On November 12, 2020, Minister of State (MoS) for Defence, Shripad Naik virtually launched the 5th Scorpene-class Submarine ‘INS Vagir’ in Arabian sea waters at Mazagon Dock, Mumbai. It is capable of undertaking multifarious tasks which includes anti-surface as well as anti-submarine warfare.
i.‘Vagir’ is part of six Kalvari-Class submarines being built in India.
ii.The submarines have been designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS (The Naval Group, formerly known as Direction des Constructions Navales (DCNS)) and are being built as part of Indian Navy’s Project-75.
iii.Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (MDSL), the Defence Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) has built ‘Vagir’.
INS Vagir:
i.It is named after a Sand Fish, which is a deadly deep sea predator of the Indian Ocean.
ii.The submarine is equipped with State-of-art technology which ensures superior stealth features such as advanced acoustic absorption techniques, low radiated noise levels and hydro-dynamically optimised shape.
iii.It is capable of attacking enemies using precision guided weapons. The attack can be launched with both Torpedoes and tube launched anti-ship missiles, while in underwater or on surface.
iv.It is designed to operate in all theatres of operation and is capable of operating with other components of a Naval Task Force.
Note: –
The first Vagir, a submarine from Russia, was commissioned into the Indian Navy on December 3, 1973, and was decommissioned on June 7, 2001 after three decades of service to the nation.
Status of Six Scorpene Class Submarines:
The status of Six Scorpene class submarines are
- INS Kalvari (commissioned in 2017)
- INS Khanderi (Commissioned in 2019)
- INS Karanj (In Last phase of rigorous Sea Trials)
- INS Vela (at Initial Stages of Sea Trials)
- INS Vagir (Launched in November, 2020)
- The Six Scorpene submarine has been named as ‘Vagsheer’ (In stages of outfitting).
Recent Related News:
i.Myanmar Navy is all set to receive its first submarine namely “Indian Naval Ship (INS) Sindhuvir”, a Kilo class submarine which will be handed over by India under its vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region)
About Indian Navy:
Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS)– Admiral Karambir Singh
Integrated Headquarters MoD (Navy)– New Delhi
