Rajnath added, “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 Security, Space Exploration and Counter-Terrorism.”Speaking on the occasion, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi congratulated all those involved in the project, especially the shipyard workers and all Russian and Indian Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for their exceptional work, flawless integration of Indian systems with Russian systems and contribution to the quality capability upgrades achieved in this project.The event was also attended by Russian Deputy Minister of Defence Mr Alexander Vasilyevich Fomin; Governor of Kaliningrad Mr Alexey Sergeyevich Besprozvannykh; Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Admiral Aleksandr Alekseyevich Moiseyev; Ambassador of India to Russia Shri Vinay Kumar; Commander Baltic Fleet of the Russian Navy Vice Admiral Vladimir Vorobyov, other senior officials from the Indian & Russian governments, Navies and industries.INS Tushil: Packing a punchINS Tushil is an upgraded Krivak III class frigate of Project 1135.6, of which six are already in service – three Talwar class ships, built at Baltiysky shipyard, St. Petersburg, and three follow-on Teg class ships, built at Yantar shipyard, Kaliningrad. INS Tushil, the seventh in the series, is the first of the two upgraded additional follow-on ships, the contract for which was signed in October 2016 between Russia’s JSC Rosoboronexport, Indian Navy and the government of India.INS Tushil is designed for blue water operations across the spectrum of naval warfare in all four dimensions — air, surface, underwater and electromagnetic. It is armed with a range of advanced weapons, including the jointly-developed Brahmos supersonic cruise missiles, vertically-launched Shtil surface-to-air missiles with enhanced ranges, upgraded medium-range anti-air and surface gun with advanced stealth features, optically-controlled close-range rapid fire gun system, anti-submarine torpedoes and rockets and advanced electronic warfare and communication suite.The ship is also capable of embarking the upgraded anti-submarine and airborne early warning helicopters, the Kamov 28 and Kamov 31, which are formidable force multipliers in themselves. The ship is powered by an advanced gas turbine propulsion plant with state-of-the-art controls and is capable of achieving speeds in excess of 30 knots. High degree of automation and stealth features further enhance its combat capability and survivability. The ship is commanded by Captain Peter Varghese, a gunnery and missile specialist.The ship’s keel was laid on July 12, 2013 and was launched in water in October 2021. The ship sailed out for her maiden sea trials on January 25, 2024, and completed an exhaustive schedule of Factory trials followed by State Committee Trials and finally the Delivery Acceptance Trials, both in harbour and at sea, by September 24, 2024. The ship has successfully carried out firing trials of all her Russian weapon systems and would reach India in near combat-ready condition.
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