Fifth Scorpene Submarine ‘Vagir’- Launched by Indian Navy

The Indian Navy has launched the fifth Scorpene submarine named “Vagir” on November 12, 2020. The submarine has been launched at Mazagon Dock of south Mumbai.

Highlights

The Vagir submarine is capable of taking missions including the anti-surface warfare, mine laying, anti-submarine warfare,  intelligence gathering and area surveillance. The submarine is a part of six Kalvari class submarine that India is building under Project-75 of the Indian Navy.  Vagir submarine has been designed by French Navy and an energy company called Direction des Constructions Navales (DCNS).

Vagir Submarine

The Vagir name has been given after the Sand Fish. Sand fish is a deep-sea predator in the Indian Ocean. The first Vagir submarine, that India bought from Russia, was commissioned in the year 1973.

Project 75

The Project 75 is aimed at building the six Scorprene Class attack submarines. These submarines were built by transfer of technology from a French Company named DCNS at Mazagon Dock Limited. Submarine Kalvari was the first scorpean submarine that was  commissioned to Indian Navy in 2017. The second Scorpene Class Submarine commissioned under the project was Scorpene Khanderi while the third Scorprene class submarine that was commissioned was INS Karanj. In the line INS Vela, INS vagir was the fourth and the fifth Scorpene submarine respectively. The sixth scorpene submarine is still under construction and has been named as INS Vagsheer.

What is Scorpene Class Submarine?

Scorpene class Submarine is a diesel-electric attack submarine. It was jointly developed by French Direction des Constructions Navales (DCNS) and Spanish Navantia. The key feature of these submarines is that they comprise of an additional air-independent propulsion.