Indian Navy takes delivery of sixth Kalvari-class submarine

The Indian Navy took delivery of its newest diesel-electric submarine from Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (MDL) in a ceremony at MDL's Mumbai facilities on Thursday, January 9.

INS Vaghsheer is the sixth submarine in the Kalvari-class, which are variants of the Scorpene-class boats developed by French defence shipbuilder the Naval Group for export customers.

The submarine measures 67.5 metres long with a height of 12.3 metres and is crewed by eight officers and 35 enlisted sailors. It is fitted with 360 battery cells each weighing 750 kg and powering a permanently magnetised propulsion motor.

The boat is equipped with a submarine tactical integrated combat system (SUBTICS), sea-skimming Exocet anti-ship missiles, and heavyweight surface and underwater target (SUT) torpedoes. In the future, it will also be armed with F21 electric heavyweight torpedoes developed by the Naval Group.

Vaghsheer will be used for a range of missions including anti-submarine warfare, strike warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence gathering, and support of special operations forces.