INS Vagsheer launched in Mumbai | 6 things to know about last of six submarines under Project 75

Four submarines of the ongoing Project-75 Scorpene programme are already commissioned into the Navy.

INS Vagsheer, the sixth Scorpene-class submarine under the Project-75, was launched by defence secretary Ajay Kumar in Mumbai on Wednesday. The submarine, manufactured by the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), will be undergoing rigorous trials and tests before it is commissioned into the navy to ensure that it is fully combat-worthy.

INS Vagsheer, the 6th and final Scorpene-class submarine under Project-75, during its launch at the Mazagon Dock in Mumbai Wednesday. (REUTERS PHOTO)(HT_PRINT)

Four submarines of the ongoing Project-75 Scorpene programme at MDL are already commissioned into the Indian Navy, while the fifth submarine- Vagir is under the Sea Trial phase.

"INS Vagsheer will now go undergo sea trials and will be later commissioned,” news agency ANI quoted the defence secretary as saying. He added ‘the launch of the submarine is an example of India becoming self-reliant’.

Six things to know about INS Vagsheer:

> Named after the sandfish, a deadly deep water sea predator of the Indian Ocean, the first submarine 'Vagsheer' was commissioned in December 1974. It was decommissioned in April 1997.

> The submarines are being manufactured at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in collaboration with Naval Group, France.

> The Scorpene-class submarines are a class of diesel-electric attack submarines, featuring diesel propulsion and air-dependent propulsion.

> The submarine has four sub-types - CM-2000 conventional diesel-electric version, the AM-2000 air-independent propulsion derivative, the downsized CA-2000 coastal submarine and the enlarged S-BR for the Brazilian navy.

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

> The submarine can undertake several types of missions - anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying, and area surveillance. 

> It has superior stealth features, including advanced acoustic absorption techniques, low radiated noise levels, a hydro-dynamically optimised shape, and the ability to launch crippling attacks using guided weapons. The features also give the submarine invulnerability, unmatched by most submarines.

INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi and INS Karang, and INS Vela have already been commissioned. The sea trials for the fifth submarine began in February.