Europe course

The Indian frigate Tabar set off on a four-month journey to Europe in mid-June. After crossing the Mediterranean Sea, the Tabar will sail across the Strait of Gibraltar into the Atlantic before heading north. It will sail across the North Sea and Baltic Sea to Russia, where the frigate will take part in the Russian Naval Days from 22 to 27 July. After passing through the Suez Canal, the first port of call will be Alexandria in Egypt. This will be followed by stops in Italy, France, Great Britain, Sweden, Norway, Russia, the Netherlands and Morocco. During the deployment, the Indian ship will take part in several bilateral exercises, including Konkan with the British, Varuna with the French and Indra with the Russians.
The main purpose of the trip is to maintain and improve military relations with friendly states. In addition, the focus is on practising military procedures together with partner navies and testing operations far from home.
The Baltic Sea is the ideal destination for the INS Tabar is not unfamiliar territory. She was built from the year 2000 at the Baltic Shipyard in St Petersburg, where her two sisters had previously been built. Trishul and Talwar saw the light of day. The frigate was commissioned for the Indian Navy in 2004 and is based at the Indian Western Command.
In addition to the three ships mentioned in the first lot, the Talwar -class, three more units of the Batch 2 variant were built, but this time at the Russian Jantar shipyard in Kaliningrad. At 125 metres in length, the frigates displace around 3850 tonnes. With their COGAG propulsion system, they reach an impressive top speed of 32 knots. Their operational radius is 4200 nautical miles and their endurance at sea is around 30 days. There are 180 soldiers on board. At the centre of the armament are cruise missiles of the Russian Kalibr type and a 100-millimetre cannon. In addition, there are Shtil-1 missiles to engage air targets at medium range.
Text: mb; Photo: Indian Navy