The Indian Navy has launched its sixth and final Kalvari-class submarine in a ceremony at the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) shipyard in Mumbai.
Based on the French shipbuilder Naval Group’s Scorpene design, the final of India’s six Project-75 submarines is named INS Vagsheer. It is the second boat in the Indian Navy to bear the name, with the first one being a former Soviet Project 641 submarine. That boat entered service in 1974 and retired in 1997.
INS Vagsheer will now go undergo sea trials and will be later commissioned, India’s defense secretary Ajay Kumar said, noting that the launch of the submarine “was an example of India becoming self-reliant.”
The launch of the final submarine follows the launch of the fifth unit in the class, INS Vagir, in November 2020. Between these two launches, India commissioned the fourth unit, INS Vela, in November 2021.
The Scorpene-class submarines are being built in India by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) Mumbai, under a transfer of technology agreement with French shipbuilder Naval Group.
The diesel-electric attack submarines are 67.5 meters long and can deploy SUT heavyweight torpedoes or SM.39 Exocet anti-ship missiles. They have an endurance of 50 days and a range of 6,500 nautical miles.
