Mumbai : The indigenously-built Scorpene class submarine, ‘Kalvari’, successfully completed its primary harbour acceptance trial and will soon set sail for a rigorous sea acceptance trial to test its strength and technology deep at sea. Former French Navy personnel are training Indian Navy officials to operate the vessel since it was made using French technology.
On Thursday afternoon, Kalvari was brought to Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL), where it was built. Officials said that the vessel will soon undergo the rigorous harbour trial, which would test each system to its fullest capacity.
The chairman and managing director of MDL, Rear Admiral (Rtd) RK Shrawat, said, “It is a milestone that has been achieved through the hard work and perseverance of all executives and operatives and supportive organisations.”
The 67-meter-long, 6.2-meter-wide and 1,550-tonne vessel is part of code name ‘Project 75’ that is meant for the construction of six Scorpene class submarines with the transfer of technology from DCNS, France. Subsequently, the remaining five submarines will be delivered with a gap of nine months between each. The project is expected to be completed by 2020.
This is first time that the Indian Navy has been operating submarines with French technology and so DCNS sent former navy officers to train Indian Navy officers on operating the submarine and understanding its technology.
The French team is already in Mumbai and the training sessions have been going on for the past two months and will carry on for the next 28 months in slots.
