The war in Ukraine has caused further delays to the delivery of two Krivak or Talwar-class stealth frigates under construction for the Indian Navy in Russia. They are now expected to be delivered by May and October 2024 respectively, according to Alexey Rakhmanov, Director-General of the United Shipbuilding Corporation of Russia.
“The ship is in the final stages of development; in two months time, it will go for sea trials,” Mr. Rakhmanov said, in response to a question from The Hindu at Russia’s ongoing Army 2023 military expo. The supply of some equipment has seen delays, he said, adding that some equipment has “made sort of a round-the-globe trip” to reach Russia due to the Western sanctions. Payment delays has also played a part, he said. These two frigates were originally supposed to have arrived in mid-2022, but COVID-19 disruptions caused the initial pushback of delivery dates.
On wider cooperation with India, Mr. Rahkmanov said that his State-owned company was in talks with the Indian Navy to construct at least five or six different vessels, but declined to go into the specifics.
