Kalvari, the first of the Scorpene submarines being built in India, successfully conducted its maiden test-firing of an anti-ship missile in the Arabian Sea on Thursday.
Kalvari is presently in an advanced stage of user trials and is scheduled to be commissioned into the Navy very soon. However, the submarines are still without a heavy weight torpedo, their primary weapon. Navy sources said the missile fired was a French SM-39 Exocet anti-ship missile.
“This missile launch is a significant milestone, not only for the Kalvari, which is the first in a series of Scorpene class submarines being built in India, but also in enhancing the Indian Navy’s sub-surface warfare capability,” the Navy said in a statement. The missile successfully hit a surface target at extended ranges during the trial firing, the statement said.
Six Scorpene submarines are being built under P-75 by Mazgaon Docks Limited (MDL) with technology transfer from France. All the submarines will be equipped with this anti-ship missile.
