India and Russia have recently inked a $500 million deal for developing two missile guided stealth frigates at the Goa shipyard for the Indian Navy. Sources suggest that the new development will send a clear signal of enduring high-level defense collaborations between Russia and India against the threat of financial sanctions from the U.S.
Confirming the news, the Indian defense ministry officials said that the agreement for constructing two Talvar-class warships was signed between state-owned Goa Shipyard Ltd. (GSL) and Russia’s JSC Rosoboronexport under the government-to-government framework for defense cooperation.
Under the deal, Russia will provide design, technology know-how and key materials to GSL for the construction of the ships in India. The warships will be equipped with advanced, high-tech missiles and other weaponry systems, the officials said.
For the record, Russia has been the largest defense supplier to India. The defense and security cooperation has apparently been on an upswing between the two countries in the past few years.
According to The Times of India, Shekhar Mital, Chief Rear Admiral (Retd.), GSL, said that the construction of the two frigates at the defense shipyard will begin in 2020, with the first one being delivered in 2026 and the second in 2027.
Incidentally, the recent agreement comes six weeks after India inked an arms contract with Russia to purchase a batch of S-400 anti-aircraft weapon systems for around $5 billion. As per official reports, Russian defense major Rosoboronexport had recently emerged as the lowest bidder in the Indian Army’s tender for winning a batch of short-range air defense missile systems.
Reportedly, the other participants for the deal were French arms manufacturers MBDA and leading Swedish weapon supplier firm SAAB bidding for a contract estimated for a size of around $3 billion, cite reports.