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Construction of two Project 11356 frigates, laid down for Russian Navy, to be completed for India

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Naval Forces News - Russia, India
 
 
 
Construction of two Project 11356 frigates, laid down for Russian Navy, to be completed for India
 
The construction of two Project 11356 frigates, initially laid at the Yantar shipyard for the Black Sea Fleet, will be completed for India, reported to TASS Igor Ponomaryov, the United Shipbuilding Corporation vice-president for defense production.
     
Project 11356 frigates India RussiaThe unfinished frigates "Admiral Istomin" and "Admiral Kornilov" of project 11356 at JSC "Baltic Shipyard" Yantar in Kaliningrad in July 2017. Picture by Sergey Zhvansky / fotki.yandex.ru/next/users/zsr-photo
     
"Two ships will be built for India and construction will be completed of one ship for the Russian Navy. The latter will be powered by new gas-turbine engines," he said, pointing out that the fate of the second three Project 11356 frigates, under construction at the Yantar Baltic shipyard, is determined by an agreement between the Russian and Indian governments.

"We expect that on completion of this work (ending the construction of three Project 11356 ships, eds.) the Russian Navy will decide to order at least a further two frigates of this class," the USC vice-president said.
     
INS Trikand Project 11356INS Trikand at Portsmouth Naval Base, UK. Brian Burnell picture.
     

Talks are underway on supplying India with four Project 11356 frigates. Previously, Victor Kladov, Rostekh director for international cooperation and regional politics, reported that the planned contract would be realized according to a "two plus two" formula, i.e. two frigates are scheduled for building in Russia and delivery to Indian in a finished condition, while two ships will be built by the Indian shipbuilding industry at one of the county’s shipyards. Later on, the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation specified that at issue is the Yantar shipyard in Kaliningrad and Goa Shipyard of India.

The Project 11356 frigate has a displacement of about 4,000 tons, a speed of 30 knots and a cruising capacity of 30 days.

Three ships of the type have been built for the Black Sea Fleet.

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Navy Recognition Comments:
The issue revolved around the propulsion systems of the frigates and is linked to the crisis in Ukraine: Six Project 11356 frigates were planned to be built for the Russian Black Sea Fleet. These vessels are equipped with Ukrainian-made propulsion units. Following the crisis, Ukraine refused to deliver propulsion systems for the second batch of three frigates which has threatened their construction. The United Ship-Building Corporation said in 2015 that the frigates would be built but would have Russian-made engines. However, Russia seems to be facing difficulties to develop and deliver those in time. On the other hand, Ukraine would likely be willing to sell propulsion systems to India if the country was to procure Project 11356 frigates.

India already operates six Talwar-class frigates, which are the Project 11356 frigate’s predecessors developed for export. The vessels entered service in 2003-2004 and 2012-2013.

The Project 11356 frigate has a full displacement of 4,035 t, a length of 124.8 m, a width of 15,2 m, a draft of 4.2 m, a cruise speed of 30 kt, an endurance of 30 days (or 4,850 miles), and a crew of 180 sailors. The ship is powered by two gas-turbine engines (30,450 h.p. each). The frigate is armed with 3M-54K/3M-14K Kalibr anti-ship/land-attack missiles (SS-N-27 Sizzler), one 100mm A-190 naval gun, two AK-630M close-in weapon systems (CIWS), the Shtil-1 naval surface-to-air (SAM) missile system with 36 SAMs, and two twin 533mm torpedo launchers.