INS Karanj, India's third Scorpene class submarine, launched in Mumbai: Three more to be inducted into navy by 2020

INS Karanj, India's third Scorpene class submarine, was launched in Mumbai on Wednesday, an official statement said. The submarine was launched at the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL), and navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba was the chief guest.

INS Karanj launched in Mumbai on Wednesday. Image courtesy: Twitter/@indiannavy

Karanj was the third Scorpene class submarine built by MDL under the ambitious Project 75 scheme of the Indian Navy. In all, there will be six such submarines being indigenously built. All six were designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS, and are being built in Mumbai.

The first of these, INS Kalvari, was commissioned in Mumbai (link) last December. The second, INS Khanderi, is undergoing sea trials. All submarines are due to be inducted gradually into the Indian Navy by 2020.

The ambitious plan incurred a massive Rs 3.5 billion cost for the Indian Navy. As per the original schedule, two of the submarines were to be commissioned last year, but the project has fallen behind schedule.

The first four submarines will be conventional, while the last two are to be equipped with the Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system, which will enable the vessel to stay underwater for longer duration.

All six diesel-electric attack submarines will be equipped with an anti-ship missile, which has a proven record in combat, besides other weapon systems.

The state-of-the-art features of the Scorpene submarines include superior stealth and ability to launch crippling attacks with precision-guided weapons.

The attacks can be carried out with torpedoes both while submerged or on the surface — in all war theatres, including the tropics, giving it an unmatched invulnerability.

The submarine has an overall length of 67.5 metres and height of about 12.3 metres. The hull form, fin and hydroplanes are specifically designed to produce minimum underwater resistance.

Keeping with Indian naval tradition, INS Karanj too is a reincarnation of an older submarine that was in operation from 1969 to 2003. It served the country for 34 years and was also part of operations in 1971. Wednesday's event marked the rebirth of the submarine in a new avatar, the Indian Navy tweeted.

Erstwhile Karanj was commissioned in @indiannavy on 04 Sep 1969 and was retired on 01 Aug 2003. Today she is reborn in a new avatar pic.twitter.com/beodU1tZjA

— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) January 31, 2018

With inputs from agencies