INS Kalvari to be commissioned this month

MUMBAI: Kalvari, the first of six Scorpene-class submarines handed over to the Indian Navy by shipbuilder Mazagon Dock limited, will be commissioned this month, a top Navy official said today.

"Kalvari is likely to be commissioned this month after extensive sea trials," Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, Flag Officer Commanding of the Western Naval Command, told reporters.

"Kalvari underwent around 120 days of extensive sea trials and tests for various equipment," he said.


The vessel is expected to bolster India's maritime prowess, the senior Navy official said.

The submarines, designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS, are being built by Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai as part of Project-75 of the Indian Navy.

"The state-of-the-art technology utilised in the Scorpene 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 MDL official said.

Kalvari is named after the dreaded Tiger Shark, a deadly deep sea predator of the Indian Ocean.

The first Kalvari, commissioned on December 8, 1967, was also the first submarine of the Indian Navy. It was decommissioned on May 31, 1996, after nearly three decades of service.