India, Russia to ink deal for stealth frigates

India and Russia are set to ink yet another defence deal on Tuesday to build and deliver two stealth frigates in Goa, with an expected delivery by 2027, reports The Hindustan Times.

The deal, inked at a cost of $500 million USD, comes just months after the two countries inked a deal to acquire the S-400 Triumf missile system.

Inked between Russia's Rosoboronexport and the Goa Shipyard Limited, the aim of the deal is to build two Grigorvich-class frigates, called 'Project 1135.6'. India currently uses the Shivalik class frigates which use stealth technology.

A government official said that the final cost of the frigates will exceed the $500 million deal, as that constitutes only the foreign content, including material, design and other special assistance. The official said that the final cost is being worked out currently.

India, whose defence equipment is largely sold by Russia, is currently looking for a waiver from the US CAATSA. Washington wants India to reduce its dependency on Russian military hardware.

The Trump administration has already said that purchase of major military equipment would be considered as a "significant transaction" and thus has a potential CAATSA implication. India has said that it follows an independent policy on procuring military hardware.

The Grigorovich-class frigates will be powered by gas turbine engines supplied by Ukraine's Ukroboronprom’s Gas Turbine Research & Production Complex Zorya-Mashproekt, according to Navy officials.

Read: The S-400 Triumf: A Russian masterpiece