India's second Russian-built Talwar-class frigate enters service

The second of the three Batch 2 Project 1135.6 Talwar-class frigates for the Indian Navy was commissioned into service at the Yantar Shipyard in Russia's Baltic coast enclave of Kaliningrad on 9 November, according to local media reports.

Laid down in November 2007 and launched in June 2010, INS Tarkash 's delivery - like that of sister ship INS Teg in April 2012 - comes a year later than originally planned. Meanwhile the third ship in the series, Trikand , is expected to be delivered in mid-2013, about 14 months behind schedule.

Quoting Yantar shipyard's general director Alexander Konovalov on 9 November, the Interfax-AVN military news agency said India was currently in negotiations with Russia over a circa USD40 million penalty payment for the late delivery of the frigates. This could be paid in the form of additional work on the ships, Konovalov noted.

An option for the Batch 2 ships, based on a modified Project 1135MP 'Krivak III' design, was exercised in July 2006 to the value of USD1.5 billion.