The fifth Scorpène submarine, Vagir of Project – 75 Kalvari Class submarines has been delivered to the Indian Navy by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) Mumbai on December 20.

“Project – 75 includes indigenous construction of six submarines of Scorpene design. These submarines are being constructed at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) Mumbai, under collaboration with Naval Group, France," the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

The submarine would shortly be commissioned into the Indian Navy and enhance the Indian Navy’s capability, the statement said.

Launched on the 12th of November 2020, Vagir commenced the sea trials on the 1^st of February this year and it has completed all major trials including the weapon and sensor trials in the shortest time in comparison to the earlier submarines.

Construction of these submarines in an Indian yard is another step towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat and a notable achievement is that this is the third submarine delivered to the Navy in a span of 24 months.

Six Scorpene submarines are being built under Project-75 by MDL under technology transfer from the Naval Group of France under a $3.75 billion deal signed in October 2005. The project is about four years behind schedule.

The first submarine INS Kalvari was commissioned in December 2017, second submarine INS Khanderi in September 2019, third one INS Karanj in March 2021 and the fourth one INS Vela joined service in November 2021.

Parallelly, the tender to build six more advanced conventional submarines under Project-75I is in the Request For Proposal (RFP) stage but has suffered delays.

With delays in submarine induction, the SSKs - 209s (German HDWs) and EKMs (Russian Kilo’s), are being put through the Medium Refit Life Certification (MRLC) process which will give them additional life of 10 to 15 years.

The Navy currently has 15 conventional and one nuclear submarine in service. It includes seven Russian Kilo class submarines, four German HDW submarines, four Scorpene class submarines and the indigenous nuclear ballistic missile submarine INS Arihant.

India has been focusing on shoring up its maritime capability with a focus on the Indian Ocean in the backdrop of concerns over China's growing forays into the region, considered the backyard of the Indian Navy.

Image source: PTI