St Petersburg: Indian Navy on June 18 entered the stealth warfare era, with the induction of the first of the three Krivak class stealth warships 'INS Talwar' by the chief of Naval staff Admiral Madhvendra Singh.

Commissioning the frigate at a colourful ceremony in the presence of India's Ambassador to Moscow Krishnan Raghunath and chief of Russian Naval staff Admiral Kuroyedev, Singh declared that the Talwar will be the sharpest sword of the Indian Navy.

He said the commissioning represented the beginning of a new era of joint production of Naval equipment by India and Russia.

The induction of Talwar ended months of suspense over the delivery of these ships. The three warships were to be inducted in the Indian Navy almost 18 months ago, but this delivery was delayed as Indian Navy refused to take possession of the warships after one its main armament, surface-to-air ship missile failed during test flight.

India had signed a $ 900 million deal with Russia in 1997 for acquisition of three Krivak-class stealth frigates from Russia.

The Krivak class warship would give Indian Navy a greater punch in the high seas, as they are equipped with surface-to-air, ship-to-ship and ship-to-land missiles.

The Indian Navy is the first Navy after the Russian Navy to induct the stealth class warships, which would later be modified to be equipped with supersonic cruise missiles, Bramhos.

The second frigate, INS Trishul will be commissioned on June 25 by Defence Minister George Fernandes.

PTI