Scorpene-class submarine, the first of six that are to be commissioned by Navy, will face sea trials
Scorpene-class submarine, the first of six that are to be commissioned by Navy, will face sea trials
INS Kalvari — the first of the six Scorpene class submarines that are to be commissioned by the Indian Navy by 2020 — was set afloat in the Naval Dockyard and was brought back to Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) at about 1.50 pm on Thursday. The watercraft is now slated to undergo rigorous harbour trials and tests that will certify each system. Her trials at sea will be carried out over a few months.
Kalvari is set to be inducted into the Navy by September 2016. The Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders had, on Monday also performed a religious ceremony for the watercraft.
Talking about Kalvari’s capacity, an MDL official said, “The Scorpene submarines will pack a potent punch. They will be equipped with anti-ship missiles and long-range guided torpedoes along with modern sensor suites. INS Kalvari is armed with six 533-mm torpedo tubes that can deploy SM-39 Exocet Block 2 anti-ship missiles.” The official said, “Even though it is powered by diesel, the 67-metre-long submarine, which has a 6.2-metre diameter, has been designed to minimise noise and act with stealth in war theatres. A technology — air independent propulsion system — will ensure that it stays underwater longer.
It will be carrying anti-ship missiles and torpedoes on board.”A source from Navy informed The Asian Age that Commander Mehandle is going to lead the first crew of the Kalvari and almost 30 crew members will be deployed on board. This submarine can travel at the speed of 20 knots. It will be commissioned around September 2016, and from then after every nine month a new submarine will follow. Till 2020, a total of six Scorpene-class submarines will be inducted into the Navy.
Project superintendent and general manager of MDL K.V. Thomas, speaking with this newspaper, said, “This submarine is going to be equipped with sonar. Even if it travels below a warship, the latter won’t be able to detect it.” According to sources, the only threat that this class of submarine faces is helicopters, as they have not been equipped with anti-helicopter missiles. A source further said, “During 2006, the plan was to commission this submarine by 2012, but MDL approached the government and a revised plan was made, according to which, the commissioning is on schedule.” Confirming the same, Rear Admiral R.K. Shrawat (Retd), chairman and managing director, MDL, told this newspaper, “Earlier, there were finance issues and the budget appeared to be above our expectations,
so a revised plan was proposed and we have successfully achieved the targets that were given in it.” Speaking about Kalvari’s construction process, director, submarine, and heavy engineer, MDL, Capt. Rajiv Lath said, “We were guided by French engineers. Hopefully the experience will help us during the construction and operations of Kanderi, the next Scorpene-class submarine, which is going to be undocked in 2016.”
“Now, as Kalvari is afloat, we will check the electric connection, battery system and gas energy supply. Later we will connect individual machines to each other to ensure smooth operations and after that the engine will be compressed. After that, the crew will be integrated and the dives will be checked. Then we will hand over the ship to Navy,” said Capt. Lath.
In order to ensure that the watercraft is safe and secure, Lt. Cdr (Retd.) Michel West, the operation officer from France, is carrying out sessions with MDL engineers on the submarine’s technology. “For the last two months I have been holding sessions. My team is teaching the engineers about the latest technology and, for the next 28 months, we will take more such sessions to ensure the safety, security and smooth functioning of the submarine.”
