Russia to sell three Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates to India after failing to acquire Ukrainian engines
Three Admiral Grigorovich-class (Project 11356M) frigates originally intended for use by the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet will be sold to India, the Assistant Director to the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, Vladimir Drozhov, stated, RIA Novosti reported.
The sale of the naval vessels was the result of an agreement signed in October 2016 after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The agreement assumes that two frigates will be built in Russia and two on the shipyards in India.
Six such ships were planned to be built for the Black Sea Fleet by 2020. The Russian Navy has already received two frigates and one more is undergoing testing.
The main issue for the frigates, which are being constructed at the Kaliningrad-based Yantar Shipyard, is that supply of their Ukrainian Zorya-Mashproyekt gas-turbine propulsion system was halted after the conflict arose in 2014. Russia was able to receive engines for the first three constructed frigates, two of which are in service and the third which is undergoing sea trials currently. The fourth and fifth frigates to be constructed, the Admiral Butakov and Admiral Istomin, are in different stages of completion at the Yantar factory.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that India intends to buy and install the engines itself. India plans to equip the Admiral Grigorovich-class vessels with its BrahMos cruise missile system.