The fifth submarine of Project 75, Yard 11879, Indian Navy’s Kalvari class commenced her sea trials on 01 Feb 22. The submarine was launched in Nov 2020 from the Kanhoji Angre Wet Basin of Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL). after commissioning. The submarine will now undergo intense trials of all its systems at sea, including propulsion systems, weapons, and sensors. The submarine is scheduled for delivery to the Indian Navy in the year 2022 after the completion of these trials. Despite the COVID pandemic, MDL has ‘Delivered’ two submarines of the Project – 75 in the year 2021, and the commencement of sea trials of the fifth submarine is a significant milestone.
The submarine inherits its name from INS Vagir (S41) which served in the Navy from 1973–2001, and was named after a species of sandfish. INS Vagir (S25) is the fifth submarine of the first batch of six Kalvari-class submarines for the Indian Navy. It is a diesel-electric attack submarine based on the Scorpène class, designed by French naval defence and energy group Naval Group and manufactured by Mazagon Dock Limited, an Indian shipyard in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The Kalvari class is capable of offensive operations across the entire spectrum of naval warfare including anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying and area surveillance.
The Kalvari class has a length of 67.5 m (221 ft), height of 12.3 m (40 ft), overall beam of 6.2 m (20 ft) and a draught of 5.8 m (19 ft). It can reach a top speed of 20 kn (37 km/h) when submerged and a maximum speed of 11 kn (20 km/h) when surfaced. The submarine has a range of 6,500 nmi (12,000 km) at 8 kn (15 km/h) when surfaced.[2] Each ship is powered by four MTU 12V 396 SE84 diesel engines, has 360 battery cells (750 kg each), for power and has a silent Permanently Magnetised Propulsion Motor. The class displaces 1,615 t (1,780 short tons) when surfaced and 1,775 t (1,957 short tons) when submerged.
This class is equipped with six 533-mm torpedo tubes for a combination of 18 heavyweight wire-guided German-made Surface and Underwater Target (SUT) torpedoes and SM39 Exocet anti-ship missiles or 30 mines in place of both. The class is also fitted with mobile C303/S anti-torpedo decoys for self-defence. The weapon systems and sensors are integrated with Submarine Tactical Integrated Combat System (SUBTICS). It has a sonar system is capable of Low Frequency Analysis and Ranging (LOFAR) enabling long range detection and classification. Each submarine has a complement of 8 officers and 35 sailors.
