Rajput class as India's customized Soviet baseline

The Rajputs were Soviet-built derivatives of the Kashin class, modified around Indian requirements. At about 4,000 tons standard and nearly 5,000 tons full load, they combined missiles, air-defence weapons, land-attack capability, and a helicopter. Combined gas and gas (COGAG) propulsion gave a top speed of 35 knots, with a stated range of 4,500 nautical miles at 18 knots or 2,600 nautical miles at 30 knots. India needed a general-purpose destroyer because its fleet was too small to reproduce the Soviet model of numerous specialized combatants. The class became the technical and operational baseline for India's indigenous destroyer family.