India edging closer to its goal of building a strong navy of 200 vessels and 500 aircraft by 2050

INS Vagir, the fifth submarine of the Kalvari Class submarines, was commissioned into the Indian Navy recently, boosting the Indian Naval force's prowess.

INS Vagir, which has been built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited with technology transfer from France, was commissioned at a ceremony attended by the Indian Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R. Hari Kumar.

The commissioning of the submarine is bound to boost the Indian Navy's capability to further India's maritime interests and conducting Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) to counter any threat in times of crisis.

'Vagir' means sand shark, which represents stealth and fearlessness, two qualities synonymous with the ethos of a submariner.

Equipped with some of the best sensors in the world, its weapons package include sufficient wire guided torpedoes and sub-surface to surface missiles to neutralise a large enemy fleet, according to the Indian Navy.

The Navy also noted that this submarine also has the capability of launching marine commandos for special operations, while its powerful diesel engines can quickly charge batteries for a stealth mission.

For self-defence, it has a state of the art torpedo decoy system, the Navy release added.

The commissioning of INS Vagir comes amid the increasing presence of the Chinese Navy in the Indian Ocean.

The fifth Scorpène-class conventional submarine which was commissioned into the Indian Navy as INS Vagir is the sixth and last of the French-origin Scorpène-class submarines being built in India under technology transfer is set to be delivered to the Navy by end-2023.

With this, the Navy now has 16 conventional and one nuclear submarine in service. It includes seven Russian Kilo-class submarines, four German HDW submarines, five Scorpene-class submarines, and the indigenous nuclear ballistic missile submarine INS Arihant.

The Vagir is the third submarine inducted into the Navy in a short span of 24 months. This is no small achievement and underscores the coming of age of India’s shipbuilding industry and the maturing of the country’s defence ecosystem. It is also a shining testimony to the expertise and experience of Indian shipyards to construct complex and complicated platforms, Admiral  Hari Kumar said during his speech at the commissioning ceremony. “These aspects also serve to reinforce the Indian Navy’s unequivocal commitment and steadfast resolve to be a fully Aatma Nirbhar force by 2047,” he added.

The Navy Chief further complimented the submarine’s Commanding Officer and his team for pushing through “all major trials, including those of weapons and sensors, within a short span of just eleven months.”

The name Vagir is a reincarnation of the erstwhile Vagir which was commissioned on November 01, 1973 and was decommissioned on January 07, 2001 after serving the country for three decades. Vagir takes its name from the ‘Sand shark’, a deadly deep-sea predator of the Indian Ocean. In the Navy, it is a time-honoured naval tradition that ‘old ships & submarines never die,’ Admiral Kumar noted.

Meanwhile, last year, India's nuclear-powered submarine INS Arihant  carried out a successful launch of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) in the Bay of Bengal with a "very high accuracy", according to the Indian Defence Ministry.

It said all operational and technological parameters of the weapon system have been validated, seen as a major milestone to further boost India's strategic strike capabilities.

"INS Arihant carried out a successful launch of a Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) on October 14, 2022. The missile was tested to a predetermined range and impacted the target area in the Bay of Bengal with very high accuracy," the ministry said in a statement.

India's nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) programme is a closely guarded project. INS Arihant was the first boat under the SSBN project that was reportedly followed by another boat, INS Arighat.

In a statement, the defence ministry said the "robust, survivable and assured retaliatory" capability is in sync with the country's policy to have 'credible minimum deterrence' that underpins its 'no first use' commitment.

"The successful user training launch of the SLBM by INS Arihant is significant to prove crew competency and validate the SSBN programme, a key element of India's nuclear deterrence capability," the defence ministry said.

"A robust, survivable and assured retaliatory capability is in keeping with India's policy to have 'credible minimum deterrence' that underpins its 'no first use' commitment," it said.

India has been a leading voice in pitching for universal nuclear disarmament aimed at complete elimination of atomic weapons.

While India discussed the potential of nuclear-powered submarines as early as the 1960s, it didn’t begin the development of its Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) submarine program until 1983.

India recently constructed two submarine bases. The first is Karwar, located 500 kilometers south of Mumbai. The second is a secret naval base called the INS Varsha which is part of a larger project to increase India’s naval nuclear capabilities in response to China’s recent upgrades. This base is on the east coast near Kakinada and will have underground pens for the submarines.

India is expected to build four nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) under its ATV Program. The first vessel in this class, INS Arihant, was commissioned in 2014. It is powered by an 83MW pressurized light-water reactor (PWR) fuelled with enriched uranium. The Arihant-class submarines are 110 meters long with an 11-meter-wide beam and can travel up to 24 knots when submerged. They can remain submerged for about 50 days without surfacing. Their weapons systems are capable of firing torpedoes and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

India has historically imported submarines from Germany, France, and Russia. In the last decade, it has decided to produce more vessels indigenously. For example, India originally planned to build four of its Scorpène-class submarines indigenously and import two. India has since announced that it wishes to produce all submarines natively.26 This is consistent with the 2014 Make in India initiative, which provides economic incentives when products are manufactured domestically.

As of November 2022, the Indian Navy has 45 vessels of various types under construction, including destroyers; frigates; corvettes; conventional-powered and nuclear-powered submarines and various other ship, and plans to build a strong navy of 200 vessels and 500 aircraft by 2050.

Having a coastline of around 7500 km, India certainly needs  strong navy. Since the country gained independence, the Indian Navy has come a long way and INS Vikrant symbolises that growth with the gradual evolution of India’s Defence. Almost 95 percent of India’s trade happens via sea and moreover, to the west there is a hostile Pakistani navy and to the east China is building ports in Myanmar and Bangladesh, so India needs a strong navy. In fact, defence officials are pushing for a third aircraft carrier which is tentatively called ins Vishal.