Russian frigates left without engines prepared for transfer to India

The fourth and fifth Project 11356 frigates, built for the Russian Navy at the Kaliningrad Yantar shipyard, might be sent to India. A source in the Defense Ministry informed Lenta.ru of this. Such a move will make it possible to equip the ships with turbines of Ukrainian manufacture that were previously ordered but which Kiev now refuses to supply since they would be used for equipping Russian warships. The first three ships will be transferred to the Russian Navy on time.
“We have serious problems with the fourth and fifth frigates” (Admiral Butakov andAdmiral Istomin –note by Lenta.ru), said the source. “It is possible that they will be handed over to India. This will make it possible to change the passport of the end customer and receive the Ukrainian turbines for them.” According to the publications interlocutor, the military will resolve the fate of the frigates.
According to sources in the defense manufacturing industry, India expresses interest in the future augmentation of the capacity of a group of Project 11356 frigates, which have recommend themselves as successful ships with good military capabilities, and is now holding talks on the purchase of three more ships of this type as a supplement to the six supplied earlier.
The head of defense procurement at the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), Anatoly Shlemov, stated in an interview with Lenta.ru that the first three Project 11356 frigates will be provided to the fleet on time and that the fate of the other two ships is currently being decided jointly with the Navy. He also noted that the rift in military and technical cooperation with Ukraine does not negatively affect the construction of the new Project 22350 frigates which will be also transferred to the Navy on time – seven ships by 2021.
On 1 July at the International Maritime Defense Show IMDS-2015 in Saint Petersburg, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Viktor Chirkov, stated that in order to compensate for the delays in the construction of the 11356 frigates, the construction of a series of small missile ships of a new type for Project 22800 is being planned.

 Lenta.ru/ rbth