Commissioning of India’s second Kalvari-class submarine to be delayed by one year

The Indian Navy has confirmed that the commissioning of its second Kalvari-class submarine will be held at least one year later than originally scheduled after a host of structural defects were identified during nearly two years of trials.

Senior navy officials said that the future INS Khanderi will not be formally inducted into service until shipbuilder Mazagon Dock (MDL) of Mumbai has addressed and resolved all the identified issues.

The navy said that most glaring among Khanderi‘s defects was the unacceptably high level of noise that the engines and propellers generated, which would have rendered the submarine unable to avoid detection by enemy sonar while sailing submerged.

A total of 35 other defects have been pointed out, nearly all of which the navy claims would take months until they are fully rectified.

The delay of Khanderi‘s commissioning is the latest in a series of setbacks that have befallen the navy’s Project 75 submarine programme, which Indian defense experts say is already running late by over five years.

Other problems encountered by the programme include but are not limited to cost overruns and the slow finalisation of contracts for procurement of sensors and other vital components.