Indian Navy takes delivery of sixth Scorpene-class submarine, INS Vaghsheer

INS Vaghsheer, the sixth submarine of Project 75 (Scorpene class), was delivered to the Indian Navy on January 9, 2025.

As informed, the delivery ceremony took place after the vessel completed its mandatory sea trials. The submarine was launched in April 2022 and commenced its sea trials in December 2023.

Indian shipbuilding company Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) constructed the submarine in collaboration with French shipbuilder Naval Group.

MDL noted that with the delivery of Vaghsheer, the company has completed all the contractual deliveries of the P75 project.

The Scorpene is a 2000-ton conventional-propulsion submarine designed and developed by Naval Group for all types of missions, such as surface vessel warfare, anti-submarine warfare, long-range strikes, special operations, or intelligence gathering. 

The series of six submarines of the P75 program, also known as the Kalvari class, is fitted with equipment built in India. MDL has successfully absorbed the technology transfer from Naval Group, in line with the Indian Government’s “Make in India” policy. The units are 67.5 meters long with a height of about 12.3 meters. They are fitted with 360 battery cells (each weighing 750 kg) powering the permanently magnetized propulsion motor.

The first submarine from the batch, INS Kalvari, was commissioned in December 2017, the second, INS Khanderi, in September 2019, while the third unit, INS Karanj, entered service in March 2021.

The fifth submarine in this class, INS Vagir, was commissioned in January 2023.

Recently, the Indian Ministry of Defense signed a deal with Naval Group for the integration of electronic heavyweight torpedoes (EHWT) onboard the Scorpene-class submarines.