New Delhi. ROSOBORONEXPORT JSC (part of Rostec State Corporation) has handed over another Project 11356 frigate, built by United Shipbuilding Corporation, to the Indian Navy.
The commissioning ceremony took place on July 1, 2025 in Kaliningrad. The eighth Project 11356 frigate, built in Russia for the Indian Navy, was christened Tamal, which means “Sword” in Sanskrit.
“The successful completion of construction, testing and delivery of the frigate Tamal to India demonstrates ROSOBORONEXPORT’s readiness to effectively fulfill any naval contracts, taking into account current global market trends. The eighth Project 11356 frigate is a model of technology cooperation. It incorporates more than 20 Indian-made ship systems, including the BrahMos supersonic missile system, an automated communications system, a surface search and target acquisition radar, and a sonar station,” – said Alexander Mikheev, Director General of ROSOBORONEXPORT JSC. – “Today the Company is actively developing partnerships with Indian public and private enterprises to jointly develop and manufacture military products on the partner’s territory. We are discussing 50+ projects for all services of the armed forces and are already working on a number of them”.
Tamal is a frigate that meets all the current requirements of the global naval shipbuilding market. Its radars are capable of timely detecting all types of air attack weapons, including advanced low-flying anti-ship missiles. The ship has a reliable air defence system based on the Shtil-1 vertical-launch SAM system developed and manufactured by Almaz-Antey Air and Space Defence Corporation.
The ship’s armament is sufficient to counter current and emerging threats. Its artillery armament, consisting of 100mm and 30mm artillery systems, together with an EW system, can repel UAV attacks and effectively counter unmanned surface vehicles.
The ship has a reinforced helipad, enabling it to operate a Ka-31 long-range early warning helicopter. The delivered frigate Tamal has excellent seaworthiness: it is able to travel 4,850 miles without refueling and stay at sea for 30 days without resupply.
Currently India is already operating 7 Project 11356 frigates. In December 2024 a commissioning ceremony for frigate Tushil took place in Kaliningrad. In addition, India’s Goa Shipyard Limited launched the ninth and tenth frigates of this project, which are being built by Indian shipbuilders with the assistance of ROSOBORONEXPORT.
ROSOBORONEXPORT aims to strengthen the Russian defence industry’s positions in the Indian arms market through unique technology cooperation proposals that none of its competitors can make today. Issues related to the continuation of ongoing projects in the field of joint development and production of naval equipment, aircraft, armored vehicles, small arms, ammunition are being actively considered, and new ones are also being discussed.
