL-manufactured OTO Melara 76 mm gun instead of its Russian counterpart, along with other Indian weapon and sensors.
In September 2021, India ordered two sets of modified M7N2E units for Batch-4 frigates at the coast of $100 million which has upgrades like microprocessor control system and a power output of , higher than previous subclasses. The powerplants are scheduled to be delivered by December 2022 and July 2023, respectively.
On 23 July 2024, INS Triput was launched by GSL shipyard. As of then, the delivery of INS Triput is expected in 2026 and the next ship shall be delivered after 6 months of the former.
As of February 2025, the last ship of the class was to be launched within few months and the schedules were on track.
The last of the locally produced Talwar-class frigate, Tavasya, was launched at Goa Shipyard on 22 March 2025.
On 3 March 2026, the defence ministry signed a contract worth with JSC Rosoboronexport for the acquisition of Vertical Launch – Shtil-1 (VL-Shtil) missiles for the upgraded Talwar-class frigates. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the procurement on 20 March 2025.
Design and description
The Severnoye Design Bureau developed the Project 1135.6 vessel using an earlier Project 1135.1 design, which dated back to the early 1980s. The ship's redesigned topside and hull has a considerably reduced radar cross-section. While the superstructure sides are sloped and relatively clean, the very cluttered topside of the ship cannot be remotely described as having any signature reducing features. These frigates will be the first Indian Navy warships to incorporate some stealth features. The ship's hull is characterized by outward flare and tumblehome, while the superstructure (which forms a continuous junction with the hull) has a large fixed tumblehome angle.
Power plant The Talwars features the Zorya designed and Mashproekt (Ukraine) manufactured M7N.1E gas turbine plant which comprises two DS-71 cruise turbines and two DT-59 boost turbines in two engine rooms. The cruising component consists of two DS-71 gas-turbine engines, each rated at in forward running, and in reverse. Two cruising RO63 two-speed gearboxes and one cruising R1063 auxiliary gearbox which makes it possible to use any of the cruising engines to drive both propeller shafts. A boost component with two DT-59.1 gas-turbine engines, each rated at forward running, in reverse and two RO58 single-speed reduction gearboxes. The four gas turbines are mounted on isolated cradles which minimize their contact with the hull and thereby considerably reduce the transmission of her vibration and sound.
Electrical power is provided by four 1 MW Wärtsilä WCM-1000 generator sets with Cummins KTA50G3 engines and Kirloskar 1 MV AC generators. The contract for the generators was signed with Wärtsilä Denmark.
Flight deck The Talwar class can accommodate one Ka-28 Helix-A antisubmarine helicopter or one Ka-31 Helix-B airborne early warning helicopter which can provide over-the-horizon targeting. The vessel can also embark the navalised variant of the indigenous HAL Dhruv.
Armament
The frigates are armed with a new 3M-54 Klub anti-ship system with a vertical missile launcher, Shtil-1 multi-channel medium-range surface-to-air missile system (an export version of the SA-N-12 "Grizzly"), a Kashtan anti-aircraft missile and artillery system, a RBU-6000 depth charge launcher and Puma-Universal artillery system. These ships are designed to carry and operate one heavy duty helicopter.
Overview Batch IBatch IIBatch IIIBatch IV8 × VLS launched Klub, anti-ship cruise missiles8 × VLS launched BrahMos, anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles1 × Shtil-1 single-arm surface-to-air missile launcher (24 missiles)2 × 12-cell Shtil-1 vertical launching system (VLS) surface-to-air missiles8 × Igla-1E (SA-16) MANPADS based point-defence surface-to-air missile system 1 × A-190E 100 mm naval gun [All; except INS Trishul (F43)]
1 × OTO Melara 76 mm naval gun [INS Trishul (F43)] 2 × AK-630 CIWS [All; except INS Talwar (F40) and INS Tabar (F44)]
2 × Kashtan CIWS [INS Talwar (F40) and INS Tabar (F44)] 2 × twin 533mm DTA-53-11356 torpedo tubes 1 × RBU-6000 (RPK-8) rocket launcher
Primary weapon In the main strike role, an eight-cell 3S14E vertical missile launcher is fitted, which accommodates the 3M-54E Klub-N anti-ship missile developed by the Novator Design Bureau. The Agat Research and Production Enterprise has supplied the 3R14N-11356 shipborne fire-control system associated with the Klub-N. The 3M-54E Klub is an long missile using active radar guidance with a range of . It is a three-stage missile in which the terminal stage reaches supersonic velocity (Mach 2.9) when it is approximately from its target.
The later batches of 7 ships (Teg onwards) are fitted with the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, which has a range of and a cruising speed of Mach 2.8 throughout its flight.
In May 2015, the Defence Acquisition Council of the Indian Ministry of Defence cleared the procurement of nine systems of BrahMos cruise missiles to equip the first batch of Talwar-class frigates as well as three of the s at a cost of . By 2024, the Klub missile launchers on INS Talwar and INS Tabar of the first batch was replaced by BrahMos-capable UVLM launchers while the same change for INS Trishul done by 2026.
Air defence