On 27 April India commissioned the first of a new batch of Talwar-class frigates. The INS Teg was built by the Russian shipyard Yantar at Kaliningrad; she is a modified version of the three older Russian-built Talwar-class frigates that joined the Indian fleet during 2003–04. While the first three frigates of the class carry Klub-N antiship missiles, the Batch II units, which include the Teg as well as the yet-to-commission sisters Tarkash and Trikand, are designed to carry Brahmos antiship missiles, which reportedly have a secondary land-attack capability. All members of the 4,000-ton, 125-meter Talwar class can trace their hull design and propulsion system to the 1960s-vintage Krivak-class frigates. The current ships, however, have an entirely new superstructure, shaped to reduce radar returns and sometimes described as providing partial stealth capabilities. The acquisition of three additional units of the class is currently under consideration by the Indian Navy.
The Pakistan Navy on 19 May unveiled headquarters for its new Naval Strategic Force Command (NSFC). Very little is openly discussed about Pakistan’s maritime nuclear ambitions or this new command, which has officially been dubbed “custodian of the nation’s second-strike capability.” Pakistan has long been interested in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines, and recent media and academic reports indicate that development of a naval-launched variant of Pakistan’s nuclear-armed Babur cruise missile is well under way to provide land-attack capability from the sea. The Babur missile appears to be similar to the U.S. Tomahawk and Russian RPK-55 Granat land-attack weapons. In attendance during the NSFC inauguration ceremony were Pakistani Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Asif Sandila, pictured here on the right, with retired Lieutenant General Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, Director General of the Strategic Plans Division, on the left.
On 27 April New Zealand retired HMNZS Resolution, an ex-U.S. Stalwart-class hydrographic-survey ship. The ship originally was built by Halter Marine of Moss Point, Mississippi, and entered service in 1989. She served through 1995 as the USNS Tenacious (T-AGOS-17) and was used as an antisubmarine sensor ship equipped with a Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS). Purchased by New Zealand in October 1996, the ship was refitted at Portland, Oregon, recommissioned the Resolution in February 1997, and reconfigured as a survey vessel. Originally painted white, she was repainted gray in 2003. The primary roles of the Resolution were hydrographic and acoustic research. A towed-array sonar was fitted aft aboard the ship, in place of the U.S. SURTASS sonar. During her career with the Royal New Zealand Navy the 68-meter, 2,262-ton ship surveyed more than 75,000 nautical miles and engaged in port visits throughout the world. She also took part in a wide range of additional missions, including customs and fisheries patrol.