Yard 11880, the sixth and last submarine of the Indian Navy’s Kalvari class submarines of Project 75 has been launched at the Kanhoji Angre Wet Basin of Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL). Dr Ajay Kumar, Defence Secretary was the Chief Guest at the ceremony and the submarine named ‘Vagsheer’ was launched by Mrs Veena Ajay Kumar. The ceremony was attended by senior naval officers including Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command Vice Admiral AB Singh, Vice Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral SN Ghormade and dignitaries both from Integrated Headquarters Ministry of Defence (Navy), Headquarters Western Naval Command and officials from Director General De ? Armament, France and Naval Group, France.
INS Vagsheer (S26) is the sixth 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 ship was launched on 20 April 2022. The submarine has been named after the INS Vagsheer (S43), a Vela-class submarine of the Indian Navy which was in service from 1974 to 1997. Vagsheer refers to a type of sandfish found in the Indian Ocean. The launch of the final submarine follows the launch of the fifth unit in the class, INS Vagir, in November 2020. Between these two launches, India commissioned the fourth unit, INS Vela, in November 2021.
The Kalvari class is a class of diesel-electric attack submarines based on the Scorpène-class submarine being built for the Indian Navy. The class and submarines take their names from the first submarines inducted in the Indian Navy. The submarines are designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS and are being manufactured by Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai. 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. Each submarine has a complement of 8 officers and 35 sailors.
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. It 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.
