INS Vagir, the fifth stealth Scorpene-class Submarine, was commissioned into the Navy on Monday, making it the third submarine commissioned into the Navy in the past 24 months and the seventeenth submarine currently in service.
The commissioning ceremony was held at the Mumbai Naval Dockyard. Chief of the Navy Adm. R. Hari Kumar was the chief guest during the occasion.
Under a technology transfer agreement, six Scorpene-class submarines are being constructed in India by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Mumbai, in conjunction with M/s Naval Group, France.
Watch | Submarine INS Vagir commissioned, set to give boost to Navy's ISR capabilities, special ops pic.twitter.com/KBrDJyZNmp
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According to the Navy, INS Vagir will be a member of the Western Naval Command’s submarine fleet and a potent addition to the Command’s armament.
Monday, the Naval Group announced in a separate statement that the sixth and final Scorpene-class submarine is currently conducting sea trials and will be handed to the Navy the following year. INS Vagir will join INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj, and INS Vela, all of which were commissioned in December 2017, September 2019, March 2021, and November 2021, respectively.
Vagir was launched on November 12, 2020, as part of Project 75 (P75), and was handed over to the Navy on December 20, 2018, following the conclusion of sea testing. She has the shortest construction period of any indigenously-built submarines to date.
The Scorpene Submarines are armed with stealth technology and both long-range guided torpedoes and anti-ship missiles. It features six weapon launchers and eighteen armaments.
India now possesses sixteen conventional submarines and one nuclear submarine, INS Arihant, following the most recent induction.
Admiral Kumar stated that INS Vagir will significantly enhance the Navy’s operational strength and act as a formidable deterrent against any attacker. He stated that the commissioning of Vagir signifies the maturation of India’s shipbuilding sector and its defence ecosystem.
“It is also a brilliant testament to the expertise and experience of our shipyards to develop sophisticated and complicated platforms, and it reinforces the Indian Navy’s unwavering determination and resolve to be a fully ‘AatmaNirbhar’ force by 2047,” he said.
