The Navy is set to induct the second Scorpene submarine Khanderi by early May, a defence source said. The remaining submarines in the series are in advanced stages of manufacturing and trials.
“ Khanderi has completed all trials and is in the final stages of acceptance. It is expected to be commissioned into the Navy by end April or early May,” the defence source said. Khanderi was launched into water in January 2017 and has since been undergoing a series of trials.
Ready for trials
Another source stated that the fourth submarine Vela is ready to be launched into water for trials around the same time depending on the ocean tide.
Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL), Mumbai, is manufacturing six Scorpene submarines under technology transfer from Naval Group of France under a 2005 contract worth $3.75 bn. After a series of delays in the project, the first submarine of the class Kalvari joined service in December 2017. The entire project is expected to be completed by 2020.
The third in the Scorpene series Karanj which was launched in January last year is in advanced stage of trials and could be ready for induction by year end.
The last two submarines Vagir and Vagsheer are in advanced stages of manufacturing on the assembly line. The fifth submarine is in the final stages of being booted together. The ‘Boot Together’ is where the five separate sections are welded together to form the submarine.
Kalvari is the first modern conventional submarine inducted by the Navy in almost two decades.
In addition, the Navy currently operates four German HDW class submarines and nine Russian Kilo class submarines.
The Navy had last inducted a conventional diesel-electric submarine, INS Sindhushastra , procured from Russia in July 2000.
