Name INS Kalvari Ordered 2005 Completed 30 October 2015 Construction started 1 April 2009 Draft 5.4 m | Namesake Kalvari (S23) Laid down 1 April 2009 Acquired September 2016 Launched 6 April 2015 | |
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Builders Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai | ||
INS Kalvari (S50) is the first of the Indian Navy's six Kalvari-class submarines being built in India. It is a diesel-electric attack submarine which is designed by DCNS (French naval defence and energy company) and being manufactured at Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai.
Contents
Status
The submarine was undocked on pontoon on 6 April 2015 in the presence of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. After completing the important milestones of vacuum test and battery loading, the submarine was launched at the Naval Dockyard on 28 October 2015 and thereafter brought back to Mazagon Dock Limited for completion of the Basin trials and Harbour Acceptance trials phase. After conquering numerous challenges faced during the ‘Setting to Work’ phase and undergoing rigorous Harbour tests & trials to the complete satisfaction of the customer, the submarine commenced sea trials on 1 May 2016.
She was expected to be inducted into the Indian Navy fleet by September 2016 but this was delayed. She is now expected to be inducted by December 2016.
Features
Kalvari has a superior stealth technology compared to previous diesel-electric submarines. She can also launch massive attacks through precision guided weapons. An attack can be launched through this submarine with torpedoes as well as tube launched anti-ship missiles on the surface of the water or beneath it as well. She can work in all settings including the tropics, wherein various means and communications are in place to ensure interoperability with various components of the naval task force. Numerous defence activities can be carried out through this stealth submarine including mine laying, area surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering and multifarious warfare activities. Kalvari is being constructed from special steel and she can withstand high yield stress because she possesses tensile strength, moreover she can withstand hydrostatic force of high magnitude and dive deeper into the oceans.
These attack submarines are also equipped with diesel propulsion and extra air independent propulsion. The new diesel electronic Scorpene submarines will be named as per the old Foxtrot-class submarines decommissioned around 10 years ago; these were the first submarines of the Navy. INS Kalvari is one of a set of six submarines which will undergo test and trials for one and a half years rigorously at harbour and on sea whether on the surface or underwater. Mechanisms on this submarine have been designed to optimize safety; DRDO is in the process of establishing a system for carrying out structured health monitoring of under development nuclear submarines as well as future conventional Naval submarines.
Armament
Kalvari and other submarines in this class are also equipped with WLT/Weapons Launching tubes and these can carry weapons on board which can effectively be reloaded at sea.
The submarine is equipped with 6 x 533-mm torpedo tubes for 18 whitehead Alenia Sustemi Subacquei Black Shark heavyweight torpedoes or SM.39 Exocet Anti-ship missiles and 30 mines in place of torpedoes.
Kalvari would be armed only with MBDA's tube-launched Exocet SM-39 anti-ship missiles. The Indian Navy's USD300 million purchase of 98 torpedoes from WASS (a Finmeccanica/Leonardo company) remains suspended, as it is linked to the ongoing investigation into the EUR750 million (USD861 million) import of 12 AW101 helicopters from AgustaWestland (a Finmeccanica company) facing corruption charges.