State owned Mazagon Docks Ltd (MDL) has delivered INS Karanj Scorpène-class submarine to
the India Navy.
The acceptance document was signed by its director Vice Admiral Narayan Prasad (retired)
and Rear Admiral B Sivakumar, Western Naval Command’s chief of staff officer (technical).
A total of six submarines in this class are expected to be commissioned by the end of
2023.
Two submarines, the INS Kalvari and INS Kandheri were commissioned in 2017 and 2019 respectively.
The fourth submarine in Project 75, the INS Vela, was launched in May 2019 and has already
commenced sea trials, while the fifth boat in the class INS Vagir was launched in November
2019.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes how potent is India's INS Karanj Scorpène class
submarine ? Let’s get started
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The strength of the Indian Navy's submarine fleet has declined to an alarming level from
a total of 21 submarines in the 1980s to only 19 submarines at present, which include
15 conventional powered once, 1 indigenous Arihant-class nuclear ballistic missile sub
and 1 Russian Akula-class submarine which is on lease.
The situation is made worse by the fact that the Indian navy is operating with half of
its submarine fleet strength. This is mainly because most of the vessels are pretty old
and going through mid-life upgrades to extend their life.
As clear with the recent standoff in Line of Actual Control , China is threat.
Chinese submarine force has expanded rapidly and posses around 70 subs. There have been
several instances of Chinese submarine moving into the Indian Ocean.
The main motive behind India acquiring these new submarines is to counter the Chinese force.
INS Karanj is Kalvari class vessel.
The Kalvari class is a class of diesel-electric attack submarines based on the Scorpène-class
submarine being built for the Indian Navy. The class and submarines take their names
from the first submarines inducted in the Indian Navy.
On 6 October 2005, India signed a series of contracts for the transfer of technology to
construct six submarines in Mazagon Dock Limited with Armaris, the supply of equipment and
services with the Government of France and supply of SM39 Exocet missiles with MBDA.
The entire contract is valued at $4.16 billion. The deal included a 30% offset clause and
the submarines were to be delivered over five years starting from 2012.
The Scorpène design won the deal because of the capability to fire Exocet anti-ship
missiles and an agreement on the air-independent propulsion.
There were plans to incorporate Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) developed
air-independent propulsion system onto the last two submarines. But this was canceled
due to delay in development.
A plan to buy 3 more submarines under the options clause was canceled in September 2016.
The Kalvari class is capable of anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence
gathering, mine laying as well as surveillance.
It has a length of 67.5 m (221 ft), height of 12.3 m (40 ft) and displaces around 1,615
t when surfaced and 1,775 t when submerged. The submarine can operate at a depth of 300
metres.
The hull, fin, and hydroplanes are designed for minimum underwater resistance. The vessels
are manufactured with a special high tensile steel so that it can withstand high stress
and hydro-static force.
All the equipment are mounted on shock absorbing cradles to lower acoustic signature, making
the class a very silent one. Due to its stealthy nature, it is hard to detect and track.
Kalvari class vessels have four MTU 12V 396 SE84 diesel engines and has 360 battery cells.
These power a silent Permanently Magnetised Propulsion Motor.
It can reach a top speed of 20 kn (37 km/h) when submerged and a maximum speed of 11 kn
(20 km/h) when surfaced.
The submarine has a range of 6,500 nmi (12,000 km) at 8 kn (15 km/h) when surfaced and a
range of 550 nmi (1,020 km) at 4 kn (7.4 km/h) when submerged.
The Kalvari class can accommodate up to 18 heavyweight torpedo or anti-ship missile or
30 sea mines.
INS Karanj like all other Kalvari vessels will be equipped with SUT torpedo & Exocet
anti-ship missile.
The SUT is a wire-guided heavyweight torpedo manufactured by Atlas Elektronik. The SUT
torpedo is designed to operate in both deep and shallow water and against surface and
underwater targets.
The SUT has a range of 15 nautical miles at 18 knots or 8 nautical miles at 35 knots.
The SUT is already fitted aboard the Shishumar-class submarine of the Indian Navy.
It is expected that in future these submarines will be equipped by Varunastra, a heavyweight
torpedo developed in India by the DRDO.
Exocet built by MBDA, is a sea-skimming, subsonic, solid-fueled anti-ship missile.
It uses inertial guidance for midcourse and active radar for the last leg of the flight.
It travels at an altitude of only two meters above the sea surface, making it hard to detect
and intercept. Due to this flight profile, it is most likely that the missile may not
be detected till it only about 6 km or 3.7 miles from the target, leaving very little
time to react.
The latest variant is powered by a solid-propellant booster and a turbojet motor enabling it to
hit targets at a distance of 180 km or 110 mi.
INS Vela also has C303/S anti-torpedo decoys for self-defense.
INS Karanj will add much-needed teeth to Indian submarine force.
Scorpene class considered to be one of the quietest diesel-electric submarines in service
around the world currently. INS Karanj also has an endurance of around
45 days .
These factors coupled with the ability to carry a formidable set of weapons , make INS
Karanj a potent force.
The Indian Navy had planned to build 24 new submarines. This endeavor is divided into
3 parts - 6 Kalvari submarines to be manufactured under the Project-75, 6 more subs to be built
under Project-75I (India) and 12 to be manufactured indigenously.
It remains to be seen how things pan out in. the future.