On 25th November 2021, The Indian Navy commissioned Scorpene-class submarine INS Vela at the naval dockyard in Mumbai, in the presence of the chief of naval staff Admiral Karambir Singh.
- INS Vela is the fourth of six Scorpene-class submarines to be commissioned under Project 75.
- It was built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd in collaboration with M/s Naval Group of France.
Significance:
i.INS Vela possesses advanced stealth and combat capabilities to boost India’s maritime power and in tackling maritime threats in the Indian Ocean region.
ii.The Scorpene-class are diesel-electric Submarines built under Project 75 for the Indian Navy which engages in anti-surface, anti-submarine warfare, area surveillance and intelligence gathering.
About INS Vela
The Commanding Officer – Captain Anish Mathew
Launched on – May 6, 2019 (delivered to the Indian Navy on November 9, 2021)
i.Vela is named after a decommissioned submarine ‘Vela’, which served the Navy from 1973 to 2010. The earlier Vela belonged to the Foxtrot class submarine of Soviet origin.
About Project 75:
In 2005, India signed a $ 3.75 billion contract with France for building 6 Scorpene class submarines.
6 Submarines:
- INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj, INS Vela (Commissioned to Indian Navy)
- INS Vagir, INS Vagsheer (Under various developmental stages)
Other Scorpene-class Submarines:
INS Kalvari: Launched in October 2015 and commissioned into Indian Navy in December 2017.
INS Khanderi: Launched in January 2017 and commissioned into Indian Navy in September 2019.
INS Karanj: Launched in January 2018 and commissioned into Indian Navy in March 2021.
–India’s Powerful destroyer INS Vishakapatinam commissioned into Indian Navy
On 21st November 2021, an indigenously designed P15B stealth-guided missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam was commissioned into the Indian Navy in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai.
- P15B is the first of the four ‘Visakhapatnam’ class destroyers
- It has been designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house organization Directorate of Naval Design and constructed by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, Mumbai.
Features:
i.It is equipped with major indigenous weapons such as supersonic surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, medium and short-range guns, anti-submarine rockets and advanced electronic warfare and communication suits.
Note – Out of four stealth guided-missile destroyer ships under Project 15B, the next ship is set to be commissioned in 2023 while the other two are planned to be inducted by 2025.
Recent Related News
The Indian Navy has received its 11th P-81 (Poseidon-81), the Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance Anti-Submarine Warfare (LRMRASW) aircraft from Boeing.
About Indian Navy
Chief of Naval Staff (CSS) – Admiral Karambir Singh.
Integrated Headquarters – New Delhi, Delhi
About Ministry of Defence (MoD)
Union Minister – Rajnath Singh (Lucknow – Uttar Pradesh)
Minister of State – Ajay Bhatt (Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar, Uttarakhand)
