India's 6th Scorpene submarine 'Vaghsheer' starts maiden sea sortie; delivery to navy by early 2024

India's 6th and final submarine of Project 75, temporarily designated as Yard 11880, has commenced its maiden sea trials. This is a phase where the crucial systems (propulsion, weapons, sensors etc) of the diesel-electric attack submarine will be put to a series of tests under various operating conditions. Thevessel is expected to be delivered to the Indian Navy in early 2024 and, once commissioned into the naval services, it'll be known as INS Vaghsheer. The commissioning of a vessel marks its formal induction into the Maritime force and it is there on known by its name with the INS prefix.

Built at Mazgaon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Mumbai, Vaghsheer is the sixth in the line of India's Kalvari-class submarines. Generally, the name of the first vessel in a series of ships of a similar kind is used to refer to the entire series. So far, the Indian Navy has commissioned INS Kalvari, Khanderi, Karanj, Vela and Vagir.

Scorpene submarines are of French origin and are being built in India under technology transfer from the Naval Group of France.

"MDL has 'delivered'three submarines of the Project – 75 in 24 months and the commencement of sea trials of the sixth submarine is a significant milestone. This is indicative of the boost towards Aatma Nirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India)," said the Indian Navy.

Vaghsheer is named after the sandfish, a deep-sea predator of the Indian Ocean. Earlier, the Indian Navy operated a Russian-origin submarine by the name INS Vaghsheer. That vessel served the Navy from 1974 to 1997.

"Old warships never die" it is said in the Navy,in line with that, the legacy of the old vessels is resurrected by naming the latest ones after the ships of the bygone era.

At present, India operates seven Russian-origin Kilo class submarines, four German HDW submarines, five Scorpene submarines and the indigenous nuclear ballistic missile submarine INS Arihant.

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