Indian navy destroyer visits Nuku'alofa [1]
Tuesday, July 11, 2006 - 19:02. Updated on Saturday, May 10, 2014 - 18:25.
The Tabar, a destroyer of the Indian Navy, arrived in Nuku'alofa yesterday, July 10 on a three-days good will visit.
Lt Commander Savelio of the Tonga Defence Service said today, that the Tabar, or 'Battle Axe', is the second Indian Navy Ship to have visited Tonga, the first being about 46 years ago, during the 1960s.
While in Tonga the Tabar with its 390 men on board conducted some training with the Tongan Navy, and the ship...s brass band performed and entertained at the Fund Management Building in central Nuku...alofa during lunch time today.
The Tabar is the third frigate of the Talwar class to be introduced into the Indian Navy in 2004. It is a modern multi-purpose destroyer armed with a diverse state of the art weapons, including a long range surface to surface missiles, anti submarine and anti surface torpedoes and a 100 mm caliber gun for offshore and inland targets.
The ship...s defensive capability is also provided by a 12-barrel anti-submarine rocket launcher and is equipped with a computer controlled Nuclear Biological Chemical Defense and Damage Control system. It is 124m in length and 4,250 tonnes and is capable of launching helicopters from the ship.
Tabar is based in Mumbai, India and will depart Nuku...alofa for Fiji on July 12.