In today's world's naval equipment, the vertical launch system of destroyers and frigates is usually used to carry ship-to-air missiles, and some advanced ships use a vertical launch system shared by anti-ship and air defense. India's Talwa-class frigates, however, are unique in that they use a single cantilever launch system to carry anti-aircraft missiles, while a vertical launch system is designed to launch anti-ship missiles.
Looking back at history, on July 21, 1998, India signed a contract with the Russian Baltic Shipyard for the construction of the first three improved Krivak-class (Project 11356) frigates for India. These newly built frigates were named "Talva" class missile frigates, and the total contract amount amounted to 9$3.2 billion, with an average cost of more than $300 million per ship.
The anti-aircraft missile system of the Talva-class frigates, similar to that of modernized destroyers, uses the Shtil missile system, which uses a single-arm tilt launcher. The Shkili missile system is derived from the medium-range ship-to-air missile system developed by the Soviet Union in the 80s of the last century, named 9M317, and the Western designation is SA-N-7 Gadfly. This missile system shares the same missile with the Soviet SA "Gango" missile system (Western designation SA-11).
It is worth mentioning that of the four modern-class destroyers purchased by China, the first two ships 136 and 137 are also equipped with SA-N-7 Sakili missiles, while the last two ships 138 and 139 use improved SA-N-12 Grizzly anti-aircraft missiles.
On the Talva-class frigates, the vertically launched BrahMos anti-ship missiles, plus the boosters, are close to 9 meters in length, which is comparable to the depth of the Talva-class frigates. The BrahMos anti-ship missile, together with the booster, has a top of its launch system that extends nearly 3 meters above the deck and inserts into the bottom of the ship.
With this design, the valuable space on the ship is allocated not to anti-aircraft missiles that need a rapid response, but to huge anti-ship missiles. This unique design fully reflects the unique thinking of the Indian Navy, and people can't help but sigh: This is a very third brother!