Opinion: INS Kalvari will change the face of war in South Asia

The INS Kalavari will change the dynamics of warfare in the south and south-east Asia. The reasons why it will have such a profound impact on Indian defense strategy is because of the new features that the DRDO is adding to it.

INS Kalvari happens to be the first submarine of Indian Navy to be equipped with Air Independent Propulsion which is currently supplied by DCNS. DCNS is a French industrial group which specialises innaval defence and marine renewable energy. But to develop INS Kalavari more in the tune of Prime Minister Narendra Modi' Make in India campaign, the AIP of the last two submarines under this category will be developed indigenously by the DRDO. Under the new technology, involving the use of an Air Independent Propulsion system, the submarines will notneed atmospheric oxygen to run its propulsion system. This means that the submarine can remain underwater for more time and can remain undetected.

The INS has been developed as an attack submarine which can carry 18 heavyweight torpedoes. To serve the purpose of the Indian Navy, the DRDO is developing a specialised torpedo called Varunastra, which is a 1500kg, 8-meter-long guided torpedo. The torpedo has a range of 40 kms and can destroy even aircraft carriers with its 250 kg warhead. Itgets even locked on to the acoustics generated by the components of any ship.

INS Kalavari is here to change the how war is fought on land and sea. INS Kalavari has the capacity to carry30 mines for protective laying in any of the waters. The 18 Exocet Anti- Ship Missile which the submarine carries can destroy any enemy ship within a range of 180km. This means it can destroy any enemy ship without coming in its detection range. Incidentally, Exocet is a state of the art anti-ship missile made by French company MBDA. The MBDA works with over 90 armed forces worldwide and is highly reputed as a manufacturer of missiles. The Exocet missile, carried by the INS Kalavari, is a missile which when launched, goes in a sea-skimming way to attack its target and, hence, remain totally undetected till its final target. With a small change, it can also be used to attackthe land-based targets. Thus, equipped with this technology, INS Kalavari with subsequent development can play a crucial role in land warfare too.

The INS Kalvari, unlike other nuclear-poweredsubmarines, does notgenerate any noise. The Air Independent propulsion can keep the submarine silent for over 21 days at a stretch. In case of other nuclear-powered submarines, there is some noise because they need to constantly pump coolant in their reactor and, therefore, generate some kind of noise.

INS Kalvari is one of the six submarines built under this program. Two of the rest five are also under manufacturing and are expected to commission in next 1-2 years. These are INS Khanderi and INS Karanj. INS Karanj is the name of the submarine which remained underwater for 18 days to track the famous Paki Submarine PNS Ghazi in 1971 war and played an important role in the sinking of the same.

The submarine has a range of over 12000 kmwhen surfaced and over 1000 kmwhen totally submerged. Which means it can play a vital role in entire south-east Asia. INS Kalvari is one of the fastest submarine available in the region with a speed of over 37 Km per hour in totally submerged position. Most interestingly, the submarine can go up to a depth of 350 meters which keeps it undetected from most of the commonly available submarine detection systems.

The submarine is designed with a special steel alloy which not only reduces its weight but also enhances its load and stress bearing capabilities. The structure is made of two layers of steel making it absolutely safe from enemy attacks.

Some of the systems like Sonar and internal communication system were also developed by the DRDO. Which means we can say that this submarine is not totally French built but the first step towards indigenisation of Indian defence equipment.

Surrounded by water on three sides, submarines such as the INS Kalavari will play a crucial role in India's defense. It will not only protect the country but take the war to the enemy ships and, with some developments, to hostile territories too. In years ahead, with sufficient path-breaking research from the DRDO, INS Kalavari will serve as India's badge of honour.

(Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity).