Fourth Scorpene class submarine 'Vela' delivered to Indian Navy

The submarine is fourth of six submarines of the Project – 75, Yard 11878 of Scorpene design.

These submarines are being constructed at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) Mumbai, under collaboration with M/s Naval Group, France.

Christened ‘Vela’, the submarine was launched on May 6, 2019, and has completed all major harbour and sea trials including weapon and sensor trials despite COVID restrictions. Three of these submarines are already in commission with the Indian Navy.

"Submarine construction is an intricate activity as the difficulty is compounded when all equipment are required to be miniaturised and are subject to stringent quality requirements. Construction of these submarines in an Indian yard is yet another step towards ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’," a statement from the Indian Navy said.

The submarine would soon be commissioned into the Indian Navy.

The first of the submarines, INS Kalvari was launched in October 2015 and commissioned in the Indian Navy in December 2017, five years behind the schedule.

The second, INS Khanderi, was launched in January 2017 for sea trials and commissioned in September 2019.

Third submarine, INS Karanj, was inducted in the Navy on March 10, 2021. The fifth submarine, Vagir, was launched in November 2020 and is undergoing sea trials.

Also called Kalvari class submarines after its lead ship, these are conventional diesel submarines with superior stealth features such as advanced acoustic silencing techniques, low radiated noise levels, hydro-dynamically optimised shape and the ability to launch a crippling attack on the enemy using precision guided weapons.