NEW DELHI: India and Russia signed a deal to produce two Admiral Grigorovich class frigates for $500 million at New Delhi on Tuesday. The two ships will be manufactured at Goa Shipyard Limited under licence and transfer of technology from Russia.
The deal comes less than a month after India okayed the purchase of two such frigates directly from Russia for $ 950 million. It also comes soon after India okayed the purchase of the S-400 air defence system, defying the threat of US sanctions on entities that buy weapons from Russia under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA.
The Admiral Grigorovich class is a highly advanced and upgraded version of the six Talwar class frigates which the Indian Navy already operates, and are configured for the supersonic BrahMos Cruise missile, apart from equipment like sensors and communication suites.
While the two ships, being built at the Yantar shipyard in Kalinigrad, are expected to arrive in by 2022-23, the two, to be made in Goa, are scheduled to be commissioned in 2027. However, there are concerns already over possible cost and time overruns.