INS Trikand

INS Trikand (F51) is a Talwar-class frigate of the Indian Navy. She is the third and final ship of the second batch of Talwar-class frigates ordered by the Indian Navy. She was built by the Yantar shipyard in Kaliningrad, Russia. She was commissioned to Indian Navy service on 29 June 2013.

Design
Trikand belongs to the Talwar-class frigate of guided missile frigates. These are modified Krivak III-class frigates built by Russia. These ships use stealth technologies and a special hull design to ensure a reduced radar cross section. Much of the equipment on the ship is Russian-made, but a significant number of systems of Indian origin have also been incorporated. The main difference between the second batch and the first three Talwar-class ships is the use of BrahMos missiles in place of the Klub-N missiles in the earlier ships. She is the last of the three frigates built in Russia as a follow-up order to the first batch of Talwar-class frigates.

Construction
Trikand was laid down on 11 June 2008. She was launched on 27 May 2011 by Ira Malhotra, the wife of the Indian Ambassador to Russia, Ajai Malhotra. Delivery was delayed from the original goal of April 2012 due to labour shortages and supply chain issues.

She was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 29 June 2013 by Vice Admiral R K Dhowan, Vice Chief of Naval Staff, in a ceremony held at Kaliningrad. Captain Ajay Kochhar was the commissioning commanding officer of INS Trikand. She joined join the Western Fleet of the Indian Navy. In 2016 the ship won award of Unit Citation 2016 and after that in march 2017 the Ship won Best Ship 2016-17 award under the command of Captain Arjun dev nair