Indian Navy's beefs up its underwater combat arm

With the commissioning of the fourth electric-diesel Scorpene submarine as INS Vela, the Indian Navy, which is grappling with an old fleet of just eight Russian Kilo-class and four German HDW submarines has received a much needed boost.

Till now, the Navy has commissioned three vessels INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, and INS Karanj. This 23,000 crore-plus project at Magazon Docks is in collaboration with the French for six Scorpene submarines. The fifth and sixth submarines, Vagir and Vagsheer will be delivered over the next few years, a report by TOI says.

Under the ‘Project 75’ India, the six new submarines will have land-attack cruise missiles along with air-independent propulsion (AIP) for greater underwater endurance.


On the nuclear front, India currently has only one SSBN, INS Arihant, which is armed with short-range K-15 (750-km) missiles as of now. India has three more SSBNs under development, with INS Arighat now slated for commissioning next year after some delay.

China is expanding its naval presence in the Indian Ocean Region. The country boasts of the world’s largest Navy which consists of 50 diesel-electric and 10 nuclear submarines.