Remember the INS Kalvari we talked about earlier? It has recently been launched for the first sea trial in the Mumbai naval dockyard. INS Kalvari had been set afloat earlier in October 2015 but its sea trials began with the onset of May 2016.
It is expected to enter service by the end of September this year.
Kalvari is the first of the India’s six Scorpene-class submarines being built under the much-delayed Project 75 by Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) in collaboration with French company DCNS.
It has superior stealth capability and is designed to operate in all theatres including the tropics. It is built using special steel that can withstand high yield stress that can withstand high hydrostatic force and enabling it to dive deeper.
The INS Kalvari, also known as Tiger Shark (or S50), will be equipped with torpedoes and tube-launched anti-ship missiles that can function both underwater as well as on the surface making the submarine the perfect attack vehicle.
Plan to acquire heavyweight torpedos for the submarine is however stuck in the Defence Ministry.
WASS Italy, a Finmeccanica company, had emerged as a successful bidder in the procurement for the torpedoes for Project 75 submarines earlier. But, because of the group’s alleged involvement in the VVIP helicopter case, the procurement was put on hold in July 2014.
The remaining five submarines of the Scorpene-class are scheduled to be rolled out every nine months.
The Navy has, at present, 14 operational submarines, including nine Russian-made and four German HDW vessels.
Meanwhile, INS Chakra, a Russian nuclear-powered submarine, is on lease with the Indian Navy.
India’s first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine, Arihant is already undergoing sea trials and is expected to be inducted shortly.
