Kalvari, Indian Navy’s first indigenous Scorpene-class stealth submarine, finally sailed out on Tuesday morning out of Mumbai Harbour for its first sea trial after a lot of tests and check-ups, even as the plan to purchase these heavy-weight torpedos for the vessel is on hold because of the ongoing VVIP chopper scam.
This is first out of the six Scorpene class submarines which are being built under Project 75. The vessels are being developed by the MDL (Mazagon Dock Limited) and DCNS (French company) in collaboration. A senior Navi officer said, “The sea trials of Kalvari have begun today. It is a proud moment for us.”
If the trials go all well, the vessel is expected to actually enter into service by the end of September 2016 and the rest of five submarines are scheduled to enter service every nine months of the previous one. At present the Indian Navy already has 14 operational in service submarines which includes 9 Russian made and 4 German vessels. Also, the country first ever nuclear powered indigenous submarine named Arihant is already operational and is going through sea trials.
