Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Defence & Security
In news
Indian Navy’s fifth Kalvari-class Diesel Electric attack submarine INS Vagir was launched at Mazgaon Dock in Mumbai.
Key takeaways
Indian Naval Ship (INS) Vagir is the fifth among the six Kalvari-class submarines.
The other vessels in the class are INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj, INS Vela and INS Vagsheer.
Of these Kalvari and Khanderi have been commissioned in 2017 and 2019.
Vela and Karanj are undergoing sea trials.
Vagsheer is under construction.
Technical details
The design of Kalvari class of submarines is based on Scorpene class of submarines.
This class of submarines have Diesel Electric transmission systems.
These are primarily attack submarines or ‘hunter-killer’ type which means they are designed to target and sink adversary naval vessels.
It can reach the highest speeds of 11 knots when surfaced and 20 knots when submerged.
These submarines have the Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) which enables non-nuclear submarines to operate for a long time without access to surface oxygen.
Do you know?
Like Kalvari (which means Tiger Shark), Vagir has been named after a Sand Fish, a predatory marine species.
Khanderi has been named after an Island Fort built by Chhatrapati Shivaji.
Karanj has also been named after an Island located South of Mumbai.
