Hello, Warriors! The Indian Navy’s strength has been continuously expanding with the commissioning of INS Kochi this year followed by INS Astradharini. The Navy will soon get a new scorpene class submarine later in 2016 which went on sea trials in late October this year. It is set to undergo sea trials before it is commissioned into the navy later in next year.
With this good news coming for all the aspirants, here are the 10 things that you need to know about the beast in the making:
- INS Kalvari (meaning The Tiger Shark) the first of the six Scorpene submarines was, on 29th October set into sea for pre-commissioning sea trials for 10 months at the Mazagaon Docks in Mumbai.
- The six Scorpene submarines are being built by the state-run Mazgaon Docks Limitedor MDL in Mumbai in collaboration with DCNS of France in a $3.6 billion(Rs 20,000 crore approximately).
- While four of the six would be conventional submarines, the last two would be equipped with air-independent propulsion system that enables vessels to stay underwater for longer duration.
- The diesel-electric submarine weighs 1550 tonnes, is 6.2 meters in diameter and 67 metres long. It is likely to be commissioned in September 2016 after a year of sea trials.
- 30% of the equipment on the Kalvari is made in India giving a boost to PM Modi’s “Make in India” concept.
- The Scorpene submarines would pack a potent punch. These would be equipped with anti-ship missiles and long-range guided torpedoes along with modern sensor suites.
- The country’s first indigenously built nuclear submarine, INS Arihant will join the Naval fleet late next year.
- Scorpene submarine is constructed from special steel and it can withstand high yield stress, it can withstand hydrostatic force of high magnitude and can dive deeper.
- The new diesel electronic Scorpene submarines will be named as per the old Foxtrot class boats received from the Soviet which was decommissioned around 10 years ago; these were the first submarines of the Navy.
- The remaining five vessels of Project 75 would be delivered by MDL to the Indian Navy by 2020 and would form the core of the Navy’s submarine arm for the next two decades.
