Adding another feather to its maritime strength, INS Tushil (F 70) was commissioned into the Indian Navy at the Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad, Russia on Monday. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who was present at the ceremony, exuded pride in the latest multi-role stealth-guided missile frigate and called it a significant milestone in India’s long-standing ties with Moscow.

INS Tushil, which means ‘the protector shield’, will reach India in a near combat-ready condition and join the ‘Sword Arm’ of the Indian Navy, the Western Fleet. It will rank amongst the most technologically-advanced frigates in the world, stated the Indian Navy.

After commissioning INS Tushil, Singh, who is in on a three-day official visit to Moscow, termed Russia’s support to India’s vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ as another important example of a deep friendship between the two nations.

Made in India

“Made in India content is increasing in many ships, including INS Tushil. The ship is a big proof of the collaborative prowess of Russian and Indian industries. It exemplifies India’s journey towards technological excellence through jointmanship,” added the minister.

The indigenous content of the ship has been enhanced to 26 per cent and the number of made-in-India systems have more than doubled to 33 due to the collaboration of Indian naval specialists and Severnoye Design Bureau.

The major Indian original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) involved were BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited, Bharat Electronics Limited, Keltron, Nova Integrated Systems from Tata, Elcome Marine, Johnson Controls India among others, said the Indian Navy.

Highlighting the deep ties between the Navies of India and Russia, the defence minister stated that technical and operational collaboration is constantly touching new heights under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“India and Russia will enter a new era of cooperation by taking advantage of each other’s expertise in areas such as artificial intelligence, cyber s​ecurity, space exploration and counter-terrorism,” said Singh.

India-Russia cooperation

Speaking on the occasion, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, who has also accompanied the defence minister, congratulated all those involved in the project, especially shipyard workers and Russian and Indian OEMs for their exceptional work, flawless integration of Indian systems with Russian systems and contribution to the quality capability upgrades achieved in this project.

INS Tushil is an upgraded Krivak III class frigates of the Project 1135.6 of which, six are already in service – three Talwar-class ships, built at Baltisky shipyard, St. Petersburg, and three follow-on Teg-class ships, built at Yantar shipyard, Kaliningrad.

The seventh in the series, INS Tushil is the first of the two upgraded additional follow-on ships the contract for which was signed in October 2016 between JSC Rosoboronexport, Indian Navy and the government of India.

The ship underwent a series of extensive trials, beginning January this year, including Factory Sea Trials, State Committee Trials and lastly Delivery Acceptance Trials by a team of Indian specialists.