Vagir during its sea trials. (Photo: Indian Navy)
New Delhi: The Indian Navy will commission the fifth Kalvari class submarine “Vagir” on January 23, 2023, the service said in a release, on Thursday. The Navy chief, Admiral Radhakrishnan Hari Kumar, will be the chief guest for the ceremony. These submarines are being built in India by the Mumbai-based Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited in collaboration with France’s M/s Naval Group under Project-75.
Etch the Date 🗓️ 23 Jan 23#IndianNavy is all set to commission
— IN (@IndiannavyMedia) January 19, 2023
the 5th #Kalvari class #submarine, #Vagir on 23 Jan 2023; furthering its efforts towards #AatmaNirbharBharat🇮🇳
Watch 👀the space for more updates...pic.twitter.com/QJq9iMn8IE@Indiannavy @MazagonDockLtd
The submarine was handed to the Navy on December 20.
The other submarines constructed under Project-75 are: INS Kalvari, commissioned on October 27, 2015; INS Khanderi, commissioned on January 12; INS Karanj, commissioned on January 31, 2018; and INS Vela, commissioned on May 6, 2019.
The sixth and last submarine under the project, Vagsheer, was launched on April 20, 2022, and is currently undergoing sea trials. It is expected to be commissioned sometime in March 2024.
It may be noted that Vagir is the third submarine delivered to the Indian Navy in a span of 24 months.
Read also: ‘Vagir’, fifth submarine under Project-75, delivered to Navy
Vagir, which means sand shark, inherits its name from INS Vagir (S41). The erstwhile Vagir was commissioned on November 1, 1973, and undertook numerous operational missions, including deterrent patrols. The submarine was decommissioned on January 7, 2001, after serving the nation for about three decades.
The new Vagir, which was launched on November 12, 2020, took the least construction time among all indigenously built submarines until now. It undertook its maiden sea sortie on February 22, 2021 and has gone through a series of comprehensive acceptance checks and stringent and demanding sea trials.
The Vagir, dubbed as the “Ferocious Fifth”, will increase the Navy’s capability to further India’s maritime interests and can undertake diverse missions including anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying, and surveillance missions, the force said. The Navy further said the name, Vagir (sand shark), represents “stealth and fearlessness” – two qualities that are “synonymous with the ethos of a submariner”.
