The Indian Navy further bolstered its capability when the fourth Scorpene submarine, INS Vela under Project – 75, Yard 11878 was delivered to the Indian Navy on Tuesday.

Under Project – 75, the construction of six submarines was approved for Scorpene design, and the submarines are being constructed at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) Mumbai, under collaboration with Naval Group, France.

At present, three Scorpene-class submarines, INS Kalvari, Khanderi, and Karanj are delivered to the Navy and commissioned.

The latest ship has been named ‘Vela’, and it has completed all major harbour and sea trials including weapon and sensor trials despite COVID restrictions. 

Submarines are force multiplier weapons platforms and can be used as the first or second strike attack in situations of war. With the growing threat of China in the Indian Ocean Region, submarines play a vital role in national security because they act as a deterrence. 

The construction of these submarines in an Indian yard is also an important step towards ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.

A press release statement said, The `Acceptance Document’ was signed by Vice Admiral Narayan Prasad, Chairman, and Managing Director MDL, and Rear Admiral K P Arvindan, Chief Staff Officer (Tech), Western Naval Command in the presence of MDL Directors and Navy personnel at MDL’.

INS `Vagir’ the fifth submarine under Project-75 was launched on November 12, 2020, and has started her harbour trials, MDL said and it will be tested for its maiden surface sortie in December.

The sixth submarine is presently in the advanced stage of outfitting, the press statement added.

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Just days after India commissioned its indigenously designed stealth-guided missile destroyer – INS Vishakhapatnam, the Indian Navy commissioned a new stealth submarine with the capacity to act as “sea denial” as well as “access denial” warfare to the adversary in the Indian Ocean Region.

INS Vela was commissioned by Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh at the naval dockyard amid concerns of increased Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean under the motto ‘Vigilant, Valiant, Victorious‘.

Chief of the Naval Staff, said, “INS Vela has the ability to undertake an entire spectrum of submarine operations. Given today’s dynamic and complex security situation, its capability and firepower will play a crucial role in enhancing the Navy’s ability to protect India’s maritime interests,”.

#INSVela commissioned into the #IndianNavy today #25Nov21.#Watch as the naval ensign is hoisted for the first time onboard.#HappyHunting@indiannavy @DDNewslive @airnewsalerts
@PBNS_India pic.twitter.com/F7WHrAXNfx

— PRO Defence Mumbai (@DefPROMumbai) November 25, 2021

Vela is the fourth submarine under the project of P75 of the Indian Navy that was conceptualised at the time of the IK Gujral government for the acquisition of 25 submarines under a 30-year plan for building submarines.

In 2005, India and France signed a $ 3.75 billion contract for building six Scorpene-class submarines and it was to be built by Mazgaon Docks Ltd, and on the French side, Naval Group formally the DCNS.

The project faced many delays and questions over the French government’s reluctance for “transfer of technology” that was an integral part of the contract which led to the commissioning of INS Kalvari,  five years behind schedule, in 2017.

After Kalvari, two more submarines, INS Khanderi and INS Karanj were commissioned and Vela is the fourth. As of now, sea trials are ongoing for Vagir, while the sixth, Vagsheer, is under construction.

The newly commissioned submarine is equipped with C303 anti-torpedo countermeasure system and can carry up to 18 torpedoes or Exocet anti-ship missiles or 30 mines in place of torpedoes. The new submarine also has a full spectrum of naval warfare, including anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying, and area surveillance.

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The Indian Navy is all set to commission the guided-missile destroyer, Visakhapatnam, and a Kalvari-class submarine, Vela, by next week that will enhance our maritime fighting capability in the face of growing Chinese machinations into the Indian Ocean region.

As per the reports, Vice Admiral Satish Namdeo Ghormade, the Vice Chief of Naval Staff, said destroyer ‘Visakhapatnam’ will be commissioned on November 21 by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh while submarine Vela will be commissioned on November 25 by Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh.

“We all know that the maritime environment is a complex one and it only increases with more number of players involved. We live in a time when global and regional balances of power are shifting rapidly and the region of most rapid change is undoubtedly the Indian Ocean Region,” Vice Admiral Ghormade.

Vice Admiral Ghormade also said that as many as 39 naval ships and submarines are currently being constructed in various Indian shipyards and there is a continuous effort to ensure that the force levels grow progressively to enhance the capability of the Indian Navy to meet the emerging challenges.

“The commissioning of Visakhapatnam will reaffirm India’s presence amongst an elite group of nations with capability to design and build advanced warships,” the Vice Admiral said.

Talking about the capabilities of this ship, Vice Admiral Ghormade said this ship has much indigenous equipment in the ‘float’ and ‘move’ categories, along with many major indigenous weapons such as medium-range surface-to-air missile systems developed by Bharat Electronics Ltd, surface-to-surface missiles by Brahmos Aerospace and torpedo tubes and launchers by L&T.

“The overall indigenous content of the project is approximately 75 per cent,” he said

With regards to the submarine Vela, the fourth submarine of the Kalvari class the Admiral said, “Submarine building is a sophisticated exercise involving placing small components sequentially and logically inside the submarine as the space within is extremely constricted,”.

“Very few countries possess this ability in their industrial capacity. India has proven its capability to build our own submarines for the past 25 years,” he added.

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