The fifth submarine of Project 75, Yard 11879, of the Kalvari class commenced her sea trials, the Indian Navy said on Wednesday.

The submarine, launched in November 2020 from the Kanhoji Angre Wet Basin of Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL), would be named Vagir, after commissioning.

Despite the Covid pandemic, MDL has ‘delivered’ two submarines of the Project 75 in 2021 and the commencement of sea trials of the fifth submarine is a significant milestone.

The submarine will now undergo intense trials of all its systems at sea, including propulsion systems, weapons and sensors. It is scheduled for delivery to the Navy this year after completion of these trials.

Last year, INS Vela, the fourth submarine in the series of six submarines of Project-75, was inducted into the Navy.

The Scorpene Class submarines are being built in Bharat by the MDL, under collaboration with Naval Group, earlier DCNS, France.

The Scorpene submarines are extremely potent platforms, they have advanced stealth features and are also equipped with both long range guided torpedoes as well as anti-ship missiles.

These submarines have a state of the art SONAR and sensor suite permitting outstanding operational capabilities.

They also have an advanced Permanent Magnetic Synchronous motor (PERMASYN) as its propulsion motor.

The new Vela carries forward the legacy of her namesake, the erstwhile INS Vela which was commissioned on August 31, 1973 as the lead boat of Vela class submarines.

Apart from being a training ground for many submariners, she had several noteworthy operational achievements during her long and illustrious career. The submarine rendered yeoman service to the nation for 37 years and was the longest operational submarine at the time of decommissioning on January 25, 2010.

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