INS Vagir inducted into Navy: Stealth-class submarine will serve as potent deterrent for adversaries, says chief

Six Scorpene Class submarines are being built in India by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Mumbai, under collaboration with M/s Naval Group, France, under a technology transfer agreement.

As per the Navy, INS Vagir will form part of the Western Naval Command’s submarine fleet and will be another potent part of the Command’s arsenal.

In a separate statement, the Naval Group on Monday said the sixth and last Scorpene-class submarine is undergoing sea trials at present and will be delivered to the Navy next year. INS Vagir will join INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj and INS Vela, which had already been commissioned, respectively, in December 2017, September 2019, March 2021 and November 2021.

Vagir was launched on November 12, 2020, under Project 75 (P75) and was delivered to Navy on December 20 last year after completion of sea trials. She has the lowest build time among all indigenously built submarines till date.

INS Vagir was commissioned into the Indian Navy at the Naval Dockyard Mumbai on Monday Morning (Express photo by Pradip Das)

The Scorpene Submarines have advanced stealth features and are also equipped with both long-range guided torpedoes and anti-ship missiles. It has six weapon launching tubes and 18 weapons.

With the latest induction, India now has 16 conventional submarines and a nuclear submarine, INS Arihant.

Speaking on the occasion, Admiral Kumar said INS Vagir will give a significant fillip to the Navy’s operational might and serve as a potent deterrent for any adversary. He said commissioning of Vagir reflects the coming of age of India’s shipbuilding industry, and the maturing of the country’s defence ecosystem.

“It is also a shining testimony to the expertise and experience of our shipyards to construct complex and complicated platforms and serves to reinforce Indian Navy’s unequivocal commitment and steadfast resolve to be a fully ‘AatmaNirbhar’ force by 2047,” he said.