Indian Navy, on 23 January, commissioned the fifth Kalvari class submarine Vagir at the naval dockyard in Mumbai in presence of Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar. The newly commissioned submarine took her maiden sea sortie in February last year, marking the commencement of sea trials. The submarine has gone through a series of comprehensive acceptance checks and, stringent and demanding sea trials before its commissioning, according to the defence ministry.
Speaking at the event, Admiral R Hari Kumar said Vagir is a lethal platform with a formidable weapon package. Highlighting that Vagir was the third submarine inducted into the Indian Navy in a span of 24 months, the Chief of Naval Staff said it was a shining testimony to the expertise of India’s shipyards to construct complex and complicated platforms.
The Kalvari class submarines are being built in India by the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) Mumbai in collaboration with Naval Group, France.
Vagir is capable of undertaking diverse missions including anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, intelligence gathering, mine laying and surveillance missions.
Vagir has a glorious past as the submarine with the same name was commissioned on in November 1973 and undertook numerous operational missions including deterrent patrols. It was decommissioned in January 2001 after serving the nation for about three decades. Vagir in its new avatar has the distinction of having the lowest build time among all indigenously manufactured submarines till date.
“In the navy, it’s a time-honoured tradition that old ships and submarines never die. In keeping with the spirit, the submarine in front of us is a reincarnation of erstwhile Vagir which served India and Indian Navy for three decades,” Admiral Kumar said.
Vagir takes its name from the Sand Fish, a deadly deep sea predator of the Indian Ocean.
