The Indian Navy has welcomed two new additions, the stealth frigate Udaygiri and INS Tamal, to its fleet to bolster its maritime presence and command.
The second ship of the Project 17A stealth frigate, Udaygiri, was delivered to the Indian Navy yesterday. This multi-mission frigate is capable of dealing with both conventional and non-conventional threats. Udaygiri is a modern Avatar of its predecessor, the erstwhile INS Udaygiri, which was a Steam Ship, decommissioned in 2007. P-17A ships have enhanced stealth features and are fitted with ‘State of the Art’ weapons and sensors, a significant upgrade from the P17 class. Udaygiri has been delivered to the Indian Navy in a record time of 37 months from the date of launching. The delivery of Udaygiri showcases the nation’s ship design, ship construction and engineering prowess enabled by a strong industrial ecosystem supported by over 200 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
Meanwhile, the Indian Navy has commissioned INS Tamal at Yantar Shipyard, Kaliningrad in Russia. INS Tamal is the eighth multi-role stealth frigate in the series of Project 1135.6 and the second of the additional follow-on Tushil class of ships. It is equipped with BrahMos long-range cruise missiles and HUMSA-NG Sonar system, standing as a formidable moving fortress at sea and is designed for blue water operations across the spectrum of naval warfare. The ship has successfully carried out trial firing of all her Russian weapon systems, including the vertically launched surface-to-air missile Shtil-1, artillery weapons and torpedoes. Tamal is an amalgamation of Indian and Russian technologies with a host of state-of-the-art communication and network-centric operational capabilities. The ship has been equipped with complex automated systems for nuclear, biological and chemical defence. According to the Indian Navy, the commissioning of Tamal into the Indian Navy marked a significant milestone in the country’s maritime defence capabilities and Indo-Russian Cooperation. The ship will soon embark on her maiden passage back to her homeport of Karwar in Karnataka.
