Frigate INS Teg Handover Ceremony to Take Place on Apr 27

24.04.2012 Project 11356 lead frigate INS Teg built by Yantar Shipyard (Kaliningrad) will be triumphantly handed over to Indian Navy on Apr 27. The handover act subscription ceremony and hoisting of Indian naval ensign will start at 10 am on the frigate moored at the shipyard's outfitting quay. Then a press conference will take place on the ship's heliport, the yard's press service told Central Navy Portal.

India delegates representative of Joint Naval Staff VADM Nadel Kumar, Naval Attaché to Russian Federation Commodore Surei Kumar Grewal, diplomats from Indian Embassy to Russia, and other officials. Russian delegation will be headed by Roman Trotsenko, president of United Shipbuilding Corporation; high-ranking officials from Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation and Rosoboronexport will attend the ceremony as well. Among other top-ranking guests invited are Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief ADM Vladimir Vysotsky and Baltic Fleet Commander VADM Viktor Chirkov.

Lead frigate of the 3-ship series ordered by Indian Navy, INS Teg had successfully finished state acceptance trials in mid-Apr 2012. Trials started in Sept 2011 and faced some difficulties. For one, due to a defect revealed during the trials, the shipyard had to replace one of gas turbines in the frigate's main propulsion plant. Generally, the ship will be handed over with a one-year delay primarily because of frustrated contractors' deliveries.

Second frigate of the series – INS Tarkash – was launched in June 2010 and is completing mooring trials. The ship is expected to head for Baltiysk to start sea trials in mid-May. It is planned to deliver the frigate to Indian Navy in the coming fall. Third ship – INS Trikand – was launched in May 2011 and is being currently outfitted at the shipyard. The ship is to join Indian Navy in the first half of 2013.

Indian Navy already has in inventory three analogous frigates built by Baltiysky Zavod shipyard (St. Petersburg) in 1999-2004. Considering high combat and performance characteristics, Indian Navy command decided to purchase other three frigates of this kind from Russia, but with other weapons. Antiship missile system BrahMos was mounted instead of Club-N and gun mounts AK-630 were a substitution for Kashtan SAM systems.

Russian Navy ordered six ships of that project. The lead one – frigate Admiral Grigorovich – was laid down at Yantar Shipyard in Dec 2010 and is to be launched in the coming summer. Second and third frigates (Admiral Essen and Admiral Makarov) are under construction. The fourth hull is expected to be laid down in 2012.