Kalvari, the first of the Scorpene class submarines, built at the Mazagon Dock Ltd (MDL), Mumbai, went to sea for the first time on May 1. The submarine sailed out at about 1,000 hours under her own propulsion for the first sea trial, off the Mumbai coast and during the sortie, completed a number of preliminary tests on the propulsion system, auxiliary equipment and systems, navigation aids, communication equipment and steering gear. Various standard operating procedures were also validated for this new class of submarines. The submarine then returned to the harbour in the evening.

This important milestone was achieved by MDL after overcoming a number of challenges faced since launching of the submarine in October last year. During the next few months, the submarine will undergo a barrage of sea trials, including surface trials, diving trials, weapon trials, noise trials, etc., which would test the submarine to the extremes of its intended operating envelop. Thereafter she would be commissioned into the Indian Navy as INS Kalvari later this year. Commissioning of Kalvari will be a reaffirmation of India’s capability to build submarines and a major boost for the ‘Make in India’ programme of the government.

In April last year, the Defence Minister had visited MDL and directed that all out effort be made to complete the project in time. Accordingly, the teams from MDL, Indian Navy and DCNS have been working round the clock. Today, with the first sea sortie of Kalvari, MDL has achieved a major project milestone.

The ongoing project for the construction of six Scorpene class submarines has DCNS of France as collaborator and includes transfer of technology (ToT) with MDL as the ‘Builder’. Leveraging on the experience and the ToT of the Scorpene project, and with the enhanced and upgraded infrastructure, MDL is ready for undertaking future submarine and shipbuilding projects in order to meet the growing requirements of national security.