10 March 2021

Indian Navy commissions third Kalvari (Scorpène)-class submarine

by Gabriel Dominguez & Rahul Bedi

The Indian Navy (IN) commissioned on 10 March its third of six licence-built Kalvari (Scorpène)-class diesel-electric attack submarines (SSKs).

Named INS Karanj (pennant number S 23), the 67.6 m-long boat was inducted in a ceremony held at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai and presided over by IN Chief of Staff Admiral Karambir Singh.

The Indian Navy commissioned Karanj , its third Kalvari-class SSK, in a ceremony held on 10 March in Mumbai. (Indian Navy)

The SSK, which was officially handed over to the service on 15 February by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), is now part of the Western Naval Command’s submarine fleet.

INS Karanj, which was built under the IN’s INR235.62 billion (USD3.23 billion) Project 75 programme, has now joined INS Kalvari and INS Khanderi, which were commissioned in December 2017 and September 2019, respectively. The fourth and fifth submarines of the class, Vela and Vagir, were launched in May 2019 and November 2020, and are expected to enter service in 2022.

The sixth and final submarine on order,Vagsheer, is in an advanced stage of construction and is likely to be launched in 2021. All six Kalvari-class boats are expected to be in service by late 2022 or early 2023, according to IN sources.

MDL has been licence-building the boats in collaboration with France’s Naval Group, but the programme has been delayed by more than six years. Each submarine of the class displaces 1,615 tonnes when surfaced and 1,775 tonnes when submerged and is expected to incorporate advanced acoustic quieting systems to ensure stealth.

The SSKs, which are equipped with Exocet SM39 sea-skimming anti-ship missiles and C303/S anti-torpedo countermeasure systems, are capable of carrying out anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, intelligence-gathering, mine-laying, and surveillance operations.

The Indian Navy (IN) commissioned on 10 March its third of six licence-built Kalvari (Scorpène)-clas...

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