India joins elite club with delivery of 5th Scorpene submarine ‘Vagir’ to Navy

New Delhi, Dec 20: India and its naval force is moving ahead with 'Make in India in Defence'. With the delivery of the fifth submarine 'Vagir', it has joined an elite club of navies in the world. Earlier, the Indian Navy had four more submarines, namely Kalvari, Khanderi, Karanj and Vela. Now, Vagir, which has been built indigenously at Mazagon Dock in Mumbai, has made the nation that has greater capabilities to build world-class submarines.

Not just that the Indian Navy has got its fifth submarine but the way these subs have been built is unprecedented. Never before in the history of the Indian Navy, such a speed and scale was seen. If the credit has to be given, it should go to the Modi government's 'Make in India in Defence' program under which indigenization of defence platforms has been going on at great pace and scale.

The Indian Navy has received 3 submarines within a span of just 2 years. This is also another testimony to the impetus given to the Aatmanirbhar Bharat mission by the Modi government.

Making India a global naval power

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been placing enormous importance to the Indian Navy as the future belongs to naval supremacy. Especially, being the leader of the Indian Ocean, India needs to have a strong navy that secures its national interests over the seas. Earlier, PM Modi unveiled Indian Navy's new ensign to decolonize it and now with INS Vagir and other submarines under Project-75, making the Indian Navy a true 'blue navy'.

In a statement, Indian Navy has said that these submarines are being constructed at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd, a defence PSU, in Mumbai in collaboration with Naval Group of France. This also shows India's collaboration with France not just in Rafale fighter jets but in Indian naval capacity building as well.

With the addition of one more submarine, the Indian Navy's prowess will go one notch up. All major trials from the advanced weapons to sensors have been tried and tested for optimum performance. Nonetheless, Vagir will not just increase the country's marine security, but make sure India keeps building on the naval capacity with the indigenous technology.

Project 75 & indigenization of subs

Earlier, India had launched its defence indigenization program for the Indian Navy, called 'Project 75'. It's a Rs 23,000-crore project that aims to build six submarines of the Kalvari class. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders' partnership with the French group has already built INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj and INS Vela. Vagir is the fifth in the series.

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