Life full circle for Navy. PM Narendra Modi commissions INS Kalvari, named after first-ever submarine

For the Indian Navy, life comes a full circle today. Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kalvari, a Scorpene-class stealth submarine named after the maritime force's first-ever underwater craft, was today commissioned into service in Mumbai.

The commissioning ceremony was attended by, among others, Prime Minster Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba, Maharasahtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, other senior Indian Navy officers, and delegates from France (a French firm has helped design Kalvari).

Speaking at the commissioning ceremony in Mumbai, PM Modi said INS Kalvari entering the Indian Navy was a "proud moment" for the the entire country and that the submarine was a prime example of his government's flagship 'Make in India' project.

PM Modi used the opportunity to make a strong pitch for 'Make in India' saying he envisions a future where Indian companies would build top defence equipment, from fighter jets to submarines.

INS Kalvari is the first conventional submarine India has gotten in 17 years and is also the first of six Scorpene-class boats that will soon be inducted into the Indian Navy. The submarine has undergone around 120 days of extensive sea trials and tests for various equipment, a Navy official told news agency PTI.

Kalvari is part of the Indian Navy's Project-75, under which the French naval defence and energy company DCNS will design a total of six Scropene-class submarines. The subs are being built by Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL).

Kalvari is named after the dreaded tiger shark, a deadly deep sea predator of the Indian Ocean (Read: A ten-point guide to the submarine). The original INS Kalvari, a Foxtort-class submarine, was inducted into the Navy on December 8, 1967.

08 Dec 1967....The then Kalvari was commissioned in Riga (in erstwhile USSR) to...... 14 Dec 17 when Kalvari is reborn pic.twitter.com/0sUda91UgG

- SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) December 14, 2017

The "boot together" of Kalvari, wherein the five separate sections were welded into one, was completed on July 30, 2014. Kalvari is the first Indian naval vessel to be built using this modular approach of construction.

The submarine has an overall length of 67.5 metre and a height of about 12.3 metres. The hull form, fin and hydroplanes are specifically designed to produce minimum underwater resistance.

The boat has 360 battery cells, each weighing 750 kg, to power the extremely silent Permanently Magnetised Propulsion Motor. The stealth of the boat is further enhanced through the mounting of equipment inside the pressure hull on shock absorbing cradles.

INS Kalvari boasts of superior stealth features and the ability to launch a crippling attacks (Photo: Twitter/Indian Navy)

"The technology utilised in the Scorpene [class] has ensured superior stealth features such as advanced acoustic silencing techniques, low radiated noise levels, hydro-dynamically optimised shape and the ability to launch a crippling attack on the enemy using precision guided weapons," an official of the MDL was quoted as saying by PTI.

The attacks can be carried out with torpedoes both while submerged or on the surface -- in all war theatres including the tropics, giving it an unmatched invulnerability.

A second Project 75-class submarine, INS Khanderi, is currently undergoing trials and is likely to be inducted into the Navy soon.

(With inputs from agencies)

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