INS Kalvari to hit waters for final trial in September

New Delhi, Aug 24 (PTI) Kalvari, Indian Navy’s firstindigenous Scorpene-class stealth submarine, will hit thewaters again in September for its final phase of sea trialsahead of its planned induction by the end of this year. The 66-metre-long INS Kalvari is part of an over USD 3.5billion contract signed by the defence ministry with Frenchfirm DCNS in October 2005 to jointly develop six submarines. Under Project 75 of the Indian Navy, the submarines arebeing built at the MDL dockyard in Mumbai under license fromDCNS. While the first four are conventional submarines, thelast two are to be equipped with the Air IndependentPropulsion (AIP) system, which will enable the vessel to stayunderwater for longer. However, sources indicate that the AIP technology mightbe delayed. Interestingly, the submarines still do not have its mainweapon — the heavy weight torpedos. The original torpedo selected for the submarine was theone manufactured by one of the subsidiaries of scam-taintedfirm Finmeccanica. The government has decided to withdraw the tender for theheavy weight torpedos and go in for an alternative. Once INS Kalvari is handed over to the Navy, the plan isto have other five inducted every nine months. Construction of the first submarine started on 23 May2009. The project is running four years behind schedule. The government plans to go in for a follow-on order ofthree more Scorpene class submarines. PTI SAP KIS RGKIS