Talwar-class

The Talwar class ("Sword" class) is a series of guided-missile frigates built in Russia for the Indian Navy, derived from the Krivak III design as Project 1135.6. Ordered to bridge the gap left by aging Indian frigates, the first batch of three ships was built at Baltiysky Zavod in Saint Petersburg and commissioned in 2003-2004, followed by a second batch of three from Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad in 2012-2013. A third batch, Tushil and Tamal, was delivered in December 2024 and mid-2025, and two further hulls (Triput class) are being completed in India by Goa Shipyard under technology transfer.

Displacing about 3,850 tons standard for 124.8 meters, the ships use a COGAG arrangement of four gas turbines for a top speed of 32 knots. The first batch carries the Klub-N (Kalibr) anti-ship missile system in an 8-cell vertical launcher; from the second batch onward the ships fire the Indo-Russian BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. Air defence combines the Shtil-1 medium-range SAM system, Kashtan gun/missile close-in systems and AK-630 guns, with a 100 mm A-190 main gun, twin 533 mm torpedo tubes and an RBU-6000 anti-submarine launcher completing the fit. A Ka-28, Ka-31 or HAL Dhruv helicopter operates from the flight deck.

With eight ships in service and ten planned, the Talwar class forms the workhorse of the Indian Navy's frigate force alongside the derived, stealthier Shivalik class, and its follow-on orders have kept the Indo-Russian naval relationship active despite sanctions pressure on deliveries.