INS Kalvari, navy's first Make in India submarine, all set to take the plunge

The Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Michigan arrives for a regularly scheduled port visit while conducting routine patrols throughout the Western Pacific in Busan, South Korea, April 24, 2017. Jermaine Ralliford/Courtesy U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY.

The Indian Navy is set to commission the INS Kalvari soon, which is the first Indian-made stealth submarine made under the Make in India initiative, according to CNN News 18 report.

Weighing 1,550 tonnes, the diesel-electric submarine is 6.2 meters in diameter and is 67 metres long. The submarine is named after the vicious tiger shark and built by Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) in collaboration with the French company DCNS in a USD 3.6 billion (Rs.20,000 crore approximately) deal that was signed in October 2005.

DCNS assisted with the technology transfer for the submarine. The Kalvari class is a class of diesel-electric attack submarines based on the Scorpène-class submarine being built for the Indian Navy.

The submarine will be commissioned in October. INS Kalvari is the first indigenously built submarine in 22 years. It can use torpedoes as well as tube launched anti-ship missiles above and below the surface.

Apart from defence purposes, the submarine can also be used for mine laying, surveillance, anti-sub warfare and intelligence gathering. The report further states that the INS Kalvari has a range of 12,000 km, which makes for a wide area of operation.

Once commissioned, the submarine will slip into the Arabian Sea.

This is the first of the four submarines which will be delivered at nine-month intervals. The project has already seen several delays and an overshooting of the budget. The projects were meant to be delivered between 2012 and 2015. Data leaks were also said to have contributed to the delays.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has called for an accelerated tendering process to build six conventional diesel-electric submarines for Rs. 50,000 crore (USD 8.1 billion), in addition to the Scorpenes.

The revamping of the Navy fleet comes at a time when China increasing its presence in the Indian Ocean. These new submarines would increase the submarine count of the Indian Navy to 14. Defence analysts state however, that the Indian Navy would still fall short of the optimum number of 24-26 such submarines.

The second Scorpene submarine, INS Khanderi, is likely to join the Navy fleet around March next year.