India gets its sixth Scorpene-class submarine ‘INS Vagsheer’ in Mumbai

India’s defence naval fleet got more teeth on Wednesday as defence secretary Ajay Kumar launched INS Vagsheer, the sixth Scorpene-class submarine under Project-75, at Mazagon Dock in Mumbai.

Vagsheer is named after the sand fish, a deadly deep-sea predator of the Indian Ocean. The first submarine Vagsheer, ex-Russia (then Soviet Union), was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 26 December 1974, and was decommissioned on 30 April 1997 after almost three decades of maritime service.

The Mazagon Dock has so far delivered four Scorpene-class submarines under the project to the Indian Navy – INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj and INS Vela. The fifth submarine ‘Vagir’ is currently under trial at sea, and is likely to be commissioned before the end of this year.

“In true nautical tradition, she finds a new incarnation by the same name. Vagsheer, infused with new life by Mazagon Dock, is once again a very powerful predator of the deep sea, guarding the vast maritime interests of our nation,” Mazagon Dock said in a release on Wednesday.

The vessel will now go for a comprehensive and rigorous set of tests and sea trials for about a year.

The first submarine, INS Kalvari, was launched in October 2015 and was commissioned in December 2017. The second, INS Khanderi, was launched in January 2017 for sea trials and commissioned in September 2019; the third INS Karanj was launched in January 2018 and after two years of sea trials she was commissioned in the Indian Navy on March 10, 2021. The fourth submarine, INS Vela, was launched in May 2019 and handed over to the Indian Navy in November 2021. The fifth, INS Vagir, was launched in November 2020 and has commenced her harbour trials.

Scorpene-class submarines can undertake multifarious missions such as anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying, area surveillance, etc. The submarine is designed to operate in all theatres, with means provided to ensure interoperability with other components of a naval task force. It is a strong platform, marking a generational shift in submarine operations.

The state-of- the-art technology utilised for construction of Scorpene-class submarines has ensured superior stealth features, such as advanced acoustic silencing techniques, low radiated noise levels, hydro-dynamically optimised shape, and the ability to launch a crippling attack on the enemy using precision guided weapons. The attack can be launched with both torpedoes and tube-launched anti-ship missiles at the same time, underwater or on surface.