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Vagir: India’s 5th Stealth Submarine Under Project-75 Launched

  • 13 Nov 2020

The Indian Navy has launched Scorpene class submarine Vagir.

  • Indian Naval Ship (INS) Vagir is the fifth among the six Kalvari-class submarines being constructed by the public sector shipbuilder Mazagon Dock Ltd (MDL) in Mumbai.
  • The other vessels in the class are INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj, INS Vela and INS Vagsheer. Of these Kalvari and Khanderi have been commissioned in 2017 and 2019, Vela and Karanj and undergoing sea trials, Vagir has now been launched and Vagsheer is under construction.
  • The submarines, designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS, are being built as part of Indian Navy's Project-75 programme.
  • These submarines can undertake missions like anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying and area surveillance.
  • Vagir is named after the sand fish, a deadly deep sea predator of the Indian Ocean.

What are Scorpene-Class Submarines?

  • These are a class of diesel-electric attack submarines jointly developed by the French Direction des Constructions Navales (DCN) and the Spanish company Navantia, and now by Naval Group.
  • It features diesel propulsion and an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system.

What is Air-independent Propulsion (AIP)?

  • AIP is any marine propulsion technology that allows a non-nuclear submarine to operate without access to atmospheric oxygen.
  • It can augment or replace the diesel-electric propulsion system of non-nuclear vessels.

Project and Class of Ship/Submarine

  • Project: During the developmental stage of a ship or a submarine, specific projects are generally assigned a numerical character as a unique identifier to the project. For example,
    • P-75:The number 75 in Project 75 refers to such unique identifier which was assigned to a programme for series production of submarines in India. Based on the specifications drawn for Project 75, the Scorpene class submarine from France, chosen under the project, is being constructed at the Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) in Mumbai.
  • Class: In a series production of the warship construction project, all ships/submarines of the series have common design characteristics and capabilities. The first ship of the serial construction project provides a class name to all warships in the project for common reference. The term ‘class’ in the Kolkata Class refers to a series of warships constructed under Project 15A which includes Indian naval ships INS Kolkata, INS Kochi and INS Chennai.
  • Similarly, all six submarines constructed under Project 75 are referred to as Kalvari Class of submarines.
  • Other examples of project and class references of Indian Naval Ships are as:
    • Project 15 Destroyers – Delhi Class (Delhi, Mysore, and Mumbai)
    • Project 16 Frigates – Godavari Class (Godavari, Ganga and Gomti)
    • Project 16A Frigates – Brahmaputra Class (Brahmaputra, Betwa and Beas)
    • Project 17 Stealth Frigates – Shivalik Class (Shivalik, Sahyadri and Satpura)
    • Project 28 Anti-Submarine Corvettes – Kamorta Class (Kamorta, Kadmatt, Kiltan and Kavaratti)