INS Khanderi: All you need to know about India's 2nd Scorpene-class submarine

INS Khanderi (Image: Indian Navy)

India’s second Scorpene-class attack submarine -- INS Khanderi -- will be commissioned into the Navy on September 28 in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The ceremony will be attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

The submarine has been manufactured by the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai.

According to reports, seven stealth frigates will also be launched in Mumbai when INS Khanderi is commissioned.

> Khanderi was launched in January 2017. It was under sea trial since.

> The stealth submarine is named after its predecessor INS Khanderi (S22), a “Foxtrot” class submarine that was decommissioned in 1989. That was named after Chhatrapati Shivaji's island fort of Khanderi.

> Scorpene-class submarines are diesel-electric attack submarines jointly built by DCNS France. It features diesel propulsion.

> The project began in 2005 when the Navy signed a contract worth Rs 18,798 crore with MDL.

> According to the Indian Navy, the submarine, along with others of its type, will form the core of its conventional submarine arm.

> It was built by MDL under Project 75 in collaboration with French naval defence and energy company DCNS. INS Kalvari, commissioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2017, is also part of this project.

> According to reports, the diesel-electric submarine is armed with SM.39 Exocet anti-ship missiles and mines instead of torpedoes.

> In June, it was reported that the Navy found defects with the submarine and refused to commission Khanderi until all deficiencies were rectified. According to a report in the Business Standard, one of its major defects was that its engines and propellers were making high level of noise.