Indian Navy's first Scorpene submarine under Project 75 was undocked at the Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) in the presence of the Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R.K. Dhowan, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and others officials also graced the a puja ceremony to mark the auspicious launching of the vessel.
The ‘undocking’ marks the movement of the submarine mounted on pontoons from the berth area in the dock to the harbour where it will undergo further tests.
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| (Representative image courtesy Wikipedia) |
In 1999, India conceived a 30- year programme to build 24 submarines. In October 2005, the contract for 'Project-75' was awarded to French defence giant DCNS to build six Franco-Spanish Scorpene-class diesel attack submarines at Mazgaon Docks Ltd. The deal involved extensive technology transfer agreements.
Christened as 'INS Kalveri' (meaning 'The Tiger Shark.) this submarine was scheduled to be inducted in 2012 (now revised to Sept 2016). Thereafter the next five submarines are expected to be rolled out at intervals of nine months each.
Commenting on the delay Parikkar said, “Time is crucial factor in completion of defence projects. I would urge the PSUs to double their production capacities in three years and complete the project on or before time,”.
The first four of the six submarines will be diesel-electric, while the last two will be Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation. This means that the first four submarines will not be able to remain submerged for long durations and will need to resurface to recharge its batteries or using snorkeling pipe.
The submarine is built using special steel which can take high yield stress. Its high tensile strength allows it to bear high hydrostatic force allowing deeper depth dives.
The submarines are expected to will be armed with Black Shark torpedoes ( an advanced heavy weight torpedo missile developed by WASS, Italy and Exocet missiles (French-built anti-ship missile). The submarine would be able to launch its armament whilst underwater or an surface with precision delivering a crippling blow to the enemy.
