First indigenous sub to be commissioned on Thursday

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 13

Eighteen years after India launched a submarine action plan, the first of the indigenous conventionally powered sub is set to be commissioned at the Naval dockyard in Mumbai on Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to do the commissioning of the sub named ‘Kalvari’ (meaning deep sea tiger shark). It will be the first diesel-electric sub to be commissioned under the submarine action plan announced in 1999 following a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security. New Delhi plans to have 24 modern submarines by 2030.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Since then India has taken on lease a nuclear submarine from Russia and named it the INS Chakra and commissioned a nuclear powered submarine of its own and named it the INS Arihant.  

The Kalvari is the first of the six scorpene-class diesel-electric submarines being built by Mazagon Docks Limited, a Ministry of Defence-owned company in collaboration with France’s Naval Group (earlier known as DCNS). In security circles a diesel-electric sub is referred to as ‘conventionally powered’. The last time a diesel-electric submarine was commissioned into the Navy was in July 2000.  

The submarine would be equipped with anti-ship missiles and long-range guided torpedoes along with a modern sensor suite.

For Naval planners, the worrisome part, however, is that China’s submarine fleet—of nuclear and conventionally powered—is four times that of India’s.

The Indian battle-ready under-sea fleet of diesel electric vessels is at present down to 14: nine Kilo-class (EKMs), four German-designed HDWs (SSKs) and one Akula class nuclear-powered submarine (SSN) on a 10-year lease from Russia (since 2012).

The Navy plans to have 22 submarines by 2021-22 and is looking at building more of these under the newly announced strategic partnership, which allows foreign companies to partner with Indian firms under the “Make in India” initiative. Making submarines here is one of the four targeted sectors, the other three being fighter jets, helicopters and tanks.

In comparison, China is rapidly expanding its submarine fleet. The US Department of Defence, in its annual report to the US Congress, has spelled out the rise of China’s submarine fleet. The report, ‘Military and security developments involving the People’s Republic of China 2017’, says: “The People’s Liberation Army Navy places a high priority on the modernisation of its submarine force and at present possesses 63 vessels. By 2020, this force will likely grow to between 69 and 78 submarines.”