*New Delhi: *The second and third of the six Scorpene-class submarines,part of Project-75 of the Indian Navy, are undergoing sea trials while therest are under construction, a senior naval officer today said.
Interacting with reporters during an event at Kota House in Delhi,Commandant of National Defence College Vice Admiral Srikant also said theair independent propulsion (AIP) indigenous system for submarines, on whichthe DRDO is working, will go for marine testing.
He was speaking at the launch of a teaser of ‘Breaking Point: IndianSubmariners’, a four-part series which will air on the Discovery Channel onMarch 19.
“The second and third of the six Scorpene-class submarines are undergoingsea trials while the fourth, fifth and the sixth are under construction. Wewant to focus on first getting all these submarines commissioned, beforegoing in for more submarines,” Vice Admiral Srikant said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on December 14 commissioned INS Kalvari,the first Scorpene-class submarine, into the Navy in Mumbai, and describedit as an excellent example of ‘Make in India’ that will boost the Navy’smight.
INS Kalvari is a diesel-electric attack submarine that has been built forthe Indian Navy by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd.
Kalvari is named after the dreaded tiger shark, a deadly deep sea predatorof the Indian Ocean. The submarine had undergone around 120 days ofextensive sea trials and tests of various equipment.
The submarines, designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS,are being built by Mazagon Dock Ltd in Mumbai as part of Project-75 of theIndian Navy.
The first Kalvari, commissioned on December 8, 1967, was also the firstsubmarine of the Indian Navy. It was decommissioned on May 31, 1996 afternearly three decades of service.
To a question on the accident suffered by INS Chakra, Indian Navy’s onlynuclear-powered submarine, he said, “85 per cent of the reports on it wasincorrect.”
INS Chakra is a nuclear-powered submarine which was taken by India on leasefrom Russia in 2012 for a period of 10 years.